Doing Freelance Work in Another Country

Hi all,

I'm considering moving to the UK from Canada or at least visiting there for an extended period.

My question is whether anyone who is not a UK citizen has experience doing freelance work in the UK. What are the rules for whether I'd need a work visa and that kind of legal stuff? I've found it hard to find information on the rules for being a freelance worker who is not a UK citizen.

I don't intend on working for a UK business. In other words, I wouldn't be taking a job while I'm there. I would just be working with my existing Canadian clients and finding more through online freelance sites like odesk.com and such.

Is your freelance company registered in Canada?

Thanks for the response. I am registed in Canada, yes.

This is probably a better question for a UK lawyer. But if I had to guess I'd say that the UK doesn't care since none of your business crosses them in any way and you aren't a resident.

It doesn't really matter whatever country you are from. I'm in India and I write for an Aus company!

^ the difference is, you're not living in AUS, affecting their economy on a daily basis and not paying into the tax system to level out your daily activity.

it's one thing to live in canada and do business with UK customers, you're fine on that because you live in canada and pay into the canadian system. to reside in the uk, you will have to pay into the uk system, which means either getting a green card, or whatever their equivalent to that is, being sponsored for citizenship, or looking into some kind of work vacation visa - apparently under this you can travel abroad and be eligible to work for short (eg 1 year) periods of time without having to invest yourself deep into the system, like a greencard of citizenship.

i'm all heresy, so if you're seriously interested in making the move, consult a lawyer - if you go in with at least some idea of what you want to do i imagine you can work out a reasonable retainer to get the answers you need - but generally, no you can't just fly over there and start charging money and not pay it back into the system you will be using (roads, healthcare, transport, etc).