Question about a friend and potential reprucussions...

[ruggerp11]

I have a friend who has a girlfriend from another country (our friendly neighbors to the north). Said girlfriend came into the country without a work visa but wanted to make some money while staying here for the summer. Being a nanny is what came to mind but the family that wanted to hire her was using government 'flex' dollars to help pay for the nanny. If said friend claimed the income on himself (approx $4500), what are:

A) the reprucussions that could possibly be associated with such a venture and

B) the effects of the extra $4500 in income on his tax structure?

My friend appreciates the advice.
Thank you

[JustJess]

Basically, she's in danger of getting kicked out and banned from entering the US for a period of time - usually 10 years. He is danger of being charged with fraud at the least. Who cares about the extra $4500 in terms of tax? He'll just be liable for more tax, that's all.

[ruggerp11]

Thank you for the response. The 10 year thing is what scares my friend the most. *shudder*

[The_Jazz]

Yeah, this is a bad scheme all the way around. As an employer of several foreign workers, I can say that you either need to go completely honest or do everything to hide it. If one of the parties can't or won't find a way to make this work, then you're SOL. However, the work rules for Canadians, especially in a case like this, are ususally a little more lax than they are for folks from the rest of the world. I'd see if she can apply to get a temporary work permit.

If your friend reports this as his income, it's potentially tax fraud, which is a very big deal. Whoever came up with this idea needs to go back to the drawing board.

[JustJess]

If nothing is set in motion as yet, then I would go another route. She can get working visas pretty easily from Canada. Do some Googling. There are other ways.
Link

Au pairs arrive in the United States with a J-1 visa. The visa is a full-page stamp in your passport which says, “J-1 Visa United States of America” across the top. On the left side there is a photograph and next to this is the name of the city where it was issued, your name and passport number. Under “Entries”, it should read “M” for multiple entries, meaning you may travel outside the United States as often as you wish during your year, although generally not for more than 3 weeks at a time. Next to “entries” there will be an issue date and an expiration date. Generally the expiration date should be one year from the issue date, although in some instances the expiration date may be shorter or longer than one year from the issue date.

[JustJess]

Hey - I did a little more poking around. If it's for less than 180 days, the world won't end. Better to not involve your friend as a middle man at all. For 180 days to a year's worth of going out of status, she can be banned up to 3 years. But for over a year's worth of work/being out of status, that's the 10 year ban.

However... none of it is recommended, and if it were anyone I were responsible for, I'd smack them silly just for thinking about it.

[ktspktsp]

To your friend: do not mess with visas & proper status if you're not ready to be banned from the country for a long time! And possibly never have the chance of immigrating to the US. This is serious stuff.

[SirLance]

What is contemplated are felony tax and immigration fraud. Everyone involved could go to prison, face fines, on top of which she would be deported and would face a permanent ban (felons aren't allowed re-entry). Don't do it. Go the au-pair route.

[ruggerp11]

The problem is that she is already here, but my friend has taken your advice (thank you!) and polietly declined the position on the grounds of WAY TOO MUCH RISK! He (and I the interweb guy) have/had done a lot of research and many of the temp work visas were unapplicable and when calling the embassy to get help there were many phone numbers but no real help.