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I am a UK citizen, and have been offered a contract to work for a company that is based in the US. The contract is remote working and I would be paid into a UK bank account, but I was wondering if I could visit the US and work from the company's offices while there.

To slightly complicate matters, I am currently awaiting approval of a K-1 Fiancee visa to the US, where my fiancee is a citizen. So once that gets approved and I enter the country under that visa, I would have to wait until I get my EAD to work for the company full time if I chose to.

My thinking is to just wait out the visa application and hope the company would still hire me once I get my EAD, rather than complicate matters by entering the country and continuing to work "remotely" for a US company while in the US, albeit being paid into a UK bank account.

I'm sorry if this sounds confusing or I've not explained it well. I'm just trying to get my head around my options.

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  • There is a bit of confusion here. You say you would be working remotely but then later state that you hope that the company would still hire you once you get your EAD. Are you thinking that you would start work, then enter at some point on your K-1, then have to stop work until you got your EAD, at which point you could start work again?
    – ouflak ♦
    Jul 13, 2016 at 13:50
  • Yes that's right. The more I hear it out loud, the clearer it is that I should not take the contract as I'd have to stop working once I've entered the US on my visa, so at best I'd get 2 months of work out of it.
    – Stevenj
    Jul 13, 2016 at 17:30
  • I think you've got it right. But I would talk to the company and see if they might be interested in working with you on this. Can't hurt I'd think.
    – ouflak ♦
    Jul 13, 2016 at 18:01

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De jure there are dozens of complex laws and regulations regarding remote employment, under which you may or may not need a special visa in order to work in a given country. Tax laws are an additional complication, where countries such as the UK can deem you as a tax resident for spending as little as 16 days on British soil.

De facto, as long as you don't mention your remote job to immigration personnel at the airport, there's a 99.99% chance no one will ever find out. There are millions of people breaking the law by being employed at on-site jobs in any given country, so digital nomads are a pretty low priority for law enforcement.

However be aware that the company would likely not want you working in their office without a valid visa, as they would receive a big fine if someone were to find out. I would recommend waiting out for your EAD to be issued before switching to on-site work.

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