Freelance US Software Developer Working in Europe?
March 2, 2015 9:41 PM Subscribe
I previously worked for a large multi-national and have begun freelancing. I'm a software developer that works in a very in demand, popular enterprise product. I speak nationally at conference and I'm recognized as a "leader" in the field. In any case I always wanted to consult and travel the world. I often find a lot of lucrative contract jobs mostly in London, but other large cities in the EU. These are often short-term, realistically can I use this to fund my travel? What's the best way to do this and will employers hire an American?
I have a sizeable nest egg, but I do not believe large enough to qualify under the "rich person can live whereever they want" part of the Visa process. More importantly, at least I believe to most importantly to immigration, I definitely have enough money to live, work and come back to the US when the contract is up. I know I should speak to a lawyer, and I definitely do not plan on avoiding taxes, but I wonder what the hassle will be picking up 3-6 mos contract work, and simply taking weekend getaways to other countries to avoid the 3 month visa stay (when I was on short-term assignment with my previous multi-national company they advised we do this unless we were on a multi-year long assignment to another country).
Ideally I would just travel for several years, going from contract to contract and country to country. I'm in a perfect position financially and professionally to just pick this up, something I definitely wasn't able to do in my 20s. So this is not as hairbrained as it seems. I've asked some colleagues about it, at least based in London, and most seemed to think it wasn't a big deal and would definitely hire me and didn't seem to indicate that it would be a problem.
I'm looking more for, "this is kind of a gray area but since you're not trying to avoid taxes or do something criminal no one cares," to "the worse that will happen is you have to go back to the US and finish out the project there."
I have a sizeable nest egg, but I do not believe large enough to qualify under the "rich person can live whereever they want" part of the Visa process. More importantly, at least I believe to most importantly to immigration, I definitely have enough money to live, work and come back to the US when the contract is up. I know I should speak to a lawyer, and I definitely do not plan on avoiding taxes, but I wonder what the hassle will be picking up 3-6 mos contract work, and simply taking weekend getaways to other countries to avoid the 3 month visa stay (when I was on short-term assignment with my previous multi-national company they advised we do this unless we were on a multi-year long assignment to another country).
Ideally I would just travel for several years, going from contract to contract and country to country. I'm in a perfect position financially and professionally to just pick this up, something I definitely wasn't able to do in my 20s. So this is not as hairbrained as it seems. I've asked some colleagues about it, at least based in London, and most seemed to think it wasn't a big deal and would definitely hire me and didn't seem to indicate that it would be a problem.
I'm looking more for, "this is kind of a gray area but since you're not trying to avoid taxes or do something criminal no one cares," to "the worse that will happen is you have to go back to the US and finish out the project there."
Are you suggesting that you get remote projects where the employing company doesn't care if you are in London or Ukraine, or that you get short-term jobs where you turn up to the office? The first one is possibly a grey area, the second one is so black and white that if your colleagues didn't say 'yes, we're already a sponsoring organization and it would be really easy to get you a Tier 2 skilled work permit' then they meant 'I have no fucking clue about this scenario and shouldn't be consulted'.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 11:44 PM on March 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by the agents of KAOS at 11:44 PM on March 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm a US citizen working in Europe, though I don't freelance. I agree that your biggest hurdles are the legal implications of working for a European employer in a European country, even if—and maybe, especially if—it's contract work. The legal requirements surrounding that—and the time required to apply and be approved for that—are different in every country. For example, in the Netherlands, a self-employed person can apply for a residence permit based on the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty. I get the impression that UK rules are more strict regarding hiring foreigners.
An alternative approach might be to get a European company to hire you for a consulting-type role that involves lots of travel and on-site work at customer sites throughout Europe.
posted by neushoorn at 1:17 AM on March 3, 2015
An alternative approach might be to get a European company to hire you for a consulting-type role that involves lots of travel and on-site work at customer sites throughout Europe.
posted by neushoorn at 1:17 AM on March 3, 2015
Depending on the size of your nest egg, the UK's Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa might be what you need. The financial requirements are much lower than the "rich person can live wherever they want" visa.
posted by penguinicity at 1:40 AM on March 3, 2015
posted by penguinicity at 1:40 AM on March 3, 2015
Depending on the size of your nest egg, the UK's Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa might be what you need
Probably not, unless they are actually going to start a business. The UK recently clamped down on that visa.
Agree with the others above. You need a visa to do this and a sponsoring organization. You can't just show up and work, at least in the UK.
I'm looking more for, "this is kind of a gray area but since you're not trying to avoid taxes or do something criminal no one cares," to "the worse that will happen is you have to go back to the US and finish out the project there."
In the UK at least this is not a gray area at all. I'd say "The worst that will happen is that you will be deported and not be allowed to enter the UK/EU anytime in the near future for any reason."
posted by vacapinta at 5:24 AM on March 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Probably not, unless they are actually going to start a business. The UK recently clamped down on that visa.
Agree with the others above. You need a visa to do this and a sponsoring organization. You can't just show up and work, at least in the UK.
I'm looking more for, "this is kind of a gray area but since you're not trying to avoid taxes or do something criminal no one cares," to "the worse that will happen is you have to go back to the US and finish out the project there."
In the UK at least this is not a gray area at all. I'd say "The worst that will happen is that you will be deported and not be allowed to enter the UK/EU anytime in the near future for any reason."
posted by vacapinta at 5:24 AM on March 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you mean freelancing (i.e. anything where you invoice the company as opposed to getting a salary) then yes you can be a US freelancer picking up contract work from anywhere, putting all your taxes through your country of residence (the US) while travelling around and working from different countries as you go.
What you can't do is become employed by a European company, for that you would need a visa.
The term people use for this is "digital nomad" if you google around there are various resources that give all sorts of advice about different aspects of doing this.
I live in Berlin, I run meetups for freelancers and I regularly meet people who have been doing this for years. The rules become cloudier the longer you do it because the answer to "where are you normally resident" is debatable if you haven't been back to the US for x years, and changes usually after you stop somewhere for more than 3 months.
posted by rubyrudy at 1:35 PM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
What you can't do is become employed by a European company, for that you would need a visa.
The term people use for this is "digital nomad" if you google around there are various resources that give all sorts of advice about different aspects of doing this.
I live in Berlin, I run meetups for freelancers and I regularly meet people who have been doing this for years. The rules become cloudier the longer you do it because the answer to "where are you normally resident" is debatable if you haven't been back to the US for x years, and changes usually after you stop somewhere for more than 3 months.
posted by rubyrudy at 1:35 PM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Residing in the Schengen Zone for longer than three months (in a 180 day period) without legal residency seriously compromises your ability to ever return to the EU after they kick you out. You can bounce back and forth from the UK (or elsewhere outside the Schengen) to the Schengen zone, if that works for you.
I spend three months a year in the Schengen Zone while continuing to service my clients.
The DAFT mentioned above is an excellent path to pursue.
posted by humboldt32 at 5:10 PM on March 3, 2015
I spend three months a year in the Schengen Zone while continuing to service my clients.
The DAFT mentioned above is an excellent path to pursue.
posted by humboldt32 at 5:10 PM on March 3, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
Are you an EU citizen? Because if you're not then you need a work permit to work anywhere in the EU, including and particularly the UK, even for one day let alone some months. It's not a grey area, it's just not possible. So I'm a bit confused as to how you're planning to do this.
My husband's experience as a non-EU software developer working in the EU is that no one will go through the process of sponsoring him for a permit for a contract job. Contacting the recruiter would quickly get the reply that those contract positions were only available to people with the legal right to work in that country.
You may be able to do a working holiday thing or have some other work permit option open to you so YMMV. So figure out the legal side first, because everything else is second to that.
posted by shelleycat at 10:00 PM on March 2, 2015 [1 favorite]