Working Freelance as a non resident alien

skpawlow · ‎01-26-2021

Hello, I'm considered a non resident alien and I'm working in the US on a TN Visa (work permit) from Canada with my full time company. I would like to earn through Upwork for extra money, but I'm reading the tax information, and it says for US persons, but I don't believe I qualify as that. How are non resident aliens able to work as freelancers?

prestonhunter · ‎01-26-2021

Sylvia:
I can assure you that Upwork does not determine any person's eligibility to work.

Upwork asks that its users comply with local laws and regulations.

If you live in a certain place, and you are considered eligible to work, then Upwork considers you eligible to work as a freelancer on Upwork.

If you ask Upwork if you are eligible to work, its employees will tell you that you should consult with local authorities and experts.

If you are simply asking if non-U.S. citizens who reside in the United States can work as freelancers on Upwork... The answer is "yes." As long as you are eligible to work in the U.S., Upwork considers you eligible to work as a freelancer on its platform.

People here in the Forum (and Upwork employees) don't make the rules. And we can not provide authoritative answers to your questions. Whether or not you are eligible to work depends on many factors, including your nationality, place of birth, nationality of parents, citizenship, current place of residence, student status, VISA status, passport status, criminal history, work history, educational history, type of work you plan to do, status of employer/client/etc., year of birth, status of naturalization process, citizenship of spouse, citizenship of other family members, refugee status, asylum status, etc.

feed_my_eyes · ‎01-26-2021

Preston H wrote:

If you are simply asking if non-U.S. citizens who reside in the United States can work as freelancers on Upwork... The answer is "yes." As long as you are eligible to work in the U.S., Upwork considers you eligible to work as a freelancer on its platform.

Wrong. A person can be eligible to work in the U.S. but under very tight restrictions, such as being allowed to only work for a specific employer. It does not mean that they can legally do other types of work in the U.S.

prestonhunter · ‎01-26-2021

Christine:
I agree with you.

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear about any of the points I made. I can see how the way I worded that sentence sounded wrong: "As long as you are eligible to work in the U.S., Upwork considers you eligible to work as a freelancer on its platform."

That is why I said that the original poster would need to consult with experts or authorities, and that many factors matter, including the type of work she is doing and the specific employer that she is working for.

It would have been more clear if, after pointing out that qualified non-U.S. citizens who live in the U.S. ARE able to work on Upwork, I had said: "As long as you are legally eligible to work in the U.S. on a freelancer on Upwork, Upwork considers you eligible to work as a freelancer on its platform. But Upwork does not itself make that determination."

feed_my_eyes · ‎01-26-2021

Sylvia P wrote:
Hello, I'm considered a non resident alien and I'm working in the US on a TN Visa (work permit) from Canada with my full time company. I would like to earn through Upwork for extra money, but I'm reading the tax information, and it says for US persons, but I don't believe I qualify as that. How are non resident aliens able to work as freelancers?

I'm pretty sure that most work permits for the U.S. don't allow you to run your own business (which is what you'd be doing as a freelancer); I haven't even gone on holidays there in years because of problems that I've had at immigration controls in the past.

Upwork won't stop you from working here and won't check your visa status, but if the U.S. government finds out, they could terminate your visa and send you back to Canada. You should look into this more carefully before you apply for any jobs here (and I don't mean by posting questions in a forum like this, where you probably won't hear from anyone who's qualified to give you a definitive answer); even just registering here as a freelancer may be against the rules of your visa.

prestonhunter · ‎01-26-2021

There are literally millions of non-U.S. citizens who work in the United States.

Many are able to work without restriction.

Many are able to work, but with restrictions.

The original poster can check with various authorities and experts to get authoritative answers about her current eligibility AND ALSO (if necessary) to find out how to CHANGE her eligibility.

(There are ways to do this. And typically those ways are even easier if a person is from Canada.)