Canadian Working In Usa

[cap]

(1) When the NAFTA negotiations were taking place, Canadian aviation representatives were approached and ask if they wished to be part of the negotiations and they indicated they did. By the time any of their submissions were ready, the Agreement had been signed. So were we approached and given fair warning...."Yes". Negotiations to include us have been ingoing and were brought up again during the recent changes to FAA and MoT rules that brought both countries rules closer to one another. Nothing was resolved and it's still ongoing intermittently.

 

(2) Pilots are NOT and NEVER have been part of NAFTA. You go to the USA to work for an American company, they must be able to demonstrate that there was no American national available to fulfill that position. They must demonstrate that with records of advertisements for that position in various forms including trade publications, newspapers and employment agencies. Once they've done that, they can hire anyone from anywhere who meets the further requirements of US Immigration.

 

(3) A Canadian obtaining such a position in the US with an American company may take their family with them. Should their spouse or members of the family wish to obtain employment also while in the US, they are ONLY permitted to obtain Part-time employment and NOT full-time, regardless of their education or training. They may ignore that fact and some have, BUT they do that on their own peril or professed ignorance if caught.....and these are not "healthy days" to be caught contravening US Immigration laws IN the US.

 

(4) Because of my dual-citizenship there are NO restrictions on me whatsoever, but I have in the past been asked to prove that dual nationality by various agencies. At present I have a nephew working for Motorola in Austen, TX as a computer programmer. He was attending McGill when HE was approached and recruited by Motorola to work for them. He had a PhD in Chemical Engineering and was at that time working on his PhD in Computer Science. Upon graduation, they had a Visa waiting and all paperwork completed for his entrance to the US (that was 5 yers ago). He has, within the last year and a bit, been required to work together with Motorola to renew his Visa so that he can remain in the USA. Motorola was also required AGAIN to show proof at the same time that they could find nobody in the US that would satisfy that position. His work had involved a Motorola contract with the Ames Space Center in California and they, together with higher-ups at the Space Center pulled the right strings to have him remain. If they would have failed, then he would've been back in Canada soon after.

 

 

(5) I very strongly suggest that ANYONE wishing to go after employment in the US contact any one of the numerous lawyers in Seattle and in the NW States and LA who specialize in this subject and who can explain all the items needed for entry for employment or otherwise. There is a ton of misinformation out there and it would be money well spent. Can it all be accomplshed......most defintely "yes".......but certain "i"s" have to be dotted and certain "t's" have to be crossed. Any help or assistance that a prospective employer can give you should be grabbed at first chance, realizing at the same time that they may also be novices and make a mistake.....which you don't need nor want. Therefore, having American legal advice, together with any company assistance is the safest and most prudent way to go.

 

(6) Lastly and of primary importance to those who succeed in gaining a working position or who may even marry an American citizen at some point........your Canadian Healthcare Benefits are available to you until you are in the US or elsewhere for TWO years. To always be remembered and never forgotten...... no matter what.......should you decide to make application and become an American citizen, you will still be an Canadian citizen UNTIL you fill out Canadian Government papers stating that YOU RENOUNCE your Canadian citizenship. Until you do that you remain a Canadian citizen in the eyes of Ottawa until the day you die. The difference then is that you are now a citizen of BOTH countries and you are a dual-national....but did it the hard way........I'm the same, but got mine by birth and had no choice in the matter.

 

Oddly enough and do not ask me to explain why, but one of the worst places to ask information on this subject is an American Embassy in any Canadian city. Personally, to prove a point with another person, I made inquiries on this very subject at the US Embassy in Calgary, not telling them about my duel nationality and their answers were 60% vague or outright misinformation/lies. They are so ignorant of certain aspects of this and give so many incorrect answers, that I advise anyone to get the counsel of an American lawyer who specializes in this subject if they are truly serious and it does not cost a fortune.

 

CAUTION: The US Immigration laws are changing constantly to the point of the ridiculous. As a personal example, I am considered a dual national of both countries , yet my brother 7 years junior, is not considered a dual national....AND we both have the exact same parents. It's because of when WE were born and what rules were in place THEN, that gives it to me, but not to him......go figure.

[canook pilot]

Cap, great reply. I myself can work in both countries but I don't have dual. It is nice to have the chance to do this. Thanks to my lovely wife! :up:

[cap]

Canook pilot --well there's an awful lot of ignorance and mis-information out there and my point was this........to inform, but also to get the point across to (1) don't even believe what I stated and (2) keep that attitude and get legal advice from someone expert on the subject in the legal world and quit the "well this guy told me such and such". There's too much grief that can ensue if one doesn't go about it the correct way. We as Canadians, sometimes forget that if you move from one country to another any other place in the world, you MUST have a Passport. Yet this weekend thousands will cross over the border going both ways and few will have one and nobody will ask for one. No other place in the world would that happen and I think the vast majority forget and think that that's normal......well it isn't. We've learned to take many of those things for granted and I think it's time we smartened-up and realized just how good we got it and stopped moaning about the few restrictions that have followed the WTC.

[Skidz]

Hey Cap,

 

You obviously haven't been to Europe in awhile. When you cross from Canada to the US or vice-versa, you actually stop at the border and get asked "anything to declare ?". In Europe, when travelling by road now you don't even stop at the border...

[canook pilot]

You hit everything right on the head. :up:

[Batfink]

Skidz nailed it.

 

Was in Germany and Sweden last year hoping to get my nice shiny new passport stamped. Not only did I not get a stamp, no one except the Air Canada agents and the Canadian Customs Officers even looked at my passport.

 

Europe Rocks!

[cap]

Skidz ------understood, but stop for a minute and think........how open do you think those borders would remain as they are now if they had a similar WTC someplace in Germany, France or continental Europe? I've been crossing the Canadian/American border and ports of entry since 1956 and have yet to be asked to produce a Passport going either way.......nor is it legally required by either government going either way. How many Europeans or from other countries can say that? There are many countries where you need a Passport to go from one part of the country to another part of the same country. Talk to any Phillippino who lived under Ferdinand Marcos's rule.....and there's tons of them out there.

[Skidz]

Don't want to compare WTC with anything, but Europe has been the scene of countless terrorist acts since WW2. If you were to tally all of the European terrorist attacks, then tally the US attacks (9/11, Oklahoma city, Anthrax), I think you'd see the US has sen much less death and mayhem.

 

Europeans accept that acts of terror can and will happen on their soil, and that this is part of the cost of freedom. Their politicians (with the exception of the Brits) haven't enacted wide-ranging anti-terror legislation that does more to curb ordinary citizen's freedom than stop terrorists...

[transquebecniece]

Europeans accept that acts of terror can and will happen on their soil, and that this is part of the cost of freedom. Their politicians (with the exception of the Brits) haven't enacted wide-ranging anti-terror legislation that does more to curb ordinary citizen's freedom than stop terrorists...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Come again? Especially that last sentence there, Skidoo. Fond of you; not fond of the implication.

[Over-Talk]

YOWZA !! Now things are heating up a little.............