Working for an American company remotely in Europe.

pwjohnston

So a couple friends of mine have moved to Europe and are leveraging being able to work remotely to stay working for American companies while living in Europe. I’m thinking about doing this myself. I’ve been working remotely for my company in NYC for about 3 years. My fiancée is ½ French and we really like the idea of moving to Paris.

Anyone out there doing this, done this, thought about doing this? Any tips?

My biggest fear is Visa questions. My fiancee's mother is French so she has a French passport. I assume she'd be able to do what she wants. Me on the other hand I'm not so sure about.

networker050184

I've been giving some thought to this as well. I work remotely for the most part and my company has offices all over the world in the case I would need to come into an office for something. A few things that worry me though are working hours and what happens if this job goes away for some reason. I'd either have to work the evening shift or lose out on the collaboration with my peers that work normal US hours. I'd also hate to be stuck without a job if I can't find anything that allows remote freedom or have the visa hassle.

I'm not quite sure what the legal labor ramifications are though.

bpenn

My sister-in-law is a network engineer and lives in Oregon half the year and Belize the other half. She works from home and has been doing this for about 3 years now. Works out pretty well for her.

pwjohnston

Honestly the meetings would be a problem. I've figured the working hours would be 3pm to 11pm if I wanted to keep in sync with my coworkers which does not sound like fun.

N2IT

Sounds awful to be honest. (The hours part).

MarcIT

Well all the obvious questions: Have you visited Europe before, and did you like what you saw / felt? Do you have a place scouted out, and know what the taxes will be like etc., its a socialist country so they cant be that great . Can you handle being away from family and friends? And can you deal with the hours (personally, I wouldn't mind - I like working at night, its peaceful in a way).

I like the idea, but it would definitely be a big change. As for Paris, my 2 cents is that the place is extremely interesting but the people could use some work. When I visited Paris I could probably count on one hand the number of friendly French people I met there. Some of the only friendly people I met were Russians, a Moroccan and some Americans from Texas (escaping le rude city ) at the train station.

But being Europe in your time off you could travel and see a hundred new places, even a new country for the weekend.

Overall, really adventurous idea. If you and your wife want to try it out, good luck to you my friend, I wish you all the best. And if it doesn't work out, its not the end of the world.

As for long-term visas, Long-term /extended stay visas (visa de long séjour)
(If you want to stay longer in France than three months (90 days)),
You can apply for one of these visas if you are:

-employed (with at least a year-long contract).
-a temporary worker (with a contract between three months and one year).
-a scientific researcher.
-a student or intern.
-the spouse of a French citizen.
-the spouse of foreign national legally living in France and wish to be reunited.
-coming to France as a visitor (not working) and have sufficient funds to live off during your stay.

Moving to France: Guide to French visas and permits | Visas & Permits | Expatica France

Long-term visa application form: http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/IMG/pdf/Long_Stay_Visa_Application_Form-2.pdf

Hope that helps a bit,
Good luck

Levithan

Great topic! Ive also thought about this as well, but haven't seen enough remote networking jobs to think that its possible.

I already live in Europe (dual citizen) so the visa isnt a problem for me. The main benefit id say is the pay for networking jobs is a bit higher in the US than here, and there are of course alot more networking jobs as well. I guess my biggest question would be, where to you find remote opportunities in the first place...?

UnixGuy

networker050184 wrote: »

. I'd also hate to be stuck without a job if I can't find anything that allows remote freedom or have the visa hassle.

I'm not quite sure what the legal labor ramifications are though.

I say give it a go! With your experience you have nothing to worry about. If you get your company to issue a work visa for you, then you're sorted. But having said that, I'm confident that with your level of expertise you can get sponsorship to the EU. It's not straightforward but not that hard for you.

UnixGuy

pwjohnston wrote: »

...
Anyone out there doing this, done this, thought about doing this? Any tips?

My biggest fear is Visa questions. My fiancee's mother is French so she has a French passport. I assume she'd be able to do what she wants. Me on the other hand I'm not so sure about.

Your fiance can give you a partner visa so you can work legally. Do you speak French though? that might be a barrier but not so much. If you enjoy learning foreign languages then it'll be a great opportunity to learn French. You'll have no problem finding a job in France even if you don't speak French.

pwjohnston

UnixGuy wrote: »

Your fiance can give you a partner visa so you can work legally. Do you speak French though? that might be a barrier but not so much. If you enjoy learning foreign languages then it'll be a great opportunity to learn French. You'll have no problem finding a job in France even if you don't speak French.

My French is awful, but that's part of the reason I want to do it. I've never been able to master another language and I figure if I'm there I'll pick it up like Bart Simpson. That is the fear though, if I lose my job I'd be sunk not being able to speak the language very well.

pwjohnston

MarcIT wrote: »

Well all the obvious questions: Have you visited Europe before, and did you like what you saw / felt? Do you have a place scouted out, and know what the taxes will be like etc., its a socialist country so they cant be that great . Can you handle being away from family and friends? And can you deal with the hours (personally, I wouldn't mind - I like working at night, its peaceful in a way).

I like the idea, but it would definitely be a big change. As for Paris, my 2 cents is that the place is extremely interesting but the people could use some work. When I visited Paris I could probably count on one hand the number of friendly French people I met there. Some of the only friendly people I met were Russians, a Moroccan and some Americans from Texas (escaping le rude city ) at the train station.

But being Europe in your time off you could travel and see a hundred new places, even a new country for the weekend.

Overall, really adventurous idea. If you and your wife want to try it out, good luck to you my friend, I wish you all the best. And if it doesn't work out, its not the end of the world.

As for long-term visas, Long-term /extended stay visas (visa de long séjour)
(If you want to stay longer in France than three months (90 days)),
You can apply for one of these visas if you are:

-employed (with at least a year-long contract).
-a temporary worker (with a contract between three months and one year).
-a scientific researcher.
-a student or intern.
-the spouse of a French citizen.
-the spouse of foreign national legally living in France and wish to be reunited.
-coming to France as a visitor (not working) and have sufficient funds to live off during your stay.

Moving to France: Guide to French visas and permits | Visas & Permits | Expatica France

Long-term visa application form: http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/IMG/pdf/Long_Stay_Visa_Application_Form-2.pdf

Hope that helps a bit,
Good luck

Thank MarcIT, that's exactly what I've been looking for. Bookmarked the link. It seems like when I did a google search there is just so much info to pour though, but getting the VISA in order is probably the first major thing.

pwjohnston

Levithan wrote: »

Great topic! Ive also thought about this as well, but haven't seen enough remote networking jobs to think that its possible.

I already live in Europe (dual citizen) so the visa isnt a problem for me. The main benefit id say is the pay for networking jobs is a bit higher in the US than here, and there are of course alot more networking jobs as well. I guess my biggest question would be, where to you find remote opportunities in the first place...?

A lot of American companies are starting to pick up on the remote working trend. I bet in another 10 years it will be more acceptable, but I do think you have to have some sort of paperwork to actually be an employee for an American company. Maybe you could start your own business and do contract jobs?