Getting Paid for Freelance work under H1B

[2nirsv]

Hi,
I am H1B holder in US currently with my canadian wife (Shes in TN but may convert to H4 soon). I have been able to obtain several contracted work outside my current job.

I am not able to get paid for those since I am not eligible for any other work than from the current employer. ( My clients have been sending me pay checks but I havent been able to cash them so far !!).

In this concern, can i
(1) ask the employers to send a check to my wife's name and deposit it in a bank in canada?
(2) open a company (registered) in canada based on my wife's citizenship and ask the employers to send checks to the "business" name in canada?

I guess, if i start a company in Canada, more complexity on taxes etc are going to come into play.

There is no in-office work to be carried out. So, I just need a way to get paid for my work. I am quite confused about how to accept payments from the clients at this point.

Any ideas / comments are greatly appreciated.

 

[winthan]

I am not able to get paid for those since I am not eligible for any other work than from the current employer. ( My clients have been sending me pay checks but I havent been able to cash them so far !!).

What??? is that a rule for H1B not to get paid from those???

Well, you can get the pay checks and cash them out. If you want to cash out, go to some money transfer retail shop, and ask them to cash out. That is your money. You might need your ID for it.

 

[hadron]

Endorse them to your employer, have the employer take out a 'management fee' and pay it as part of your regular salary.

Try not to do any monkeybusiness with funneling the money abroad. Those companies will issue you a 1099 at the end of the year and report those payments to the IRS. How are you going to report that income on your taxes ? I am personally more afraid of the IRS than the INS.

Bottom line: Can't do free-lance work under H1b.