Visitors Visa - So Confused (can you get a work permit on a visa-free entry?)

[Charlie_Jack]

Thanks, @yyy, for the impressive amount of work you’ve put in on this issue.

I think @Hardcopy’s concern can be expressed by something @tempogain wrote back in 2015:

@tempogain

. . . I’m not sure if “foreign professional workers” is equivalent to “white collar.”

One example of this is that the minimum wage for supposedly white collar workers doesn’t seem to apply to cram school teachers (or at least it didn’t seem to apply back in 2012).

I believe you, but I can also understand why @Hardcopy would be somewhat uncomfortable, especially since the TECO person to whom he spoke nixed the idea of going directly to an ARC from visa-exempt status.

But there’s this:

@yyy

If for some reason BOCA has decided to stop issuing visas to people who obtained work permits while visa-free, you could still fly out to somewhere like HK, Seoul or Manila and apply for a visa there, instead of going back to the US.

Again, thanks, @yyy.