In response to pressure applied by New England manufacturers and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued revised guidelines that strengthen and clarify the federal rules that prohibit Canadian workers from constructing modular homes in the U.S. under B-1 visa status and in violation of immigration policy.

According to a memo issued on August 1, 2005 from the Acting Executive Director of Immigration Policy and Programs, there have been a number of instances in which Canadian workers have accompanied homes transported over the border into the U.S, performed construction, assembly, and completion work for modular homes, and returned to Canada. As the memo cites, based on case law and precedent, such activity goes beyond the necessary function of delivery, such as loading, unloading, or securing international cargo, that is permissible by law.

Due to the reported infractions of this law by foreign manufacturers of modular homes, the Inspectors Field Manual (IFM) Chapter 21.13(d)(7) has been revised to strengthen and clarify current immigration policy. The revisions make clear that the driver transporting a “portable dwelling (i.e. modular home)” may participate to safeguard and secure the modular home or modules upon delivery, but may not “engage in building, construction, or other activities, such as clearing or leveling the site, sealing seams, installing steps, hooking up utilities, attaching the portable dwelling or prefabricated parts to the foundation or slab, assembling of the various parts of the portable dwelling or prefabricated parts, and/or securing them to one another. Drivers may not return to U.S. job sites to unload, move, or affix previously delivered parts of a building.”

For more information, you can download a copy of the Memorandum here.

Please contact Thayer Long at (703) 558-0678 or tlong@modularcouncil.org for more information.