I'm on a TN VISA. Can I take on extra freelance work?

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I'm on a TN VISA. Can I take on extra freelance work?

Postby ldluong » Fri May 15, 2009 4:45 pm

I'm currently working and living in Southern California as a Graphic Designer sponsored by my current employer. I'm full time and I want to stay employed by them but I'm really interested in taking on some freelance work. Is this do-able under my current TN Visa?

I know I can't be in the US solely on a contract basis, but I'm already Full-Time and am just looking to take on extra work. I tried looking for information everywhere. I've called the US Embassy who than told me to contact US Immigration. That didn't help at all because the immigration line just sent me around in circles.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Last edited by ldluong on Thu May 21, 2009 4:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: I'm on a TN VISA. Can I take on extra freelance work?

Postby Reba » Fri May 15, 2009 5:20 pm

Nope, not unless you have a work permit that allows it. TN does not allow you to work for any employer other than the one that sponsored you.
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Re: I'm on a TN VISA. Can I take on extra freelance work?

Postby axolotl » Sat May 16, 2009 7:14 am

No, this is generally not possible. You are able to hold multiple TNs however, so if you are doing contract work for a specific company, they could sponsor you for a TN. You would have to get them to put together a job offer letter, and you'd have to go to the border to get a new TN.
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Re: I'm on a TN VISA. Can I take on extra freelance work?

Postby ldluong » Thu May 21, 2009 4:42 pm

-- Thu May 21, 2009 5:44 pm --

Reba wrote:Nope, not unless you have a work permit that allows it. TN does not allow you to work for any employer other than the one that sponsored you.


Thank you everyone for your responses.

How would this work if doing freelance is not really for a particular company? For example, I do painting on the side and if someone wanted to buy a painting, would it be possible?
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Re: I'm on a TN VISA. Can I take on extra freelance work?

Postby Steven » Fri May 22, 2009 8:29 am

No, because then you're self-employed. If you're deriving income from an activity then you're supposed to be doing payroll withholding on it, so as an artist you would effectively be self-employed. You cannot be self-employed on TN-1.

From the sounds of it maybe you ought to start thinking about setting up your own company and getting an E-2 visa if you can fathom a "substantial investment" to justify it.
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