

Ask HN: American web working abroad - noodle

i did some cursory searching on the topic and it was brought up in spots in other threads, but i was looking for input specifically on this topic.<p>i'm giving some consideration to living in another country while doing some freelance stuff and working on startups based in the US.  and maintaining my US citizenship.<p>anyone have any thoughts/experience/etc. on this?  any input on the legality and/or visa requirements of doing it?  any countries specifically friendly to this type of work? etc..
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mmcelhinney
I have been doing this for the past year and a half (Canadian Citizen, working
in Finland). It has been great, but there are some things that you need to
watch out for.

\- Ensure the countries have a double taxation treaty in place, so that income
you claim abroad does not have to be claimed at home (or rather you have to
claim it, but not pay tax on it again) \- Residence permits for self-employed
persons can take a long time in some countries. For example, Finland has two
national languages, and I decided to apply in the minority language (Swedish)
because I was studying it. It took nearly 5 months to get the residence
permit, partially because of the extra bureaucracy involved with doing things
in the minority language. \- Cost of living is a huge issue. Choose a country
where you will benefit from the currency exchange (harder with the US dollar
lately). I am earning Canadian Dollars, living in Euros, and it hurts.

I do not think that citizenship should be an issue, though, unless you
obtained your citizenship recently. If you are a natural born citizen, living
in another country under a residence permit should not affect things.

I hope some of what I said helps.

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astrec
Are you going to be paid in the US? Or the other country?

If the other country, you'll need a visa with work entitlements, and you'll
want to fill in a U.S. Form 1040 when you file your taxes. Generally you won't
be taxed twice.

On the other hand, if you go somewhere on a tourist visa - say for 3 months -
and get paid in the US, it's business as usual.

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noodle
i'm looking at tourist visas and being paid entirely in the US. i'll probably
maintain an official residence with my parents if i end up doing this.

~~~
astrec
Nice one. I've done exactly this 3 or 4 times without a problem. But,

a) Don't mention the word 'work' when passing through immigration.

b) Ensure you're carrying a credit card, and can produce evidence of a
bankroll large enough to cover your entire stay.

c) Don't carry hardcopy docs e.g. functional specs, and bury email that
mentions timelines in webmail or some such.

d) Think of the rest of us when you're hacking from a bungalow on Phi Phi
Island.

All this sounds excessively cloak and dagger until you're in an interview room
with some muppet pawing at your laptop.

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imasr
It'll depend on your expectations. You can come to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
You're money will worth at least three or four times more than in the US.
We're specially friendly with foreigners. Best food you'll ever get. Plenty of
night life. And last but not least, incredibly gorgeous women. Cons? There
always are, but you can always go back to the US.

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JFred
People do this from all over. I have a friend here in Jerusalem who is a
translator between Japanese and English. Having made many contacts when in
Japan, all the work is now done over the web in an apartment in Jerusalem.

I do web development, but I find that meeting people over the web to do this
is not easy. Anybody could be anywhere and trust is a problem. Some people
have a talent for self promotion, and some don't. The web is loaded with self
promoters and spammers. Standing out on the web is hard. Business tends to be
about personal relationships and personal trust.

I observe that the people who make contacts on the web are very talented
bloggers. Joel Spolsky and 37signals come to mind, also Raganwald. Oh, and of
course P. Graham and ycombinator...

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menloparkbum
I'm not sure this is the best advice, but a number of my good friends do this,
and they set up companies in the US (LLC) and do their work abroad while on
tourist visas.

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sanswork
I'm doing this starting in September. I'm a Canadian and will be moving to
Australia with my girlfriend. I'll be doing all my work through my Canadian
corporation. Going to be traveling for the first 6 months or so on a tourist
visa but then switching to a spousal visa once my girlfriend gets her migrant
worker visa.

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tomjen
You want to double check the tax code. Otherwise you might get charged twice.

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michaelneale
You would have to be unlucky for that to happen (maybe depends on country).
For me I have done that before and had no issue, only local tax (just like
anyone else who "exports" stuff really). On the US side, I didn't think it was
an issue in my case.

