Erickson in the News: ‘They don’t like Canadians’: New border obstacle for high-skilled workers

Melia Russell | 

Some U.S. border agents have quietly begun refusing to process work visas for Canadians already working in the country, a change that is confounding immigration lawyers and could pose problems for big Silicon Valley employers that frequently move tech workers between Canada and the U.S.

Canadians seeking to renew documents used for intracompany transfers have until recently applied at airports and border stations manned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The border agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, is now directing Canadians to file renewals for L-1 visas with a different agency, Citizenship and Immigration Services, in a far more cumbersome process, according to an email sent by a border officer in Toronto obtained by The Chronicle.

It’s just the latest change that appears to throw bureaucratic obstacles in the way of bringing high-skilled workers to the United States.