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Ask HN: American web working abroad

9 points by noodle ↗ HN
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.

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.

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..

11 comments

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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.
tomjen
You want to double check the tax code. Otherwise you might get charged twice.
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.
wheels
The US has an $80k exemption for income earned abroad, assuming you set up legal residence overseas.
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.

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.

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.

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.
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.
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...