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Comment by BoumTAC | Hacker News Reader

Americans enjoying their huge American salaries while working remotely from poor European countries

What makes you believe you'll be able to do so?

Most European countries have surprisingly strict visa requirements - and those apply to Americans as well. Unlike a short holiday trip, you can't just move because you feel like it!

The most likely path for the HN public is probably a "highly-skilled worker" visa, but that requires you to have a sponsoring employer in Europe - which means you won't be getting that fancy American salary. And you'll also have to pay local taxes...

I'm always surprised by how many American tourists have to turn back because they thought they wouldn't need a visa.

Were they wrong? American tourists mostly don't need a visa to be tourists in Europe. Working is a different matter.

In practice almost no companies let you do this.

If you know of one that does and is hiring, please share...

I don't know how they do this, but Paris is full of Americans living there.

I think they stay for a few months. Maybe they just don't tell their company and the company still think they are working in the same place.

Visa-wise, they are probably just committing fraud by staying on a tourist visa.

At least Europeans won't send them to labor camps in El Salvador.

edit: burn karma burn

French immigration is currently allowing remote workers on the one year visitor visa, so long as your company doesn't have a presence in France. Basically, as long as you are not doing business in France or taking a job from a local they are fine with it.

However, it's difficult to proceed to a residency permit in this situation, and you can't join the national healthcare system.

VPN. Simple as that. Most companies aren't bothering to check anyway, most that do aren't detecting VPNs, and for the few that do that, there are ways to circumvent detection if you are really determined.

Wouldn't they figure out you've installed a VPN on their machine?

Not if you set the VPN up on your router. You can also buy small portable routers designed specifically to sit between your machine and your wifi / ethernet.

It is also the EU Countries and Visas. Before I moved to Denmark I just assumed they'd just welcome Americans with money but you can't just have any job, you have to be paid by a Danish company, over a certain level or found a startup with very specific requirements, etc.

Danish immigration laws are also very strict. Most of our political parties have been competed to further tighten those rules over the last couple of decades. We literally have people advocating to leave the convention on human rights, since it’s getting in the way of that

> In practice almost no companies let you do this.

And, if they do, they might have legal issues brewing they are not aware of.

QoL is more important than hustle culture to most people

Yeah, pretty much. You can make enough money in 10-15 years in tech in America to last a lifetime in Europe, even without the remote job.

You still might need a resident visa.

With 6-9h timezone difference? Even if a company will allow this (and few will), it's very hard to pull off, and your social/family life will suffer big time.

I know people who manage to do this, but it's difficult, and not really worth it unless you have a seriously amazing job.

Most remote jobs don't require you to keep the exact same hours, but rather to have some overlap. So it can effectively only feel like ~3h timezone difference.

> and your social/family life will suffer big time

Not sure about family, but you can get new friends here. When I go to the office, on my walk back home, I often pass by some very nice pubs overflowing with extremely happy and friendly people, and that is when I leave at 17:00.

You'll also get nice things like the metric system. And, in Ireland, one of the sanest political systems on the planet. It's so sane it's almost boring.

Maybe during Covid. Now many companies are making employees RTO

Where is the Frisco, TX of Europe?

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