Staging in the United States from Abroad

[Jaya Morris]

Does anyone from abroad of specifically Canada have any ideas about staging in the USofA ? Is it possible to stage legally without pay on

as a traveler for under 3 months? or is a work VISA still necessary ? with/without wage.

And what if you're staging outside the realm of a culinary school ?

Are the countries that don't require working visas?

Thanks!

[karlos]

I don't know the answer to this but you may get more answers from Cheftalk. Good luck.

[ScoopKW]

If you're not being paid, you can do whatever the hell you want -- it's not "work" as far as the government is concerned, unless you can pay taxes on it. So I wouldn't worry in the least. Come on a tourist visa. I've done crazier things than working in a kitchen on vacation. (I volunteered at a zoo for three weeks once.)

Where are you going, incidentally? Can you share specifics?

[Honkman]

Actually voluneering without the correct visa isn't that simple. As a former postdoc I know many cases where other postdocs moved to the US for 2 or 3 years for their postdoc and their spouses had to wait for a long time to get the correct visa to either have chance to work or just to do some volunteering. You can of course try to do it without a visa but if you get in trouble don't expect to work or even travel to the US in the future.

[ScoopKW]

Big difference between interning for a two years at a hospital and staging for a few days at a restaurant.

I've worked all kinds of short-term "jobs" on vacation. Usually I received room, or board, or both. In reality I would have paid them for the experience. They've easily been my favorite vacations. Never once a problem. And I doubt Jaya will have a problem, either. But there's always the slim chance that INS agents raid the restaurant during staging. Me, I'd accept that risk.

[Honkman]

I wasn't talking about two years if interning (for which you need a J-1) but spouses who wanted to volunteer for free for one or two days a week and got in trouble visit out the necessary visa.

[Jaya Morris]

Im from Montreal Canada

and considering heading down to new york city.