Doubt that THS will put in writing details about difficulties in crossing borders, because it could help incriminate or implicate them. Better off with plausible deniability as a business.
Your sitters were unfortunately naive or inexperienced.
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Well, they trusted the information given by THS, one cannot blame the sitters for that.
The entity that is to blame is THS. Those letters are creating problems for members, both HOs and sitters. THS is well aware. They should have good numbers on how often this happens. It is not terribly rare.
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Yes, I think it’s irresponsible for THS to post those letters, which I mentioned in this thread and others. But no matter what a site posted, I’d use my judgment and experience, rather than just trusting them.
Well my sitters were first time sitters. Just did everything that THS suggested. By the book as they said. They did not know either that this was a potential problem. Now they have their passports flagged by US so also have to worry about anytime they plan to cross the border, which they did often enough since they only live 90 minute drive away. So I think they won’t be trying THS again anytime soon at least for US sits and they were so distraught probably never again. Which is sad. And my address is also with Homeland security. As an owner, THS should be making us aware. I’m concerned to consider any out of country sitter as the sitter might still be stopped if they provide my address! Geez, now I’m on a watch list! So do I now have to caution out of country sitters to not give my address? This letter has long term consequences beyond the loss of 1 sit!
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Yup, that’s why it’s irresponsible of THS to post these letters at all.
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I would not trust legal advice from any company that seeks to profits from my actions but in particular I think anything that has THS and legal advice in the same breath should be avoided at all costs. I do not understand why they simply don’t withdraw that letter.
Edited to keep post on topic as per guidelines.
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The best thing to do is to discuss in the pre-confirmation call that they should not under any circumstances say they are coming to your country for housesitting, and that it is for tourism only. And that the THS letter is trash. If a sitter is uncomfortable with this (some have a policy of extreme honesty), give them a pass. Probably a good idea to send a reminder before the sit.
It’s not only untraveled sitters. I have had one sitter* with a non-US passport, and only discovered on their arrival that they had mentioned house-sitting when they came into the US. Fortunately they had a lenient border guard who didn’t give them hassle, but I realize I had assumed they knew better - now I will make a big deal of it for any future sitters from outside the US.
*ETA for clarity - a sitter who has traveled extensively
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They do not mention THS, petsitting and above all the letter. They say they are tourists
Not a word.
Not only does THS not acknowledge anything, but they still advise sitters to show the letter to immigration officials, even though they know very well that the letter will most certainly deny them entry to the US.
Advice:
Links to the letterS at the bottom
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Same - we only sit internationally - we always say we are tourists. Usually we mention it to homeowners to say they are friends inviting us to stay and don’t mention anything about petsitting just incase we ever get asked.
It has happened once between maybe 40 border hops in the last 2 years and I was able to call the HO at the border to confirm we were friends and it was ok that we were staying with them which they confirmed.
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I just wanted to share my experience of pretty much full-time international travel since 2011 and full-time house sitting around the world since 2014. While I can’t remember the exact nature of every interaction I have had with immigration officials over the last 13 years, I can say with certainty that my husband and I have never been questioned extensively about our travel plans.
In fact, in most cases we aren’t asked a single question and our interactions with immigration officers don’t go beyond a simple greeting, getting our passport stamped and being on our way.
Obviously there have been situations where people have faced problems, particularly with entering the US, but like any issue discussed on a forum, the stories will skew towards negative experiences ,and I don’t think this issue is really a huge problem. The amount of people housesitting internationally is a small fraction of international travelers and I don’t think there are any places in the world where identifying these people is of any major focus.
It is unfortunate that some people have encountered problems and didn’t know better than to say nothing more than they are coming as tourists. To me, that is a very truthful answer. I don’t fly all around the world simply to take care of people’s pets–I do it to see new places.
I think this thread is useful in helping people who may not have thought twice about mentioning housesitting to avoid potential problems; but for anyone worried they face a high likelihood of being questioned so extensively they will have no choice but to reveal their housesitting plans and risk repercussions…that probably isn’t something to worry too much about.
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Knowledge is power. But NOT if you don’t have the information on the MAIN THS website so both sitters AND owners have a clue that it is even a possible issue. Not everyone uses the forum and even if they do, you have to know there is an issue first in order to seek out the thread. I will continue to request this be on main website so others don’t experience the upset and financial loss of being banned from entry (worse red flagged indefinitely). To me that’s important information to have especially for new sitters and new owners.
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Hello @Trudzie I just wanted to share with you the website page that discusses this as it seems you might not have spotted it TrustedHousesitters Statement on International House Sitting and Immigration | TrustedHousesitters.com It can be found in the footer of the website. I can pass on the feedback that it would be good to share with owners and sitters when they join.
It mentioned that some sitters have had challenges or been refused entry.
I understand that the letters on this page are not a popular addition and this has been previously passed on to the wider company by the forum team. If we get any more information about them we will post it here.
I completely understand your concerns, I am just sharing some resources you might have missed regarding immigration and welcome any feedback to share with the wider team. Thank you 
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I recently joined another site and I wanted to check their listings in the UK. They would not allow me to view their listings until I agreed with this disclaimer. The site also had similar information for the US, Canada and Australia. In my opinion this is much better option than the current immigration letters.
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We were stalked by one of the people on that list who had clearly had a tough time but involving us was not helpful. Everyone has to make their own decisions but for us, we are always tourists on our adventures and so far, so good 18 countries and 40 sits later. Don’t open up a can of worms if there’s no need would be our advice. #forewarnedisforearmed
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Might I recommend writing to THS and letting them know how unhappy you are about what happened for a start?
The more people who write the better. And petparents who are left with no pet care after they are on the road or right before leaving, need to be very vocal about their needs and the needs of their pets.
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I did. The bottom line is THS thinks the letter necessary and that sitters need to be honest and that this letter is helpful. Based on what happened to my sitters it was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. I think you can be honest without showing that letter. It was a vacation for my sitters. They were celebrating a big birthday. They had never been to Boston. All true facts. The letter got them the last minute denial.
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Yes, it happened to me as a sitter on Dec 21 2023. This letter THS pushes to the sitter, holds no weight!. It was devastating to me as a young retiree, I was fingerprinted, photo taken and oath of 13 pages documented! The US CBP Superintendent stated these letters hold no legality and go against your INA act. I was invoked an INA act, Immigrant entering without sufficient work /visa documentation. I have been red flagged since and has affected my retirement plans, so far coming into the Land Border they pull me aside each time, some officers state they feel this is unfortunate for me yet eventually their notes will get better, who knows in 5 years this may go away. I don’t have that luxury of time. This needs to get out more and more as this is not in rare cases, it goes against the INA act and a Foreign National cannot get a Work permit for this as it is not a specialized field for house/pet sitting. The Officers I have been speaking too, state this is getting flagged more at the Borders, this is not permitted !
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And if they find out you are not just on a vacation and a sit, they would be banned for entries! Either the US INA act would need to be changed to permit work permits for Foreign nationals (which can’t see this getting done) or this is not be legally done regardless!!
No I never saw the footnote. Thanks for letting me know. But I would recommend that you let the sitter (and owner) know about the potential issues whenever you send the letter email that must remind the sitter of their steps to the upcoming sit. Specifically provide a link to this forum chat.
I’d also like to suggest a survey to sitters with 2 questions 1. Do you use the letter? Yes or no. If you used the letter were you denied entry? Yes or No. THS states this is a “rare” occurrence. I suspect it’s not so rare when the letter is used. So for example, if 1000 sitters answer those 2 questions and you find only 10% use the letter ( 100 sitters). But of these 100 sitters, 50 were denied than that’s a 50% denial rate when using the letter. (Versus only 5% had a problem eg 50/1000=5%)
Also the survey would tell you that if 90% of your sitters don’t use the letter because of the issues mentioned here, THS should really reconsider whether they want to continue to recommend this letter. It is worded in a way that to me seems arrogant, like THS knows better about this law than the day to day agents at the border. Also, THS is about “trust”. We as members have to trust that you are providing the best guidance. I think THS can still provide guidance by just making us aware but without use of the “letter”.
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