Is B1 my best option? Employee or Contractor?

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madhumenon
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jul 25, 2013 7:08 pm

Is B1 my best option? Employee or Contractor?

Post by madhumenon »

# Citizenship: Indian
# Status: Permanent Resident of Canada for last 10 months. Living with spouse
# Employment: Have pay-stubs, T4s and Income Tax Assessments from CRA for last year
# Ties to the US: Lived in the US from 2001-2009 on F1 and H1-B (expired now). Never applied for Green Card.

# New situation: The last company that I worked for in the US, in the past, on an H1-B has offered to 'hire' my services again as either an employee or a contract worker. I will have to visit the US every 2 months. This company DOES NOT have any Canadian employee or office and will pay me in USD.


QUESTIONS:

1. Is B1 the best option in this case or would L1 or some other visa type be a better choice? They are not keen on sponsoring an H1B. They have offices in Europe and Asia



2. If I need to get a B1 visa would it be better if

I) I am hired as a contractor (paid by 1099-MISC) with payments being made to me as the Sole Proprietor of my Canadian business

OR

II) my company (if I set up a Corporation in Canada) is hired corp-to-corp and my company pays me as its SOLE employee

OR

III) I am hired as an employee of the US company but based in Canada and working in Canada from home?



3. Would visiting the US once every 2-3 months for 2 weeks at a stretch raise red flags badly enough for me to be questioned on my non-immigrant intent?


4. Any other pointers?

Thank you very much for your help.

Kind regards,
MM
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