Working in the US
 

Hey guys,

I'm trying to figure out which direction I want to go in my career and there seems to be a lot more work that interests me down south.

Does anyone have any experience working down there? I'm still in the early stages of researching on what needs to be done. I know I've got to apply for a visa and get the paperwork done in order for me to work down there. Is there anything else that needs to be done?

If I do get a job down there, how do the taxes work? Will I still be paying taxes in Canada or will I only need to pay US taxes? I was reading about the tax treaties but it wasn't very clear.

Thanks guys!

I believe it's a 15% tax treaty between canada and states. yes you will pay two taxes.

be prepared to shell out some good coin for accountants canadian and us (Facet Advisors in Langley are somewhat affordable compared to say KPMG. Also a small firm named AmeriTax as well) - it won't be the diy turbo-tax shit.

I'm not sure how long, but my friend (a US/CA dual citizen) went to work in US and he declared non-resident status here. And he no longer had to file any taxes.

If you are planning to go down there semi-permanently, I'd think that's the way to go.

Does non-resident status work both ways? My mother has dual citizenship she hasn't lived in the US for 50 years and has never worked there but she has to file taxes in both Countries. She has to use an accountant and it costs he a bunch of money every single year.

I think the best route is to actually land a job and get the your potential company to process the paperwork for you.

This.

It's a bit of a chicken or the egg kind of thing when applying to work in the US.

You can't really get a work permit unless you can prove you that you have a job offer and sometimes, you can't really get a job unless you have a work permit. While this isn't always the case, most of the times, it is.

Yea agree, the US looks very down on giving away jobs to foreigners.

Gotta be king shit, bro. http://www.trianglecafe.ca/forums/im...ilies/king.gif

For your first year, you'll probably have to file in both countries as you'll likely have earned income in both Canada and the US. The classification of which country you're a resident is based on which country you've spent 183 days in. (that's basically half the year)

You'll definitely need your visa first before you can do anything else like get a Social Security number (so you can get paid or open a bank account).

If you're paying for this out of pocket, then I'd suggest starting with trying to get a TN visa. (I'm assuming you're going for some sort of professional job) It's cheap (around $50 when I did it) and doesn't require a whole lot of work to get. You can probably do it without any immigration lawyers as long as you meet the requirements. Once you're settled in and have an employer, you can then have them sponsor you for a visa or green card.

Thanks for all the information guys. I'm still doing my research but I think I'm going to try my best to get a job down there.

Sucks that I'd have to pay double taxes for a little while, but I guess it makes sense.

You're not paying double taxes. While you file in both countries, you'll get tax credits for what you've already paid in the "other" country (your country of residence)
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No. US requires its citizen or residents to file taxes every year even there is no income at all and the location he/she lives.

I have come across a few ex-US citizen who lived their entire life in Canada renounced their US citizenship for the reason of not having to deal with US tax thing anymore.

You are also subject to US income tax no matter where you live in the world. I've been researching working in Dubai after college, and if I remember what I read on the Canuckabroad forums, if you don't have income or property in Canada, and you've been working and living abroad for a certain period of time, you are exempt from Canadian taxes.

If you get a job offer from big companies like Microsoft or Google, they will handle the visa for you.

You pay the difference in the income tax %
e.g. Pay 30% in usa, then pay the 5% extra to Canadian gov

Why would you want to pay the Canadian government? Just declare non-resident status.