And your employer is fine with it, or willing to turn a blind eye. That rules out lots of people working for large companies, particularly in highly regulated industries.
I would have loved to work remotely from Thailand in my previous job, and my previous employer would have been fine with it, had I been able to show them a work visa. Unfortunately, the Thai SMART Visa would have required my employer to have a Thai subsidiary. I could have created my own Thai single proprietorship and perhaps gotten my employer to hire me indirectly via that Thai entity, but at a minimum, that would have required lots of high-level approvals.
I got an email from the Ukrainian authorities (pre-2022) saying they didn't care if I worked remotely for a foreign company on a 90-day on-arrival tourist visa, and that was sufficient for my employer (as long as I didn't visit post-2014 conflict zones). (The Ukrainian ministry's email reply was along the lines of "Why are you asking us? Why would we care if you work remotely as a tourist, as long as you aren't doing any labor that requires a presence in Ukraine?") I worked from Kiev for a couple of months after a couple of high-level approvals.
Here's hoping more countries adopt digital nomad-friendly work visas. Lots of countries currently turn a blind eye, but it's much better to have everything explicit and above-board.
My company is very strict about work permit when working abroad. That rules out most countries for me. Also I find that remote work only makes sense in countries where cost of living is low. I did a bit of remote work in France/Italy, but it feels like throwing money away. Unless you want to rent an apartment on a long lease and cook, it boils down to spending tourist money while being locked in your hotel room.
I considered the Thai visa which has crazy requirements. My income makes me eligible (I believe), but the visa costs $1000+ and you're not even sure to get it.
I'm guessing most employers who wouldn't be fine with employees working in another country on a tourist visa for a few months also wouldn't be OK with them doing so on a work visa at least without lots of paperwork and approvals.
Of course, people who don't require special business visas to enter a country for, say, an event routinely do work when traveling in many cases. I've never done months at a time but I've certainly had ~1 month trips in Europe that were some combination of business and pleasure.
And your employer is fine with it, or willing to turn a blind eye. That rules out lots of people working for large companies, particularly in highly regulated industries.
I would have loved to work remotely from Thailand in my previous job, and my previous employer would have been fine with it, had I been able to show them a work visa. Unfortunately, the Thai SMART Visa would have required my employer to have a Thai subsidiary. I could have created my own Thai single proprietorship and perhaps gotten my employer to hire me indirectly via that Thai entity, but at a minimum, that would have required lots of high-level approvals.
I got an email from the Ukrainian authorities (pre-2022) saying they didn't care if I worked remotely for a foreign company on a 90-day on-arrival tourist visa, and that was sufficient for my employer (as long as I didn't visit post-2014 conflict zones). (The Ukrainian ministry's email reply was along the lines of "Why are you asking us? Why would we care if you work remotely as a tourist, as long as you aren't doing any labor that requires a presence in Ukraine?") I worked from Kiev for a couple of months after a couple of high-level approvals.
Here's hoping more countries adopt digital nomad-friendly work visas. Lots of countries currently turn a blind eye, but it's much better to have everything explicit and above-board.