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UK contractor working in UK for US based company : advice needed

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    #11
    Originally posted by jamesbrown View Post
    Ouch, yes. I'm afraid that, if you weren't allowed entry this time, you won't be able to gain access under the Visa Waiver program in future. Essentially, you need to review the terms of the visa waiver before travel, which means not doing any type of "productive work" (including delivering training, actually - participating is fine). The same conditions apply to a B-1 visa. You can attend meetings without issues, but you should, indeed, take proof of your status, including the nature of the meeting and a letter of invitation, as well as details about YourCo. Sorry you learned the hard way.
    +1 Don't lie at the border, either - if you are there to do work and they catch you, they will deport you. If you are there to do work, and you lie, and they catch you, they will deport you and ban you from returning.

    Attending meetings is fine, but be prepared to argue your case if necessary. You are there to provide an update and then will be going home - nothing else.

    Whether you could argue that your are a project manager, therefore incapable of "productive work" is another matter.
    Originally posted by MaryPoppins
    I hadn't really understood this 'pwned' expression until I read DirtyDog's post.

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      #12
      Some lessons learned the hard way

      Yes absolutely right James, you can get training but not give it. Two people were being sent back for this while I was there. They had been sent by their companies who should have known better.

      I kinda walked into this one because I worked for HP for a long time and used to have to travel to the US frequently. Then HP seemed to act like a magic password that led to no further questions. But this time the border control people seemed to think I had been lucky because there are very strict definitions of what you can and can't do. Anybody travelling to the states on business needs to know these definitions. My boss at HP at the time did talk about "maxing about my business travel" but I managed to dodge that one. Having done some research now (a bit late) I realise this is a very bad approach and likely to get you in trouble. So don't rely on your company or client to keep you out of trouble.

      The big problem, as you rightly point out, is once this has happened, it's a lot more difficult to get in.

      But to return to the original point, if you are considering doing this, limited company is definitely the way to go.

      Originally posted by jamesbrown View Post
      Ouch, yes. I'm afraid that, if you weren't allowed entry this time, you won't be able to gain access under the Visa Waiver program in future. Essentially, you need to review the terms of the visa waiver before travel, which means not doing any type of "productive work" (including delivering training, actually - participating is fine). The same conditions apply to a B-1 visa. You can attend meetings without issues, but you should, indeed, take proof of your status, including the nature of the meeting and a letter of invitation, as well as details about YourCo. Sorry you learned the hard way.

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        #13
        Originally posted by gnarlycoder View Post
        But to return to the original point, if you are considering doing this, limited company is definitely the way to go.
        Interesting. In the past I've said that "I work for ClientCo company and am here to attend training"

        Although in my case, ClientCo is a large American outfit, not a UK company that no-one will have heard of.

        Nor have I declared that I am a contractor for ClientCo, but I wouldn't deny my contractor status if asked.

        I'm (hopefully) back in the US in April for a week's training and plan to say the same as I've always said.

        I gave up carrying MyCo business cards years ago, I don't think I've handed one out in 10 years!

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