Ever wonder what border officers are really thinking when they ask where you’re headed?

In this episode of Immigration Weekly, Rosanna takes us back to her days on the U.S.-Canadian border to share what those rapid-fire questions are really about. From why your round-trip ticket matters to the hard truth about remote work in the States, she clears up common myths with straight talk and insider context.

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Transcript

Everyone’s talking about U.S. immigration law, but nobody really knows how it works. I’m Rosanna Berardi. I’m the daughter of an immigrant, a former immigration inspector at the border, university professor, and founder and managing partner of Berardi Immigration Law.

I’ve done nothing but U.S. immigration law for over 30 years, and it’s time to stop the misinformation on all sides. I’m going to tell you how it all works, the inside story. This is Immigration Weekly with Rosanna Berardi.

Life at the Border

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Immigration Weekly with yours truly, Rosanna Berardi. Well, today we’re going to go back in time to when I actually sat at the U.S.-Canadian border as an officer. I know, I know, long time ago, late 90s, I had a gun, I had a badge, I inspected people. Why are we going back in time? I want to give you some information on what the government’s actually looking for when you’re crossing the border.

Now, it seems like sometimes it’s a game of gotcha, and they’re trying to, you know, make sure that you don’t have anything illegally in your car, and people get nervous. But really, what they’re trying to assess in a very short period of time is if you’re planning to visit the U.S. and then return to your home country in a timely way. So let’s go through this series of questions.

Pull up at the border. You’ve got your passport or your nexus. Citizenship of what country?

Canadian. Where are you going? Buffalo, New York.

For what? I’m going to my cousin’s engagement party. What are you bringing in?

A bottle of wine and a monetary gift. Is it over $10,000? No.

Okay, have a nice day. Let’s go through that. Citizenship, they want to know where you were born.

Make sure you have your passport or nexus card. Fun fact, what’s your passport mean? It means that your country of citizenship agrees to take you back if there’s an issue.

So for Canadians, it means Canada will take you back if there’s any issues. They ask where you live because it just gives them a flavor. Are you close to the border?

If you said you lived in Saskatchewan, they may ask what the heck are you doing in Buffalo, New York? They ask where you’re going. What’s your intended purpose of your trip?

Are you a visitor? Are you somebody that needs a work permit? You’re going to your cousin’s engagement party.

You’re bringing in wine. That’s really a customs question. Why are they asking that?

They’re asking to see if you have lots and lots of alcohol. And then when they asked about the monetary gift, whether it was $10,000 or more, that’s also a customs issue regarding the amount of money you can bring into the United States without declaring it. Now, most of us don’t walk around with $10,000, but the government asked that question because they’re able to and they’re trying to make that assessment.

Immigration Law and Visitor Rules

Okay, so you are at the primary inspection booth. The officer, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, has interviewed you, Mr. Canadian citizen, to find out you’re going to your cousin’s engagement party. What’s behind all this?

Well, what’s behind all this is there is a presumption under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act that you are an intending immigrant. What does that mean? That means somebody that’s coming to the United States to stay forever, permanently, an immigrant, somebody that wants to immigrate permanently versus a non-immigrant.

A non-immigrant, non means not, somebody that doesn’t want to remain in the U.S. So those are people coming in temporarily. Under the law, the government says a person applying for admission to come to the United States cannot be an intending immigrant. So that’s why the government’s asking you where you’re going, how long will you be, what are you bringing in.

Now, what can you do as a non-immigrant, as a visitor, as somebody that’s coming to the United States? What can you do that will make it simple and easy for the officer to assess whether they should allow you in? Well, first of all, always have your valid documents available.

Second of all, know where you’re going. I can’t tell you the number of times when I worked at that booth, people have no idea where they’re going. Where’s your cousin’s party?

I don’t know, in Buffalo. Where? Clarence, Lancaster, Williamsville, I don’t know.

Know where you’re going. Have the invitation ready. Make it easy peasy.

That officer is in that booth for hours upon end and has a very short period of time to make a really important assessment. Remember, they’re protecting our U.S. Canadian border and they don’t want to be the officer that’s responsible for letting a bad person in. So make it simple and easy.

Know where you’re going. Know what’s in your car. Make sure your contents matches your story.

So what can you do as a visitor? Well, visitors can do what we call superficial business activities. There’s something called the Foreign Affairs Manual, which says, hey, this is an interpretation of the business visitor and business for pleasure rules, and here’s what you can do.

You can come to the U.S. on vacation. That is the classic B-2 non-immigrant designation under the U.S. immigration law. The B-2 comes in, trip to Disney World, trip to Vegas, trip to New York City.

Always have a round trip ticket. A one-way ticket, kiss of death. Government thinks you’re coming in and you’re staying, therefore you are an immigrant.

Round trip ticket, come in, visit, go back. How long can you stay? This is a dicey one.

Conversation for another podcast. However, the government will usually allow you to stay for the duration of the purpose of your trip. One week, two weeks, a month.

Here’s some tips. The longer you stay, the harder it’s going to be to enter the United States. The government’s going to want to know what the heck are you doing while you’re here for so long.

So B-2 visitor. Lots of Canadians enter as the B-2 visitor. They come in, they go shopping, they go to a concert, they go skiing.

Hello, goodbye, have a nice day. You make it simple and easy for that officer. What if you’re coming in for business?

We have a significant business practice at our firm and oftentimes people are coming to the United States to look at whether they want to open up a business here. Under the business visitor rules, you can do the following things. You can negotiate a contract.

You can go look at, you know, real estate. Do I like this office space? You can go talk to a lawyer like me and say, hey, how do I actually do this?

You can go look at products or samples that you might be interested in selling. You can negotiate that contract. It’s all superficial business activity.

Things that are very hands-off. Looking, assessing, negotiating. What you can’t do is start working in the United States as a visitor.

Remote Work and Final Advice

You cannot say, oh yeah, I’m going to open up this office. I’m going to sit there on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I’m going to work away even though I’m getting paid by a Canadian company. Sorry folks, you can’t do that.

If you’re in the United States sitting on U.S. soil, you need a work permit. Now, remote workers, this one’s for you. We don’t have a digital nomad visa in the United States.

Our law is old. It hasn’t been updated since 1996. Does it even take into consideration remote work?

Hell no. No, not even there. Not even a sentence or an asterisk.

No. Why? The law is old and antiquated.

Therefore, the answer to the question can I work remotely in the United States? The answer is resounding no. No ifs, ands, or buts.

What does this mean? Well, under the B1 and B2 visitor categories, working in the U.S., sitting in the United States, even though you might be at your condo in Boca that you love and you go there for three months every year, if you’re delivering a webinar sitting in the United States, you are working and you need a work permit. So when you’re crossing that border, you’ve got to keep this in mind.

You have to know where you’re going and what you’re doing. If you’re doing something that is not superficial, that is hands-on, you’re in the U.S., you’re working, you’re providing services, doesn’t matter if you work for a Canadian company, doesn’t matter if you’re getting paid by Canada, you, my friend, need a work permit. So are we splitting hairs?

People say, Rosanna, what if I take a call? What if I answer my emails? Okay, the law is silent to this, but when the law is silent on something, most of the time law enforcement and government will go by a reasonable standard.

Listen, we all walk around with our iPhones, right? We’re checking emails all the time. I wouldn’t say that that would be construed as working in the United States, but you’ve got to be careful.

Your primary purpose needs to be coming into vacation or coming in for those superficial business activities. If you’re doing that and you’re remaining hands-off, you’ll be fine and you’ll make that officer’s life so much easier. When I was at that border day in and day out, it’s exhausting because people don’t have the context for what you can and cannot do in the United States.

In the time that we’re living in right now, it’s really important to know what you’re doing. Gone are the days of willy-nilly at the border. I remember the time you’d show not even your driver’s license.

Citizenship, U.S., have a nice day. Those days are over. Government’s looking microscopically.

They can look at your phone. They can look at your social media. They can do whatever they want.

You have no U.S. constitutional rights at the border. Let me say that again slowly. You have no constitutional rights or protections at the U.S.-Canadian border. Sorry, friends. That’s just how it is. So getting back to my days in that booth, tough stuff.

Final Takeaways

People are like, oh, that job is so easy. Well, it’s like everything that appears easy. You really don’t know what you’re talking about or what it is to stand there day in and day out dealing with the general public.

So from this podcast, I want you to take away a few things. Be ready. Be prepared.

Know what you’re doing. Can you work remotely in the U.S.? Say it louder for the people in the back. No, you cannot.

Sorry, Charlie and Charlotte. You can’t do that. What are the permissible activities in the U.S.? Superficial, meaning looking, examining. You can’t do direct sales in the United States. Too hands-on. Take these things, park them in your brain.

When you cross that border, I know sometimes we get in our car, we crank up the music and we’re not thinking, but stop for a minute, hesitate, think, and you will make the officer like me when I used to work there so much happier because you know what you can and cannot do at the U.S. border. Hey, if you like this, this podcast is short and sweet. It’s intended to give you some soundbites of what you need to cross that border successfully and to know what’s going on in the immigration world.

Be sure to like this, follow it, subscribe, and share it with your friends. Until next time, have a great day.

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