Frequently Asked Questions

 

1. What smartphones is Above Border available for?

Above Border currently supports the iPhone. IOS 4.0 or greater, the Android and  Blackberry® platform, device software V.5 and higher. Specifically it is supported on the following BlackBerry  devices; Bold™, Storm™, Torch™, Style™, Curve™, Tour™ and Pearl™ (9100 and 9105). Please note;  you must have a Mico SD card for the APP to run on the Blackberry platform

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2. Does Above Border require me to keep my location based services on?

Yes, your handset Location Based Services need to be on for Above Border to periodically check you in.  

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3. If I turn my handset off will Above Border automatically launch and continue to check me in?

Both the Blackberry™ and the Android™ will automatically launch and continue checking you in, the iPhone™ will not allow Above Border to automatically launch.  You must manually start the Above Border application to continue to have automatic check-in

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4. Should I be concerned that Above Border is tracking my location?

Above Border does not record your location on a real time basis, it periodically checks daily to see what country you are in and only records information at the city/country granularity level. As per our privacy policy the data is only used to support the reporting in the application. It should also be noted that we do not know any of your personal details with the exception of your email address so that we may properly communicate with you.

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5. Does Above Border track my travel in every country of the world?

Yes, your travels around the world are recorded.

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6. Are reports from Above Border designed to be reporting ready for my tax jurisdiction?

Reports are a raw count of days and they do not constitute legal support for tax compliance. The reports are an enabling tool to support your tax compliance reporting. You may need to do additional preparation of the raw data for your individual tax reporting. Tax reporting varies by country and sometimes regional jurisdiction. Above Border provides a count of days in country of residence you select and days spent in other countries. Please refer to our Disclaimer and Terms and Conditions document.

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7. Is Above Border available in languages other than English?

Above Border currently supports the English language only.

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8. What if my phone dies? Is my data backed up?

Yes, your data is backed up on a regular basis to the Above Border central server. Once you have re-installed the application your data will be synchronized to your new mobile device.

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9. Can I send my reports to my tax accountant, my insurance company, family members?

No, you cannot send your reporting information to third parties directly through Above Border. Let us know if you think this is a valuable feature that should be added to the Above Border functionality.

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10. What if my phone is off for a couple of days?

Not to worry, simply launch the Above Border App, if there are days where we have not recorded where you have been you will see a "We missed you"  with the number of days indicated on the main report screen.  Click the button, a new screen will appear asking you to confirm where you have been.  The default will be your home country, if that is not the case you can manually change them to your country of choice.

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11. My spouse and and I both travel. Do we both need to download Above Border to our phones?

Yes, having Above Border on your spouses phone will make their compliance reporting effective and efficient.

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12. What if get a new phone - how do I port Above Border over and do I keep my data?

You will first have to re-download the application from the appropriate App store. For the Blackberry "If a user needs to switch from a BlackBerry smartphone to a new BlackBerry smartphone, they can log in to My World on the new BlackBerry smartphone and re-download their paid applications. "The customer can migrate between smartphones up to five times in a calendar year".  For the iPhone and Android platforms you can go back to your account and re-download your paid Apps for free.  Once the application is installed on your new phone, Above Border will ask you to verify that you would like the new phone to be your primary device for Above Border and then will synchronize your historical data from the Above Border central server to the phone.

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13. What if I travel to multiple countries in one day - eg. USA, Mexico and Canada. How will Above Border assign the day?

You will be prompted to confirm how it's assigned on the main report screen through the "Where have You Been?" button. Clicking on this button will bring you to a screen indicating the day you were in multiple countries, defaulting to your "Most Visited Country" set in the defaults screen.  If that is not the country you want recorded as the visiting country use the country box to record the country you want to be recorded in.  Note; all cities for that day, regardless of country, will be recorded in the detail report screen under your recorded country.

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14. Can I access my Above Border reports from my computer as well as my smartphone?

No you can only access your reports from your mobile device. Let us know if you think this is a valuable feature that you would like added to Above Border.

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15. Can I enter historical data into Above Border?

Yes, you can enter historical data for the current calendar year and the previous two calendar years. This is done through the History Screen, you will be prompted by this screen the first time you launch Above Border or you can go back to this screen at any point in time and enter your historical information for the number of days by month and year by country visited. You must enter historical data by month, highlight the month, change the month if required then move over to enter the number of days for that month, then update.  If you want to delete the history for a month enter "0" in the number of days box.  Many countries may fix your entry time to a specific month in the year not necessarily January 1 of the current year hence the requirement for monthly data.  NOTE Historical data is not backed up to the server and must be re-entered if the APP is reloaded.  This will be corrected in the next release.

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16. How do I get to the different screens within the Above Border application on the Blackberry?

For the BlackBerry®, press the Blackberry® button on your device, it's the one with the Blackberry® logo on it usually, beside the scroll button and looks like this:   .

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17. In the Setting screen why should I select a Home Country and a Default Visiting Country?

Doing this will make things more efficient for you if "We Missed You". If Above Border has no record of what country you have been in for a specific day it will default to your home country. If you have traveled through multiple countries the default will be to your Default visiting country, usually set as the country you visit most often. You can of course change your defaults at any time or override them on the "Missed you" Screen.

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18. Why Does Above Border show me which cities I have been in?

It's important to be aware that Above Border doesn't track every city you are in as the application only checks in on you very hour or so.   During each check, Above Border tracks what city, country or closest reference point you are in for your reports.  We do this so that if in you need a memory jog at a future date as to where you were on a specific trip we can lend a hand.  This could help if you are required to produce documentation as to your travels, at least point you in the right direction.

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19. Does Above Border impact my data usage?

Yes, Above Border will use 200-400KB per day of your data plan.  You can minimize this by always connecting to a WIFI network when available.  In general, one should always be careful when traveling internationally as international data roaming can be very expensive.  It is highly recommend that you have a suitable international data roaming plan with your carrier while you travel.  You can also disable data roaming when traveling and connect to a WIFI network when available.  Above Border will store your location and will update your reports when a WIFI or carrier connection is made.  

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20. USA Substantial Presence Test

For detailed information on this report please see our Blog on the INFO CENTER.  The "Days Remaining: 183" under the test on the main report screen applies strictly to this specific test.  It will only start to count down once you are in the USA for 31 days in the current year as per the test rules.   The countdown will take into account the full test calculations; this may not equal 183 less the days you are in the USA for the current year.  Clicking on the Substantial Test button will show you the three years and days included in the full calculation. The "Days Remaining This Year" is the amount of days you have left in the current year before you hit the 31 days mentioned above. The "Days Remaining" is the number of days left before you are considered a resident alien for tax purposes.  Ok, that's confusing so read the Blog.  If your home country is set to the USA then this test will not be calculated.

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