Now that I’ve formally moved out of the US (follow-up post to come), it’s time to write a brief essay on how that’s affected my work on this blog as a Canadian (aka: non-citizen of America).

Disclaimer: THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, and should not be read as evidence to guide you on your situation.

Brief backstory: I’m a software developer by trade, and have worked in the US under such roles, rather than my native home country of Canada. I had a work permit to allow me as a temporary foreign worker to do this.

If you’ve ever traveled abroad, you might have noticed that countries will ask if you’re spending more than a certain period of time (usually 30 – 90 days) in the foreign country. If you ARE, they’d ask a lot more questions about what you’re doing there. It looks as though you’re trying to unofficially become a resident, and you’d have no proof that you’d eventually leave. They’d ask if you’re holding a job there, and whether you’ve done the legal paperwork to do so. You might have to pay income tax in the foreign country, on both new and existing financial assets (including from your prior home).

It can be a complicated mess if you don’t know what you’re doing. But depending on your profession, it might be essential to making a living. Most countries have a variety of work permits and visas to allow temporary residency to hold a job. I was surprised as an adult to learn that Canadians have relied on this heavily (commuting each day across the border is a common thing for us), and there are different visas specific to the US and Canada. Common ones are the H1-B, TN, P-1, but there are many others, and their rules and names are subject to change each year.

If you live in Canada and commute to the US each day with a work visa, you would probably maintain Canadian status, with the additional requirement of filling out US income tax as well as Canadian each year. Otherwise, you could live your life within Canada freely. If your job is too far from the border, you might be able to use your visa to move to the US, on the condition that it’s temporary and that’d you’d leave when the visa expired and/or when the job role ended. In this case, you would be a “resident non-citizen alien” of the US, with the rules and tax implications that apply there, and no longer have the freedoms of a Canadian citizen and resident until you move back.

My issue: in addition to my job, I also like to create and sell games as a hobby. And a temporary foreign work visa is usually explicit: you cannot hold any other job (whether or not it produces income) not specified and approved on your work permit.

Royalties and sales on past games seem to be fine regardless of the work permit rules. And if I commuted across the border each day, I could make the argument that hobby work was being done in Canada, not the US, and therefore not applicable to visa rules. But if I resided in the US for a year or more, making games for sale during that time would be, technically, illegal, without government approval.

For the past 5+ years, I’ve been stuck in a rut trying to make new projects. I want to be clear that the international border rules had nothing to do with me being unable to finish and sell new games. But it did mean that it’d be illegal for me to hire contractors (artists, programmers, designers, musicians, etc.) during that time. And it’d be illegal for me to accept new contractor roles as a programmer for other indie game projects, even for free. That hurt me emotionally, and crippled my ability to network. Michigan in particular was a hive of activity when it came to small projects and opportunities, and I had to reject all offers of interest. Not because I wanted to reject them, but because I couldn’t legally act upon them. Naturally, local residents weren’t aware of any of the international rules, and probably saw my explanations as rude, as though “I just wanted to work on my own thing,” which was inaccurate, and I apologize for how that might have come across.

I’m sure audits on such small things are rare, but I was legally required to report all my financial accounts to the government each year, so I’m sure they’d catch any unusual activity.  It was entirely by chance that I never made anything during my tenure that would have violated the visa rules. And at the time, I wasn’t in the mood to risk losing a job and getting blacklisted from future visa-requiring opportunities, so it did cross my mind that if I ever did finish something for release, I’d postpone any release until I was legally allowed to do so.

The alternative solution is not to rely on temporary visas at all, but to apply for a greencard and citizenship, which allows more free reign on accepting any job within the country in question. But I never intended to move permanently to the US. I never intended to work there at all, for that matter. I love Canada, and as frustrated as I am that its entire job market is less than a city like Detroit, I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to permanently tie myself to the rules and taxes of a second country either (with the US, tax reporting is permanent for citizens, even if they permanently move abroad).

So why did I write this?

The world’s economy is increasingly gig-based, and it’s increasingly easy for people to at least try to act on their dreams, whether it’s making art, writing, acting, online influencer, or whatever. And as long as you live and work within your home country of citizenship, that’s fine to do. But I don’t think everyone is aware of the implications of moving, even just temporarily, to a new country to chase after a job, and how that can affect your “unofficial” jobs. Had I known, I might have tried harder to stay in Canada and commute across the border each day, even if it meant an extra hour of two each day of driving. Which some people appear to do, and part of the reason why is that they have reasons to not move to the country where jobs reside.

So if you’re a new worker or international student considering foreign visas to work or study abroad, try to keep the rules and repercussions in mind. Remote work is increasingly acceptable now, which might allow the best of both worlds.