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CheapThrills, if you intend to do work on your laptop while you are vacationing in the US during the wintertime, that goes against US immigration laws and CBP can and will find that out if they decide pull you over for secondary inspection. I would leave the work laptop in Canada while you are here
Thanks, yes, I know about that.... I really want to keep everything legit. I don't want to lie, tell half-truths, have a border agent either refuse me entry to the US, or be pulled into secondary inspection upon return to Canada and have him/her discover I was working on my projects while in the US. Personally, I think some of the rules are a bit overzealous, but I guess they need rules like this to set a precedent, or people would be bending the rules and trying to get away with a lot more. I'm sure as it is, many people already are. I have two laptops, but one is more like a backup laptop, older and not as good. I use my other one for everything and was going to take it with me. Unless, like you said, I dedicate one laptop to work and leave it in Canada. That way, I wouldn't have to worry about anyone finding work material or emails that open to different interpretations. I'm not sure if I mentioned it above, but I'm aware that I will have to earn all of my money while in Canada for the 6 months I stay in Canada. And then, as you mentioned, not do any work while in the US. Apparently I can't even do any writing for a book I will publish when I return to Canada. Can't work on blogging either, if it's for profit.
It seems the only exception may be for any money I earn as PASSIVE income, meaning money that comes in without my direct involvement. This would be something like a website with downloadable digital products, Kindle published books on Amazon, etc, as long as all of the money goes into a Canadian bank account or Canadian PayPal account. I can withdraw that money at an ATM in the US though. I just can't write, promote, sell, etc. I will also have to prove I have enough money to support myself for 6 months while in the US, not counting any future money earned from passive income. A bit of a hassle. This is why I mentioned that my dream of full time RVing is an Amercian dream, not a Canadian dream. It's so much easier for US residents to follow the sun and RV across American year round than it is for a Canadian.
The only thing is that the way I have things now, it still involves a bit of interaction with me (phone calls, emails, posting, blogging, website work, etc). Now, I could hire a virtual assistant. A Virtual Assistant from overseas working full time for me can be hired for $250 to $500 a month. But at the moment, I don't have enough work to justify paying that amount. Things could change though. Or maybe I could split the cost of a VA with someone else who's hiring one but doesn't quite have enough work to give him/her full time. I hear it's better to hire an overseas VA full time rather than part time. There are a lot of VAs available for this price range in the Philippines. Generally, their written and spoken English is very good and very close to US/Canadian English. The cost of living is much lower in the Philippines, and $250 to $500 a month is a nice middle to upper middle class income there. For anyone in the US or Canada, it's way below the poverty line and unrealistic to live on. But it's an amount of money that's almost with realistic reach for me to pay someone to manage my work for me while I'm on vacation for 6 months - all else being equal and the workload staying the same.
Or if I don't have enough work to give to a VA, I could probably pay a friend to do the minimal maintenance work and check my emails and return phone calls 2 or 3 times per week. Let's say I pay someone in Canada $50 a month, that's $300 for 6 months. Or if I double it, $600 for 6 months. It might take someone 1 to 2 hours a week, or 4 to 8 hours a month. Not too bad, a few hours work for some decent pocket change. A nice part time job, or contract job for someone needing to earn a bit extra above and beyond his/her regular earnings from a day job.
The border patrol agents question people every day, and are experts at uncovering lies, deception, etc, so I wouldn't even dream of trying. The last thing I want is to be refused entry to the US for a year, 5 years or forever. I'm going to keep it legit. On the positive side, I will truly be able to be "on vacation" and not have to worry about doing any work for 6 months! On the flip side, while in Canada for the other 6 months, I will have to work twice as hard to earn or set up things to earn me money to support me for the off-season.
I forgot to mention, regarding working in the US, in an "off-the-record" conversation I had with an off-duty CBSA agent, it was suggested I apply for a work permit to to work in the US, even if it's just work on my own material, such as writing a book that I will publish upon return to Canada. I'm not sure how easy or difficult it would be to get a permit like this, but I hear it can take at least 6 months to process an application. So, I wouldn't have it in time for this year, but for next year I could.
CheapThrills, if you intend to do work on your laptop while you are vacationing in the US during the wintertime, that goes against US immigration laws and CBP can and will find that out if they decide pull you over for secondary inspection. I would leave the work laptop in Canada while you are here
Hey CheapThrills, weren't you JustSomeGuy? I recognized you immediately.
RVing is ok on Vancouver Island but many of the parks make you pay for 12 months of the year (monthyly) to get the good rates, or else you have to pay huge fees for seasonal. That's because they like to fill the full timers section.
Also, most parks have requirements as to age and size of RV so will not just let you park a van conversion and live in it - it brings down the ambiance for those driving big fancy rigs.
So, that might rule out St. John's NL and Vancouver's lower mainland, but Victoria/Nanaimo are sunnier. And the Okanagan is sunny, at least in the summer, and the Prairies are as well.
Hardly worth mentioning, there are days when you won't see any sun and I rarely even got to see the full moon.
Hey Adventuregurl, yeah I can't seem to log into my old account anymore. No matter what I did, so I just gave up on it and signed up again. Oh well. I've been delayed a bit in leaving but, now I have a definite date to work towards as the house I'm staying in has just been sold and the new owners take possession at the end of July. I might stick around for a few weeks to help out my parents with a few things, but our relationship is very strained to say the least, so I'm looking forward to going where "I" want to live and get rid of the stress. I figure by traveling Canada for the better part of a year in a conversion van, I will get to experience some areas I've never been to, and revisit some areas I've been to before, but that might have changed. Now that I've decided to be a snowbird, that also changed things. I can pick a place with an ideal summer (or I guess even an ideal winter, if that exists in Canada), since I will be in the US for the other 6 months of the year, kind of like you!
I know some campgrounds won't let conversion vans, converted school busses, older model motorhomes, etc in. But some do. The way I see it, I could be coming to camp with a tent and arrive in my 8 year old minivan (passenger van with windows). I could even set up a tent, maybe I will. But I've got my van almost ready now with a twin size bed, storage underneath the bed and a "kitchen" area at the back with a 12V fridge, and soon to be a sink with cabinets. I will have a good quality solar panel on the roof for power (along with the other components required). When I get my motorhome, I will tow the minivan behind it so when I get to a campground, I can leave the RV there and drive around the local area in a regular sized vehicle. I decided to save up for a year, rather than buying a ratty old motorhome now that would probably end up being a money pit. So I'll stick it out in my conversion van, probably having to spend the winter in Canada this year, or I might still go south, if anything for Jan and Feb.
As for parking the van, I plan on camping on the cheap this year. I may use paid campgrounds when it works out OK, if I can pay by the month or by the week. I don't want to get locked into something long term as I want to travel around and see many areas. I've got friends in some of those areas, so I can park at their place, or maybe even stay in their house or apartment. If not, I'm fully prepared to rough it in the van. Many (though not all) WalMarts allow overnight parking for RVers, so I can get a few nights here and there at WalMarts. And, there are actually some areas with free camping on government land. No hookups of course, and I believe you're limited to 14 days in one spot. These are really common in the western US, but not so much in Canada, though they do exist to a smaller extent. I plan on camping for free as much as possible.
Next year when I get my motorhome (a 35 to 40 foot Class A motorhome), I will obviously have to park in campgrounds most (if not all) of the time while in Canada. For my winters in the US, if I don't mind camping without hookups, boondocking, I can camp for free on BLM land commonly available in the western US. I'll have to check on age restrictions for motorhomes. I know, as you mentioned, some of them won't allow older units in, as they want to keep up a good appearance. I think some of them will take you on a case by case basis if you have an older one but in pristine condition. Others may not. In all likelihood, I will be buying a used motorhome, but plan on buying a nice one, as it will be my new home. I'm going to be a full time RVer. I've discovered that's what I really like. And, (unless I can get US citizenship), I'm going to be stuck in Canada for 6 months of the year. So I want to time it so that I get the best weather possible in Canada, and then have my pick of any southern or south-western states for the winter months. Just drive there in my motorhome.
Speaking of which... I'm pretty sure that information regarding working in the US, even if self-employed, is accurate. I've heard it from more than one person. Now, I'm sure many people get away with working in the US, even if it's something as innocent as working on a book that will be published upon return to Canada, and don't get found out. Could be unintentional because they didn't know, and the border agent didn't notice, or maybe they knew and intentionally hid that info. I've also heard of Canadians volunteering at campgrounds in the US in exchange for a free campsite. They think that since they're working for free, volunteering, it's OK. But it's not. Yeah, it's strict, I think a bit too strict, but I guess they have to draw the line somewhere or people would abuse it. And they chose a high benchmark. I want to play it legit, as I can never get away with anything. I'm sure I'd get caught if I tried to bend the rules even a little bit, so I won't even try.
As for sun... yeah out on the "wet" coast I'm not holding out too much hope. It's mostly for the benefit of the solar panels I want to use. The new ones are much better and can even work in cloudy conditions, though obviously not as effectively as in full sun. If I were to get a piece of land in Saskatchewan to have a "home base" to satisfy the border agents (and for my own benefit), I'd definitely get lots of sun there. I'm still weighing out the pros and cons. Saskatchewan is much more affordable, but a bit further out east that I want to be if I want to go to the US south-west most of the time. I just want a little plot of land where I can park the motorhome while in Canada, and live there. At least I'd know I always have a place to go, and it would be cheaper than renting space at a campground, even if getting a yearly full timer rate. And the sun for my free electricity via solar panels is a definite bonus. BC is where I'd rather be, but the prices are so much higher for land there, especially in the southern part of BC. If I bought some land there, I wouldn't have much left for a decent motorhome. That's why the Prairies (or maybe the maritime provinces) are looking more attractive for the more affordable real estate. We'll see. This year I'm going to live frugally to save up as much as I can.
You seem cool. You must live a cool lifestyle being able to travel around in a motor home and live wherever you like. I wish I could do that. I love the country life, but all the jobs are in the city, and I hate long commutes. I don't know what the Okanagan is like for prices, but I hear places like Kamloops don't get a lot of rain so your solar panels would work well if you can get land around that area, and I checked the weather records and the winters aren't any colder than Southern Ontario. If you want mild summers, I know Sault Sainte Marie has cool summer weather (Average high of 24 and low of 11 in July, the hottest month) and land is very affordable in Northern Ontario. Since you're planning on travelling to warmer places anyways during the winter months, that might be your best bet. I know the prairies have really hot summers. (I think it sometimes reaches the 40s in Saskatchewan) Manitoba might be cooler because of all the lakes, I'm not sure. Anywhere in the mountains would be cool and still sunny in the summer. Maybe there are some affordable mountain towns in Quebec you could look at.
Just wanted to point out that CBSA officers don't give a damn about whether you worked on your computer while you were in the U.S. CBSA is there to enforce Canada's laws, not the laws of the U.S.
You seem cool. You must live a cool lifestyle being able to travel around in a motor home and live wherever you like. I wish I could do that. I love the country life, but all the jobs are in the city, and I hate long commutes. I don't know what the Okanagan is like for prices, but I hear places like Kamloops don't get a lot of rain so your solar panels would work well if you can get land around that area, and I checked the weather records and the winters aren't any colder than Southern Ontario. If you want mild summers, I know Sault Sainte Marie has cool summer weather (Average high of 24 and low of 11 in July, the hottest month) and land is very affordable in Northern Ontario. Since you're planning on travelling to warmer places anyways during the winter months, that might be your best bet. I know the prairies have really hot summers. (I think it sometimes reaches the 40s in Saskatchewan) Manitoba might be cooler because of all the lakes, I'm not sure. Anywhere in the mountains would be cool and still sunny in the summer. Maybe there are some affordable mountain towns in Quebec you could look at.
Right on, thanks! I actually have a travel van right now, and "almost" bought a motorhome last month, but have decided to save a bit more to get a nicer, more reliable one. Next year I will have one for sure. Until then, the travel van will have to do.
The only province I don't want to be in is Ontario. I've spent most of my life in Ontario, and can't wait to leave it for good. It's the totally wrong province for me. I've also lived in Quebec and BC, loved them both, just not cold, snowy weather, which is hard to avoid in most of Canada, except BC's lower mainland or Vancouver Island. Only thing is that land is so expensive to buy there. I've seen cheap land in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec, but all of them get hot in the summer, and are sunny, so good for using solar panels.
Unless I leave for the hottest couple of months to cooler areas to avoid the heat, either up in elevation, further north, or closer to the coast. Or I'll change the months I'm in Canada... maybe go to the US for June, July and August, back to Canada for September, October and November, back to the US for December, January, February. And back to Canada for March, April, May. I know March can still be winter-like in most of Canada, but it would be a decent compromise. I really don't want to see or be in snow, but there are places in Canada that are less prone to snow in March. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, I don't want to be in scorching hot weather either. Most of Canada seems to get winters that are too cold and snowy for my liking, then they quickly change over to hot summers (and humid, depending on the area). It's like we skip over the nice temperatures so quickly and go from one extreme to the other.
The only reason I want to buy a cheap piece of land is to park my motorhome there for the summer, and live there (saving money on campgrounds), but more importantly to satisfy the border agents that I have ties to Canada. I hear that when you tell them you're staying in the US for a longer period of time, they really scrutinize you and your story, so I have to convince them I have ties to Canada and will be coming back. Owning Canadian real estate is generally a pretty good reason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tarp
Just wanted to point out that CBSA officers don't give a damn about whether you worked on your computer while you were in the U.S. CBSA is there to enforce Canada's laws, not the laws of the U.S.
Hmmm..... OK, you're right. the CBSA is concerned with Canada's laws, not the US. But they know a bit about US laws too, and I just happened to be talking to an off-duty CBSA agent, totally off the record, and was told that the US border agents (CBP I believe they're called) DO CARE if you work on your computer while in the US. The Canadian border agent knows the Canadian laws very well, but also has a pretty good grasp on the US laws too. I don't know if it's the same for a US citizen coming to Canada, but I know as a Canadian citizen going to the US, I am NOT allowed to work on my laptop for ANYTHING that may produce income, whether now, or in the future, even in Canada. Nothing that will result in selling something either. So, that means I cannot work on my laptop writing part of my book that I will finish and publish upon return to Canada. I cannot answer support questions by email or phone for digital downloadable products I sell. NOTHING business related. No exceptions.
Now, I personally think that's a bit too strict. And maybe they would turn a blind eye if they found out I sent one or two business emails over 6 months, or wrote a few pages of a manuscript (out of a an entire book). But I don't want to take a chance. I think a lot has to do with a person's attitude and honesty too, but I don't want to risk being barred from the US for 1 year or 5 years, etc. It seems like the only thing I can do with my laptop is use it for personal needs, like researching the best routes to take for a road trip, finding cities, places or campgrounds to visit, checking personal email, posting holiday pictures to Facebook, etc. I wish it weren't so strict, but I've found this out from several sources.
I'm not sure if the Canadian agents would care if I working on business projects on my laptop while in the US. Maybe not, because they are there to enforce Canada's laws. Or maybe it would open a whole can of worms and subject me to an in depth investigation/inspection. And maybe they would report me to the US agents, who could take action against me. I don't want to mess around with them. They have a lot of control and can make my life miserable. But more importantly, when I pull up to the US border agent's window at the border crossing and tell him/her that I am wanting to cross into the US for 6 months, I know they'll want to find out how I will support myself for that time. And they won't let me work on my computer or "telecommute". I don't want to deceive, lie or tell any half-truths.
You seem quite paranoid and also very straight-laced. It's none of their business how long you ultimately end up staying in the U.S... you are within your rights to come for a two week vacation and end up staying for six months. The only reason to tell them you're staying longer is if you're trying to invite scrutiny. Unless you're an older pensioner snowbird with a house in Canada and a large bank account, I would never evince an intention to stay for six months. You WILL get turned back at the border if you live out of your motorhome, have no significant assets in Canada and have no steady source of income.
Also, CBSA does not enforce U.S. or other foreign laws, will NOT search your laptop for evidence of working while in the U.S. and almost certainly wouldn't report you to the U.S. CBP for such a thing. Now if you were smuggling cocaine it might be a different story.
This is not legal advice and is purely my opinion.
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