“Lea, if I’m travelling to {insert country}, what sort of visa do I need if I’m location independent? Can I just go in on a tourist visa and still work on my online business or do I need something else?”
Right behind the question of tax and finances, this is one of the most commonly asked question I receive from readers.
As you might have guessed, there is no simple answer and what I’m sharing here is purely our own experience having run our online business from 12+ countries over the past few years…
The Challenge
The challenge lies in the fact that every country’s rules are different and that of course, we all have different passports & nationalities so there is no one size fits all. It’s also difficult to advise on because the immigration rules change frequently.
And the real difficulty lies in the fact that, while location independence, remote working and cross-border entrepreneurship is on the rise, very few countries have a specific category or classification into which we all fit neatly.
The Distinction
For example, what’s the difference between you heading off on vacation, but taking your laptop with you to process a few emails and tidy up a presentation while you’re there and you, as a location independent entrepreneur, taking your laptop to draft a few blog posts, skype with a few contacts and process your emails?
What is clear however, is that if you are heading to a country in which you plan to do business – that is, you plan to attract new clients and customers from within that country, approach other businesses as partners, trade anything physical or sell professional services to natives of that country, then yes, you probably do need some sort of business or work visa – check the rules and requirements very carefully.
In the first scenario however, you may be perfectly ok going in on a tourist visa…
Should You Ask?
When we first started travelling, we took the “100% upfront and honest” approach – and did our level best to contact embassies in advance, to try and find out what sort of visa we needed.
We even went as far as attempting to explain our situation to immigration officers upon arrival in a couple of places – but were typically met with nonplussed faces and a shrug of the shoulders.
Lesson learned – in most instances, it’s too complicated, there are no rules (yet) for this kind of work/travel and it was better to just keep quiet. We weren’t after all, planning to attract clients or customers while there nor do any kind of active trading with anyone else there either.
That said however, if you are in any doubt – and especially if you plan to carry out extensive and obvious business activities while staying in a certain country – then it is highly advisable to confirm the visa and entry requirements *before* you arrive.
The Bottom Line
1. If you plan to do any sort of actual business trading within a country, you will likely need some sort of visa or permit, other than a tourist one.
2. If your work is all virtual and online, and you won’t be trading directly with natives of a country, always check the typical ‘tourist’ visa requirements of any country you plan to travel to.
3. Also check out the business/work visa requirements to see if your business fits into something that already exists.
4. If possible, contact the embassy directly to confirm your initial findings.
5. If you’re confident that, on arrival, you won’t be sent home on the next plane and you’d be able to purchase the right type of visa upon arrival, by all means explain your situation to the immigration officers and see if there is indeed a category or visa you need, which you were unable to find.
And if all else fails, do a reccie first as a tourist to suss out the situation before attempting to run your business from there.