Advice needed on international project day rate

[jamesbrown]

Very interesting. How do they do that for their non-US employees? This is a large multinational and my client is an employee so is likely going that route. This is possibly why she thinks I can just use ESTA as my route to work with them in NYC.

I don't really follow. If the UK company is a branch of a multinational with a US presence and you are an employee of the UK company and the UK company wants to send you to the US for a project, then see the route that BB mentioned above. However, that is *completely* different to your OP. I'm not sure I see what you mean by "this is a large multinational and my client is an employee".

I assume what you mean is something like the following. YourCo was recently contracted by a UK branch of MultinationalCo. You worked with employee of MultinationalCo. Employee of MultinationalCo liked you and wants you involved in another project, now in the US. Something like that? If so, see above. There is no easy route. You could become an employee of MultinationalCo, either in the UK or in the US, and that would provide a route. You are currently not their employee.

[jameslmorgan]

I assume what you mean is something like the following. YourCo was recently contracted by a UK branch of MultinationalCo. You worked with employee of MultinationalCo. Employee of MultinationalCo liked you and wants you involved in another project, now in the US. Something like that? If so, see above. There is no easy route. You could become an employee of MultinationalCo, either in the UK or in the US, and that would provide a route. You are currently not their employee.

Sorry if that lacked clarity. Your assumption is correct. I am not their employee, I am a Ltd company. And yes the client wants to hire me for this project. She likely thinks visa/ETSA is not an issue because she is Multinational employee and they will enable her to work in New York without issues.

Clearly I need to make her aware that I am a completely different setup when it comes to US work. I would like to consider the project but it seems Visa is a blocker from the discussion here.

[jamesbrown]

Sorry if that lacked clarity. Your assumption is correct. I am not their employee, I am a Ltd company. And yes the client wants to hire me for this project. She likely thinks visa/ETSA is not an issue because she is Multinational employee and they will enable her to work in New York without issues.

Clearly I need to make her aware that I am a completely different setup when it comes to US work. I would like to consider the project but it seems Visa is a blocker from the discussion here.

Gotcha. Yeah, so it's completely different for you, I'm afraid. Perhaps the UK company would be willing to employ you, which may be worthwhile if it's a really interesting project. By all means speak to their legal bods too (or your own legal bods), but I think the person you're dealing with doesn't really understand the complexities here.

[redgiant]

Sorry if that lacked clarity. Your assumption is correct. I am not their employee, I am a Ltd company. And yes the client wants to hire me for this project. She likely thinks visa/ETSA is not an issue because she is Multinational employee and they will enable her to work in New York without issues.

Clearly I need to make her aware that I am a completely different setup when it comes to US work. I would like to consider the project but it seems Visa is a blocker from the discussion here.

There are several other non-employee visa options available but you will need legal advice specific to your case. I know a few business owners who are working on an E1 visa for example:

E-1 Treaty Traders | USCIS

[jameslmorgan]

Gotcha. Yeah, so it's completely different for you, I'm afraid. Perhaps the UK company would be willing to employ you, which may be worthwhile if it's a really interesting project. By all means speak to their legal bods too (or your own legal bods), but I think the person you're dealing with doesn't really understand the complexities here.

I wouldn't want to be an employee and the project isn't that long anyway. Agree the person doesn't understand the complexities - but imagine it's because she doesn't need to navigate them as the Multi will solve for her.

[jameslmorgan]

There are several other non-employee visa options available but you will need legal advice specific to your case. I know a few business owners who are working on an E1 visa for example:

E-1 Treaty Traders | USCIS

Thanks. Would E-1 work for me as a consultant offering consultancy services there?

[redgiant]

Thanks. Would E-1 work for me as a consultant offering consultancy services there?

Trade is very loosely defined by USCIS so it's up to the legal counsel you choose to advise on how to word the petition to make sure it ticks all the boxes that USCIS will be judging it against. Immigration law is a bit of a dark art and although you may read one thing it can be interpreted in several ways and the legal counsel will be able to advise on the current meaning. It's a frustrating and confusing process but that is immigration law across the world generally IME.

There will be costs (sometimes many thousands of dollars) associated with preparing and filing the petition that vary per visa type so you should get this covered by the client too.

[jameslmorgan]

Trade is very loosely defined by USCIS so it's up to the legal counsel you choose to advise on how to word the petition to make sure it ticks all the boxes that USCIS will be judging it against. Immigration law is a bit of a dark art and although you may read one thing it can be interpreted in several ways and the legal counsel will be able to advise on the current meaning. It's a frustrating and confusing process but that is immigration law across the world generally IME.

There will be costs (sometimes many thousands of dollars) associated with preparing and filing the petition that vary per visa type so you should get this covered by the client too.

Thanks. I wonder whether the client would do that for just a 2-5 month maximum duration project.

Also would the lead time for that process work for a September start on the project?

[redgiant]

Thanks. I wonder whether the client would do that for just a 2-5 month maximum duration project.

Also would the lead time for that process work for a September start on the project?

It would take two to five months minimum even if it was expedited. You can check the current backlogs at both USCIS processing centers and the local US embassy on their websites.

[jameslmorgan]

It would take two to five months minimum even if it was expedited. You can check the current backlogs at both USCIS processing centers and the local US embassy on their websites.

Ok, so not an option for this project unfortunately.