I am not sure what you mean? After reading about the difficulties that some people have experienced, I contacted the home owner and withdrew my application. I do not want them to have any worries about last minute hitches.
You didn’t indicate that you’d withdrawn from the sit…
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These letters are on the site. The footer of the main page has a link to TrustedHousesitters Statement on International House Sitting and Immigration | TrustedHousesitters.com
There you will find letters to border officials of the US, UK, Australia and Canada. Those are the letters that are getting people in trouble, because some people use them. More than ten sitters last year, I believe, and of course the hosts have have to deal with a last-minute cancellation.
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I don’t know how frequently this happens, but I’ve had to talk to border agents when the e-gates were down, for example. The last time that happened was in Scotland. And I don’t think there are e-gates for the Eurostar. Both ways for the U.K. and France, I was screened by border agents.
As THS keeps growing, more and more countries will start including a clause similar to the one for NZ. Once it’s explicitly stated in the visa application, then you can’t really argue with it, with or without a THS letter.
[NZ Visitor Visa]or [NZ Visa Waiver Visitor Visa]
- You cannot work on a visitor visa. This includes paid work or work in return for non-financial benefits such as reduced rates on accommodation, food, or transport.
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I just had a look at the letters for various countries and I found the Canadian one in particular interesting because it contained a pretty detailed excerpt from an official government website about what is and is not considered ‘work.’
Based on this pretty detailed breakdown, I wouldn’t think housesitting falls under that category at least in this country. One interesting thing was the acknowledgement that receiving something in exchange for the ‘service’ doesn’t automatically mean it is ‘work.’
I can’t recall if any people have encountered issues entering Canada, and if officials there have many any statements about it.
I know some Canadians have encountered issues crossing into the US.
I know a lot of people quote a part of these letters where THS states that they feel what sitters are doing is not any form of employment, and they get dragged for that.
But to be fair to them, this is often quoted out of context. This is not just some random opinion they are stating; this statement is preceded by mention of consulting with immigration lawyers in the respective countries who advised them. I recall in one article about this, a US lawyer was quoted as saying housesitting did not constitute work, so I am sure they spoke with lawyers who shared this same interpretation of the law.
Whether or not the guidance is accurate is another matter. The only thing I am stating here is that I don’t think they were ever purposely trying to mislead people, and based on advice they received from lawyers in this line of work, truly believed housesitting did not break any rules.
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Whatever THS or its lawyers say, the U.S. considers sitting for barter as work. Unrelatedly, on a video series about how countries police their borders, the U.S. rejected someone coming from Canada as a volunteer. They were going to staff a booth or such at some event, which meant they’d get free entry to it. The border agent said that wasn’t allowed and sent the person back to Canada immediately.
BTW, someone related to the article has posted part of a sitter’s profile on the unofficial Facebook group, saying she’s not stalking her. (IMO, that makes it obvious she’s a stalker and is trying to “out” sitters.) I mention this, because folks on the forum might want to delink their sitter profiles in case she tries to stalk others.
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Your post made it sound like you were still doing the sit.
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95% of the time I enter a country as a ‘tourist’ - even when I have other reasons. For example, my 2nd job takes me to many countries but in quite a few I’m officially not allowed to do the work without a visa - but then there’s actually no visa category to suit the short term nature of the work. And there wouldn’t be a local who could specifically do what I do instead either.
So what to do? Enter as tourist, always. Same if you’re pet sitting. I have gone to Canada for petsitting, and yes, I entered as a tourist. And then went on overland to the US. And no, they don’t need to know. Just make sure you have a decent story as to what you’re coming to do.
As long as you don’t enter the country again and again and again as tourist, it’s quite unlikely that you’re going to raise any eyebrows. It’s only when it becomes a pattern that it starts to look suspicious. Or maybe if you go in the dead of winter when no one’s coming in as a tourist…
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And the new European system is designed to discover patterns more easily. Of course, the target for that is real criminal activity of various kinds. But I would guess that the system is likely to trigger an in-person interview more frequently for habitual sitters and for nomads etc.
I don’t quite understand why so many here object to the activism. Activists do a public service, I appreciate their efforts to create awareness. Who knows, otherwise I might also have been denied entry at JFK or something.
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Hello everyone,
I’ve carried out some moderation to make sure that this discussion is within our Community Guidelines, as we shouldn’t be focusing on any individuals - our terms and conditions state that any discussions around immigration should be generalised discussions that are housesitting-specific regarding matters such as immigration or visa.
It’s fine to discuss the article’s themes in a more general sense, we don’t want to stop you from expressing your opinion (positive or negative), but we do need to keep the conversation within the guidelines.
I’ve taken a note of some of the information that’s been shared regarding someone related to the article, and provided feedback to the team.
I’ve moved this conversation over to the dedicated general discussion around challenges with border guards.
Jenny
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@DianaUK I fully understand your concern, and it is highly relevant—it’s a riskfull and blurry area. Even though THS is registered under the industry code ‘Other accommodation,’ which is quite a mixed category as well.
For example, I recently declined a listing where the HO wanted me to pet sit before their departure because they had private obligations and parties to attend. In other words, they wanted free pet sitting beyond the period when they were away.
THS doesn’t consider this a violation because I was offered accommodation while doing so. However, no border patrol would see this as anything other than free labor if I were stopped and used this as my reason for entry. In those cases, it’s undeniably free labor, whether you’re pet sitting, painting the HO’s house, acting as a personal assistant, etc.
Your comment brings to mind something I read about the work rules in Canada. It talked about how work performed that is incidental to the person’s primary reason for being in the country–even if there is some benefit received–would not be considered ‘work.’
I think housesitting would qualify as such an activity since it is not the primary reason someone is going there, the primary reason is tourism. People aren’t flying halfway across the world specifically to walk people’s dogs and clean their cat’s litter boxes.
Obviously I am talking about a specific country’s regulation and they vary among countries. But I think they do a good job of explaining the difference between the two–at least as how they see it–and there is a lot of good general rationale for why house sitting wouldn’t fall into a ‘work’ category.
The fact that sitters receive some benefit in exchange for their service doesn’t automatically make it ‘work’ without question. Some of the Canadian regulations I read demonstrate how there is some nuance to these determinations, not just about housesitting, but in general.
You may be referring to this:
There may be other types of unpaid short-term work where the work is really incidental to the main reason that a person is visiting Canada and is not a competitive activity, even though non-monetary valuable consideration is received. For instance, if a tourist wishes to stay on a family farm and work part time just for room and board for a short period (i.e., one to four weeks), this person would not be considered a worker. Work on a farm that is expected to extend beyond four weeks would require a work permit.
See also: [Assessing farm work]
We recognize that there may be overlap in activities that we do not consider to be work and those activities which are defined as work not requiring a work permit in R186. However, the net effect (no work permit required) is the same.
Sounds like the best option is “I’m a tourist” and when they ask what all this housesitting stuff is on your socials you can tell them you didn’t declare it as it is incidental to your intended purpose of tourism 
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I suspect there was a bit of sarcasm in your comment–which is fine. I was merely adding to the discussion by noting some of the things this particular government has said about what constitutes ‘work’ and what doesn’t, and how based on that rationale, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to argue housesitting wouldn’t fall under that category.
Ultimately I have no idea about what their official position on this activity is, and it is up to them to decide whether it is a permitted or not. I don’t have any illusions tourists’ interpretations of their laws would carry any weight with them.
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No sarcasm
My apologies for misinterpreting! Have a great day!
Border agents do have the right to search your electronics if they suspect you of illegal activities, so it might be useful to plan accordingly. Personally, I wipe traces of sitting activities and store everything in the cloud, in case. Lowers the already low odds of being flagged. YMMV.
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Personally, I didn’t need this kind of activism. I also think that border agencies are more likely to tighten up the more noise is made about international sitting, so it could end up hurting sitters more than it helps. With greater scrutiny, maybe digital nomads would be hurt as well.
For me, though, sitting abroad isn’t integral to my lifestyle. And I live in the U.S., where many sits are available. So if international sitting became problematic, shrug, I’d just skip it and keep traveling abroad otherwise.
(edited to meet Forum guidelines)
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