Looking to see if anyone from Canada has tried to move to the states for poker?

I am looking to move to Vegas since i mostly play on American sites anyways right now and would like to transition to more live poker which i cannot do in Canada ( at least where i currently am ).

Have been researching different ways to do this and came across this https://gyazo.com/84369c8371fdf06e4efaac529e7e28d6 saying poker players can qualify for an O-1 visa. Has anyone had experiences doing something like this?

Curious how guys like Daniel Negreanu or Sorrel Mizzi live there year round.

Or is this even worth the hassle and be better off staying 6 months at a time as a snowbird?

They most likely hire immigration attorneys which aren't cheap. If you are ok spending $4-10k on this, then by all means. Otherwise, its much easier to just be a perpetual tourist.

If you really like live poker, then go see the world. You can stay in Europe (schengen) for 3 months as a tourist, UK for 6, USA for 6.

Its likely after a few months in Vegas you will want to leave anyway.

So much this +1001. Better life EV. Cultural experience (of course ). And then you will encounter these games that no one speaks of in random destinations GL

Ditto on post #3, except skip the USA. It's the ****tiest place to live in the world, and I can promise you'll agree with that after a few months in Vegas or most other places in the country. I'd recommend Europe over anything else, quality of life is higher than just about anywhere else except Canada/Australia are close, but the culture trumps everywhere. Just nomad around for a bit, do 3-4 weeks+ in each place, and eventually you'll know where you like the most for yourself. And I can promise it won't be Vegas.

If you want some specific recommendations for Europe:

Best cities to live in overall (imo): Budapest, Barcelona (Big drop after 1-2), Belgrade, Berlin (another big drop), and lastly Amsterdam. A lot of people like Vienna but I don't.

Best cities if you want to play live: London, Madrid, Vienna have lowest rake and probably best games although I believe Vienna and Madrid are PLO heavy. Some random cities in Germany have 6 max rake in some 2/4 NL games (I think Hamburg and somewhere near Weisbaden, and a couple others) It's 1 SB raked when pot reaches 50, 1 BB when it reaches 200. That's extremely low for EUrope. Those aren't cities you'll want to live in long term (except maybe Hamburg) but could at least try for a few weeks each. Amsterdam has games as do some other cities in NL (mostly deeper 2/5ish stuff) but rake is higher. I don't know what stakes you play, but if you play big enough just go to any big city in europe that runs large games and the rake could be irrelevant.

I spent 6 months living in Vegas already and actually enjoyed it, Mostly playing 2/5-5/T. That is why i want to see if i could stay there year round somehow. Plus there is great 2/5 and 5/T games all over the states not just Vegas.

Thought rake in Europe was way to big to consider but did not look into it very much at all so will start to do more research, Thanks for the advice.

Well, you answered your own question then : if you loved living in Vegas and being in Europe does not signify +life EV for you, then you should go to Vegas. That said, if you are going to go that Europe, I would suggest to do what most Canadians (not named KidPoker) do and engage on the snowbird 6 months-6months schedule. Much more tax friendly, less complications, you do not lose healthcare etcetera etc.

Ya think i agree with you on the 6 month- month schedule, However since i stayed 6 months this year, next year i can only stay 4 months, 1/3 rolls over from the previous year from my understanding.

Will take a trip at least to Europe and Asia and see how i like it.

Good idea on the trip to Europe and Asia to see the alternatives

Not sure where you got that 1/3 rollover from, but ask around and snowbirds go for 6 months to the USA without ever having to pay taxes there (182 or 183 is the max amount of days allowed yearly).

GL

Another Canadian who stays for extended periods of time told me this, Also says it here on the gov website, 1/3 for the previous year and 1/6 for the year before that.

Yes, but this is for people who earn income in the USA. I guess if you are grinding there, you will fit inside this category...

"Tax information for foreign persons with income in the U.S. or U.S. citizens and resident aliens with income outside the U.S."

I was under the impression if you went over these requirements you could be subject to us tax. But i found this explains it very well, Looks like you can stay 6 months but are best to file a form 8840 if you go over the substantial presence test.

I had a friend (UK) stay in the USA for over a year and never worried about anything tax related. Yes making money in the US makes you subject to income tax but, the IRS doesn't know you exist especially as a poker player. On paper you are a just a tourist.