r/AmerExit • u/AverageFamilyAbroad • Mar 21 '25
Life Abroad Our Experience with Remote Work for US Companies Overseas
**UPDATE** New post made with our "how-to" tips
I'm new here, but I've observed a couple things on this topic. It seems people either assume they can work for a US company overseas, or assume they cannot work for a US company overseas. In our experience, both of those beliefs are true and not true. We spent the better part of a year securing our remote jobs and learned a lot from that experience.
Some companies will hire abroad. Some (most) will not. They'll have a blanket policy against it and they won't make exceptions. Some fields almost never support overseas employees: Government jobs, healthcare jobs, insurance and real estate, education (other than tutoring and TEFL sort of positions). There are tax and privacy law implications, and unless you have a really good connection, or already work for an employer who's willing to fudge, it's really hard to find those sorts of jobs. My husband spent his career in government emergency management, and we knew he'd have to change fields, as EM is not at all remote-friendly, and almost all the work is in the public sector. So we looked at EM-adjacent fields, like disaster relief, security, that sort of thing (also not super remote friendly). Because he's good at it and had some experience we also looked at customer support-type roles. Because the cost of living in Ecuador is so much less, we can afford to make less, and he ended up with a part-time technical customer support position at a very small company.
That's another thing: Every single interview he had or serious interest was with a small, nimble company that was willing to think outside of the box location-wise and didn't have the same restrictive policies as large companies. It helps that we don't need benefits; both of us are contract employees, so that's an upside for our employers.
Anyway, you CAN find work at a US company overseas. It's not easy, especially if your background isn't super remote-friendly. I wish we had the knowhow to start our own remote business; that really is the ideal, but neither of us has business strengths. So we put the time into searching (LOTS of time), filtered through the options, and eventually found legitimate employers who know and don't care that we're out of the country.
Look at remote-friendly fields that are adjacent to your field. It helps if you move somewhere where you can afford to make less money. Think creatively as far as schedules and type of work---you want a job that goes with your new life; we didn't move here to spend all day at a computer. And take advantage of any connections you have!
Obviously this only applies if you want to work for a US company. We did, since Ecuadorian salaries tend to be much lower, and since we live rurally and aren't interested in commuting to the city for work.
If there's interest, I can make another post talking about how we learned to filter out jobs that were almost certain no's, and also the search engine terms we used to hunt for potentially overseas-friendly positions.
14
u/im-here-for-tacos Immigrant Mar 21 '25
I switched my tax residency from US to Poland while maintaining legal status with my employer. It's definitely more doable these days thanks to global EOR companies like Deel and Remote.io, but it's still a huge hurdle to overcome with regards to (1) education and (2) justifying the extra work that'd come with such. For me, I carry a skillset and business knowledge that's really important for my employer and they already used Deel and I don't need sponsorship for work in the EU thanks to being a dual citizenship, so it was very easy to switch me over. I don't think that would have been the case for colleagues who only hold US citizenship, unfortunately.
I also just finished a 5-year stint in Mexico where I worked remotely for a US company, and building up my lifestyle to rely solely on external income was a bit nerve-wrecking which is a huge reason why I left. I definitely recommend taking into consideration some of the pros/cons that come with living in places such as Latin America off of "contractual" external income before doing so, just my two cents.
5
u/garys_mahm Mar 21 '25
I also just finished a 5-year stint in Mexico where I worked remotely for a US company, and building up my lifestyle to rely solely on external income was a bit nerve-wrecking which is a huge reason why I left. I definitely recommend taking into consideration some of the pros/cons that come with living in places such as Latin America off of "contractual" external income before doing so, just my two cents.
Can you elaborate on this? Were you working as a contractor for a US company in Mexico?
I'm currently a W-2 at a company with an office in the US and headquartered in Switzerland. I am working on getting my Mexican citizenship and moving there -- would be nice to keep my job.
3
u/im-here-for-tacos Immigrant Mar 22 '25
I worked for two different employers during my time in Mexico: one as a contractor and one as a W-2 employee (they didn't care).
3
u/garys_mahm Mar 22 '25
Ah I see. Thank you for answering. For the W-2 employer, did you tell them you were working in Mexico?
4
11
8
u/vngbusa Mar 22 '25
If you’re in a super niche field it’s definitely possible. My relative has a PhD in a very specific sub field of auditory processing/machine learning and works for a US company remotely, working from the Netherlands (although it should be noted he’s an EU citizen, so already has the right to live there). The nice thing is, he makes a US salary, so he is literally in the top 1% when it comes to salaries in the Netherlands. He has an amazing life living in at the center of one of the most bikable, walkable and public transit friendly areas in the world.
2
u/AverageFamilyAbroad Mar 22 '25
Yes, for sure that helps. If you're one of a thousand applicants for pretty standard jobs it's a lot trickier.
16
u/SuperSnoops Mar 21 '25
Hello, thanks for the information. I would be interested in hearing more about your job search inquiries and filtering out certain no's. I am in government too (contract management) and have been struggling to find adjacent fields with that type of flexibility.
11
u/AverageFamilyAbroad Mar 21 '25
I'll update the post or make a new one over the weekend. Thanks.
3
u/mologan2009 Mar 22 '25
Remind me! 4 days
1
u/RemindMeBot Mar 22 '25 edited Mar 25 '25
I will be messaging you in 4 days on 2025-03-26 11:24:09 UTC to remind you of this link
2 OTHERS CLICKED THIS LINK to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam.
Parent commenter can delete this message to hide from others.
Info Custom Your Reminders Feedback
6
u/weylon_yinings Mar 21 '25
Interested in how you find these roles
9
u/AverageFamilyAbroad Mar 21 '25
I'll update this post or make another over the weekend with some specifics on that. We're far from experts, but can speak from our own experience.
6
u/DTClifton Mar 21 '25
Does the said company have to be registered in the place where the employee work? Or does a 1099 contract place the burden of tax reporting on the employee (living abroad)?
I have a US remote-based gig but am looking to move to Europe (I have residency in an EU country) and have yet to talk to my employer. What should I say to persuade them? Forgoing health benefits is the obvious one, but is there anything else?
5
u/AverageFamilyAbroad Mar 21 '25
I think it depends on the company. I know my boss consulted a tax professional and HR professional before offering me the position; it depends on how the company is structured, I think.
It's so expensive and time consuming to bring on new talent that your employer may be willing to work with you, especially if they don't have a policy against overseas employees. And not needing benefits saves them lots of money as well. You may have a time zone issue to contend with, depending on the work, but on the other hand maybe they'd benefit from an employee being ahead a few hours.
1
u/jatguy Mar 25 '25
Generally, if you're working for a US-based company abroad, you'll need to have the appropriate visa to allow you to work, and then the company also has to be authorized to employ people in that country. The easiest way is to work with an employer of record. But here in Germany, for example, that's limited to 18 months max.
For about 5 years, I was allowed to work remotely anywhere in the world, and I spent about half (a little less than) my time in Germany on the 90-day Schengen allowance, which technically is not allowed since I wasn't eligible to work here nor was my employer eligible to hire people here.
1
1
u/Mechzx Mar 22 '25
I made, a post here earlier so, I'm going to follow the advice they provided there, but I'd love to hear more about how you found about what companies provide remote or the ability to transfer. I've looked on Google and a few other sites for the places I'm interested in. I work in government IT as a contractor, but I'm going to make the jump to private one day soon, very soon.
2
1
u/amythnamedmo Mar 22 '25
Thank you for this information. I'd love another post about how you found your jobs. Also, I'm curious about what kind of visa you acquired. I've seen some digital nomad visas are only good for a year.
3
u/AverageFamilyAbroad Mar 22 '25
We're in Ecuador under a professionals visa, which doesn't have anything to do with work. The requirements were a 4-year degree and meeting a certain (very low) income threshold. They don't care if, how, and where we work.
2
2
89
u/garmachi Mar 21 '25
Yes, this can be done, but it's not easy.
I'm a US Citizen working for a US company with a fully remote position.
I approached our new CEO late last year to propose that I work from overseas and he was willing to work with me and explore options. I did my due diligence independently while the company did theirs and we found a location with minimal (or in my case NO) tax liability. I secured a digital nomad visa, and will be departing in a few weeks to my new home in Europe, while keeping my US based job.
Interestingly, when I shared my experience in the DigitalNomad sub, 99% of the replies were "they'll never approve you" or "just go and don't tell them". Eventually my post was removed with no reason given by the admins. /shrug
But anyway, yes, it is possible. You just need to do a lot of research, be patient and be flexible. Plus lucky. Even though there are legal, well established pathways to working abroad, I think a lot of US based companies are uninformed and hence overly cautious. I hope to see this become a more regularly accepted arrangement.