I am a Canadian citizen living in the United States. I do not have a visa to work here, I am here on an H4 visa, which is the spouse visa for my husband's H4 work visa. I would like to be able to teach online for a Canadian company while living here in the US, but am not sure if it is legal to do so or not. And would I need some kind of US work permit or visa? And how would I pay income taxes - I'm assuming Canadian income taxes? Any information someone could share would be helpful. I have searched extensively online and am not finding any answers.
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1The only thing that is easy to say is that immigration law hasn't caught up with the realities of modern remote work. Canada has a fairly advanced position on this, but the US does not. The safe way would be to get an Employment Authorization Document and then proceed as any self-employed US resident would who is selling services to a client in Canada.– phoogCommented Mar 19, 2020 at 19:15
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@phoog I don't see they have to do any catching up to do. They just say that you are working where you live, not where your employer is. For over fifty years there have been people living one side of the Dutch / German border and working on the other side, so the problem is well known without remote work. (Don't know how common that is between USA and Canada).– gnasher729Commented Mar 22, 2020 at 8:50
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@gnasher729 that's not at all what they're saying. They're saying that you're working in the jurisdiction where you are physically present when you perform the work (which is hard to argue with). Cross-border commuting is a different matter entirely (and is not particularly uncommon with either Canada or Mexico).– phoogCommented Mar 22, 2020 at 15:12
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@gnasher729 For example, a Canadian citizen with an H-4 visa would not need an EAD to commute to a job in Canada. Also, with "catching up" I am not as concerned with the decision whether or not to allow such an arrangement with or without employment authorization as I am with how explicitly that decision is expressed in the law. The definition of "working in the United States" is not as clear as it was in the 1950s when the current immigration law was enacted.– phoogCommented Mar 22, 2020 at 15:40
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