I don’t think that’s a problem. Naming the lawyer wouldn’t make the letter more convincing to a border official.
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Of course not. They cannot risk having 200,000 members asking their “legal team” (if there is one) questions. But why bother with a letter in the first place? An excerpt or quote from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection regulations stating the accuracy of THAT claim, or even a link, would be quite sufficient.
It would get more convincing for me when a reputable lawyer would stake their name and professional reputation on it. Especially if it was an immigration lawyer from that country.
(Rather than some THS employee just googling stuff.)
Personally, in this case, I don’t actually care which lawyer signs their name to this misguided approach.
It could be the most reputable lawyer in the world or country, and I’d still think such legal advice was irrational and likely to land sitters in trouble (and create terrible ripple effects for their hosts), because in what world do companies get to tell border agents what to think or do?
And I say this as someone who has major respect for terrific lawyers. In two industries over decades, I’ve worked closely with them and relied on strong legal advice. But everyone should always use their judgment: Just because someone is a lawyer, doctor, etc., doesn’t mean you should automatically follow their advice. That’s because there’s such a thing as common sense. And the consequences will be yours to face, not the lawyer, doctor, etc.
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THS should not post and push their letters to the sitter, thus causing the Immigration problems left on the sitters! If this is the firm they also need to account for their incorrect statement that this is not work and does not fall under the US INA act. Yet it does. Silly me, did not research as I usually do, I discovered this site upon loosing my dog of 18 years and thought this was a great way to fill the void and travel. THS perhaps should clean up their mess if making false statements and false letters in relation to the Immigration act!!!
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Seconding this advice—once, before my housesitting days, I was grilled by an Irish immigration officer who saw that I’d been traveling extensively in other regions of the world prior to Ireland, asked about my job (on sabbatical from my professional career), my financial resources to be doing all that traveling and whether I had a job to return to. Although I was there for purely tourist reasons meeting up with family who had planned the trip, the fact that I didn’t know my exact itinerary and didn’t have a return ticket booked yet made him very suspicious and he actually went through my phone—which I’d offered up to show my bank account—searching for Irish phone numbers. I’m sure he suspecting me of being there to work illegally or something.
In retrospect I was being young and foolish (“I’m Irish American! it’s the land of my ancestors! of course they’ll let me in!” 
) and could have been denied entry. If I’d been headed there for a housesit and had the HO contact info saved outside the THS app, he would have found that conversation.
It’s very easy to book a return airline ticket on Expedia and cancel for free within 24h of booking, and the same for hotels. Tourists with itineraries don’t get questioned. And plenty of tourists choose to prolong their travels after they arrive. Do with this information what you will.
Just curious about how digital nomads who work whilst travelling and pet sitting manage?
What are the visa rules about working digitally in another country as they’re clearly not tourists….
Rule #1 - Keep Schtum
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Doesn’t this nullify any travel insurance though if you’ve ticked the tourist box … and the visa tourist box too?
@BonnyinBrighton digital nomads who are travelling are working for/with their own company or a company in their own or other country, not for anyone in the country they are sitting in. So I could do my Australian job online in the UK and that would not be classified as working insofar as a visa point. The visa requirements is basically that you won’t be working for a person/persons/company in the country for which your visa has been given as that is looked upon as “taking the job of a citizen from that country that could have fulfilled that role”. You can’t work for anyone in a country where a visa has been given but you can work remotely for the other reasons stated. There are now many countries even offering “digital nomad visas” for extended periods
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@BonnyinBrighton - Not if you follow rule #1
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@Colin exactly, silence is golden 
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We have digital nomad insurance as we roam the world @BonnyinBrighton and all my clients are in my homeland where I pay tax so I’m not working as part of say, the Thai economy. So far so good. #neverletthetruthgetinthwayofagoodstory
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Some countries have “digital nomad” visas, but mostly it’s done in a way that isn’t really above board.
Also, even aside from the immigration issue, while some small number of companies have “work from anywhere” policies, most don’t allow it because it opens them up to workplace health and safety issues, as well as tax implications, and potentially other legal issues.
During peak covid time I was aware of someone who had left the country they were living and working in to deal with a family crisis in their home country, and continued working remotely while doing so. It caused a massive headache for everyone involved because the company was expressly not able to trade in the home country for anti-competitive reasons.
So, again, people don’t mention it.
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So I know that using a VPN hides your location so I assume this is how people maybe get around the issue?
Anyway I was simply curious…. and of course it’s hard to define ‘working’. Our son writes AI so is always pondering ‘stuff’ even whilst he’s asleep I believe 
a bit like Gandalf!
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Not quite. Hiding your location might work when using streaming services and the like, but you cannot hide the VPN usage itself. This will subsequently flag your absence from the country in question, which can have far more serious consequences, such as losing your job.
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Right. Even Netflix can see if you’re using a VPN and block you.
Some companies always have employees use VPN, regardless of whether they travel, like if you go sit at a coffee shop and use their wifi, because they’re unsecured. For security purposes, they’d want to protect whatever work and data are used or done. Like some companies work in defense, health care, personal finance, etc. And many have access to users’ private info or data.
For companies, especially ones like those above, there are security, business and tax implications and employees can’t just work anywhere. Legit companies of certain sizes usually have an approved list of countries where employees can work from, even if they’re there only briefly. In those countries, they’ve registered, etc., with gov’t agencies for example and checked out tax consequences. That’s separate from whether someone needs a visa to work there.
Many people wouldn’t qualify for digital nomad visas or don’t go through the trouble if they’re there only briefly. They go under the radar, but technically they’re breaking the law.
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If you’re trying to hide your activities from immigration officials, you just don’t mention it or do anything that might draw attention to it. I don’t know that any immigration system is so sophisticated to seek it out themselves.
As already mentioned, if you want to hide your location from your employer, a VPN install on company hardware would set off some flags and possibly a sequence of events that would have them terminating your employment. Probably if you wanted to hide your location you’d have another story to tell your colleagues about why your background looks different in video calls, but it’d be a really difficult charade to maintain long-term. Even just managing time-zone differences when everyone is physically where they should be is a nightmare in some industries.
If you want to change your location digitally to get around government censorship or watch a tv show or sports game that’s not broadcast where you are, then VPN is the tool 
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@lolrj I always use VPN because I work in different locations. I might be in a coffee shop, a library, a cafe, etc. A VPN doesn’t mean you are trying to hide anything, it’s for security.
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If it’s a company-approved VPN; if not they’ll be asking questions.
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