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September 29, 2009 by John Cottone
Filed under Freelance Advice
The allure of freedom and adventure is often an element that attracts folks to the world of freelancing. For some people, myself included, the flexibility to work in different spots around the neighborhood is a great draw. For the more adventurous, an extended version of the “working vacation” (mentioned in our previous article about Alternative Work Spaces) might be more suitable. I’ve asked myself lately, why not experience a new land for a new challenge and change of pace? How might this process work?
The timing might be good – the slide into recession for certain countries is making people think about moving abroad in an attempt to escape. Also, you can emigrate to countries perceived as offering a better quality of life and lower cost of living.
After scouring the web for more advice on working visas, I found quite a few services that assist independent workers in navigating the complexities of immigration and visa law. Global Visas is one firm, and they offer services for both private individuals and corporate organizations to acquire Canadian visa, UK or US visas. From their site, it looks like they’ve had some good press mentions, and they offer some free guidance on their site about qualifying for various country visas.
Feel free to comment below on your experiences with these companies, or offer any advice you may have for taking the leap into a foreign land.
There’s a nice little emigration guide here that outlines some pointers on what to prepare for:
http://www.emigrate2.co.uk/how_to_emigrate.htm
Do your homework on what city you choose!! Nothing worse than landing in a place and not really enjoying it. Social media can make it easier to find a contact in the area that may be willing to give you some advice
This is actually a topic I’ve been thinking about quite a bit: because most work visas assume that you’re looking for a job within the country you’re visiting (or immigrating to), it can be hard to get a work visa for most countries. There are also rules about paying taxes in the country you’re visiting if you’re on a work visa that can effectively lead to freelancers being taxed twice.
More than a few freelancers travel on tourist visas instead, although it isn’t an approach that is entirely on the up and up.
Personally, I think that the growing numbers of freelancers and location-independent workers need a new kind of visa entirely. That said, here’s a more in-depth run down of the issues currently associated with a freelancer getting a work visa: http://www.workingyourwayaroundtheworld.com/2009/08/a-customs-question/
I recommend to research a lot before moving to a new country, even if you are doing it temporally. One of the major problems is culture differences. If you are a Spanish speaker moving around Spanish speaking countries or English speaker moving around English speaking countries, you won’t have much problems to get a professional job (depending on your profession). If you are changing to a different culture, be aware that it is not always easy. It doesn’t matter the field that you are expert on.
I emigrated to New Zealand almost 6 years ago, leaving a well paid job as software developer in Argentina. It took me 5 years to get back to a similar position in New Zealand.
If you want to know more about my experience as IT pro in New Zealand, feel free to visit this post: http://www.codespanish.com/lang_entips-for-it-professionals-intending-to-emigrate-to-new-zealandlang_enlang_esconsejos-para-profesionales-en-ti-tratando-de-emigrar-a-nueva-zelandalang_es/
For a list of websites to find jobs in New Zealand and Australia: http://www.codespanish.com/lang_enwebsites-to-find-it-jobs-in-new-zealandlang_enlang_essitios-web-para-encontrar-trabajos-en-informatica-en-nueva-zelandalang_es/
Thanks to Thursday and Pablo for their great insights!
Hi, my name is Tim. Just wanted to say hi to the forum, I been creeping around here for a while now, but tend to participate more. Looking forward to make some new friends. Ciao!
Tim
NY, NY