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Ask HN: In what countries can you legally get a long term teleworking visa?

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Re: Ask HN: In what countries can you legally get a long term teleworking visa?

#41

Post by crdb »

lokedhs wrote: post #32
eru wrote: post #15

A friend of mine has set up a simple company in Hong Kong to invoice his remote working for an American employer. He is living in Japan and has a Polish passport. It seems the Japanese authorities don't really seem to care. But I don't know how kosher the whole arrangement is. In any case, Singapore and Hong Kong are worth a look. They are very business-friendly, and you can probably make something work there even le…

I moved to Singapore a decade ago, and I can definitely recommend it. If you'd like to try this, all the relevant visa information is available from the Singapore Ministry of Manpower: http://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits I think the OP could possibly be able to get the EntrePass, if he sets up a local company in Singapore and makes sure his work is billed to it. Singapore corporate taxes are probably lower than…

EntrePass has been catch 22'ed a few years ago. In order to even apply, you need to have investment from a limited list of approved investors. On top of that, you need to hire a certain number of people within a certain amount of time, and there are a bunch of other rules to be able to keep it.

The "standard" way would be to incorporate, capitalise the entity with around 40,000 USD, prove that the business will be a business (and not you buying a visa) with letters of intent from prospective customers and a detailed business plan, try and set things up so that you're not the shareholder AND the director AND the visa holder, and then apply for an Employment Pass (EP) under your own business.

That EP will be yours if you have received a high enough salary for the past X months (they ask for your salary history for years), if you have set yourself a high enough salary that you'll need to pay out every month, and - in many cases these days - the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will probably still ask you for "manpower projections" which I think is a euphemism for "prove to us you'll hire a few locals". Oh yeah, and budget another 3,000 USD or so for the advice from Corporate Service Providers (CSPs) after your initial round of DIY applications get rejected for no reason given. The whole process should take you 6-12 weeks. Whilst a Singaporean applies for a company online for a few dollars and gets it done in a week.

Once you've jumped through those hoops, yes, things are pretty good. Low taxes, extremely efficient government that treats you like a customer, rule of law, low cost of living (compared to Western large cities, not Bangkok or Beijing), great weather, international community, easy travel to dream locations, and so on. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. But it's not a pain-free process the way say, Hong Kong was before 2014.

Re: Ask HN: In what countries can you legally get a long term teleworking visa?

#42

Post by nfriedly »

pault wrote: post #19

Teleworking is a bit of a gray area, but Belize allows you to stay indefinitely on a tourist visa. I've been living here for just under 4 years now. My email is in my profile if you have any questions.

I read this and then looked up the cost of living in Belize vs my nearest city in Ohio... and Ohio is cheaper! Just made me laugh :)

https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=cost+of+living+Belize+...

Re: Ask HN: In what countries can you legally get a long term teleworking visa?

#43

Post by rtpg »

dvcrn wrote: post #33
rtpg wrote: post #31

Isn't the thing to do is set up a sole proprietorship under your name and become a contractor for the US company? At least in Japan I know several people with that sort of arrangement

In Japan the company has to receive most of it's income sources from within Japan so unless you are telecommuting for a Japanese company or a Japanese branch, this should not be ok with the immigration.

Really? My impression was that immigration mainly cares about having a stable situation, and the gov't generally wants to make sure you're paying taxes. Do you have a place explaining this in more detail?

Re: Ask HN: In what countries can you legally get a long term teleworking visa?

#44

Post by [deleted] »

CyberDildonics wrote: post #37
lokedhs wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I moved to Singapore a decade ago, and I can definitely recommend it. If you'd like to try this, all the relevant visa information is available from the Singapore Ministry of Manpower: http://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits I think the OP could possibly be able to get the EntrePass, if he sets up a local company in Singapore and makes sure his work is billed to it. Singapore corporate taxes are probably lower than…

He is talking about moving but still working in the US, Singapore's taxes have nothing to do with it.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: In what countries can you legally get a long term teleworking visa?

#45

Post by lokedhs »

CyberDildonics wrote: post #37
lokedhs wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I moved to Singapore a decade ago, and I can definitely recommend it. If you'd like to try this, all the relevant visa information is available from the Singapore Ministry of Manpower: http://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits I think the OP could possibly be able to get the EntrePass, if he sets up a local company in Singapore and makes sure his work is billed to it. Singapore corporate taxes are probably lower than…

He is talking about moving but still working in the US, Singapore's taxes have nothing to do with it.

It does. If you live and work in a country (even if it's for a foreign company) you can be sure that country wants you to pay taxes.

That said, Singapore taxes are very low, so it's likely a much better deal than paying the taxes in your home country (unless you're a US citizen, in which case everything becomes a lot more complicated, to the point where many banks in most countries won't even give you an account).

Re: Ask HN: In what countries can you legally get a long term teleworking visa?

#46

Post by gregjor »

technofiend wrote: post #24
codecamper wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But nobody will know. Just don't blab. The annoying thing is having to move to keep authorities happy. You might try applying for the Spanish non lucrative visa. (Not sure if that one is still offered.) And BTW, Americans who live outside the US can deduct nearly 100,000 from their earnings. It doesn't matter if you actually pay taxes to another country. Just make sure you aren't in the US for > 30 days in a year. I…

My wife wants to take an extended vacation at the end of the year. Deducting 100k from my taxable income would more than pay for the trip. Do you have a source for your information? Not that I'm challenging it exactly but that seems to good to be true and frankly I think many people with means would be using it if that was the case. So any information that backs up what you're saying would be much appreciated.

It's called the Foreign Earned Income Exemption, FEIE. You can find details on irs.gov. It's true and lots of people do use it.

Re: Ask HN: In what countries can you legally get a long term teleworking visa?

#47

Post by gregjor »

Short answer, almost no country allows working unless you have a work permit. People working remotely are usually on a tourist visa or maybe a retirement or marriage visa. Available visas and enforcement vary by country. Sitting in a hotel room or apartment or coffee shop working is not likely to attract attention from immigration authorities, the laws are to prevent foreigners taking jobs from locals. Keep your business to yourself and don't blab to everyone that you are doing online work, no one will know.

I've heard from a few people who have had their papers and laptop examined at immigration for evidence that they are working but this seems to be rare. The reports I heard were Canada, UK, and Thailand. The more computer stuff you cart around the more suspicious it might look. Everyone travels with a laptop these days. Keep your work stuff in the cloud, look like another tourist posting to Facebook, you'll be fine.

Re: Ask HN: In what countries can you legally get a long term teleworking visa?

#48

Post by eru »

lokedhs wrote: post #32
eru wrote: post #15

A friend of mine has set up a simple company in Hong Kong to invoice his remote working for an American employer. He is living in Japan and has a Polish passport. It seems the Japanese authorities don't really seem to care. But I don't know how kosher the whole arrangement is. In any case, Singapore and Hong Kong are worth a look. They are very business-friendly, and you can probably make something work there even le…

I moved to Singapore a decade ago, and I can definitely recommend it. If you'd like to try this, all the relevant visa information is available from the Singapore Ministry of Manpower: http://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits I think the OP could possibly be able to get the EntrePass, if he sets up a local company in Singapore and makes sure his work is billed to it. Singapore corporate taxes are probably lower than…

> Singapore corporate taxes are probably lower than where he's from, so it would likely be better to do that anyway.

Wouldn't Americans still pay Uncle Sam?

Re: Ask HN: In what countries can you legally get a long term teleworking visa?

#49

Post by jtheory »

mark-ruwt wrote: post #9

A pair of friends just moved to Paris to do just this. They had to travel to a French Embassy (Houston was closest) and prove they had a States-based job, and that they were financially secure. They're allowed to stay for one year, and then have the opportunity to re-up for one more. I don't know of a master list, unfortunately.

This is how my wife & I moved to France, in 2006; we each got a "Titre de sejour", a 1-year, renewable, long-stay visitor visa.

It's not a regular tourist visa (and in fact if you're in France as a regular visitor/tourist you'll have to leave to apply for a titre de sejour). We needed to prove that we had housing arranged, means to support ourselves (savings plus income coming from outside of France... telework for companies in the US, in my case), and expat medical insurance.

Then we could stay for a year. We renewed this for 5 years and then were automatically upgraded to residence permits (with the right to work in France, actually).

--

Edit: somewhere along the way I was checking if some other European countries had similar options -- I remember it wasn't an option in most (it's not allowed in the UK. I think Germany wasn't okay either... forget where else I checked).

Ireland had some options around retiring in Ireland that seemed like they might apply for teleworkers, but I haven't checked into it properly yet.

Re: Ask HN: In what countries can you legally get a long term teleworking visa?

#50

Post by gokhan »

davismwfl wrote: post #2

If I understand, you work for a US company remotely and are curious about moving to a new country that is not the US (regardless of where you live today). I am by no means an expert, but if you are permanently relocating I believe most Countries will require you to prove you have sufficient stable income (or wealth) to make reasonably certain you will not become a burden or nuisance. Depending on your current citizen…

So, you don't actually have an answer.
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