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I work for a Canadian startup company from my home in India (i.e remotely). I have been working as an independent contractor for them for the past 4 years.

Recently, I have decided to travel to Spain/Netherlands for tourism purposes.

Is it a good idea to mention that I am a remote worker in the Schengen application form? Do the embassy workers understand the concept of a "remote job"? Will I be red-flagged by any chance?

In the application form I have mentioned my office address location as Canada. Is that a good idea?

Any help would be invaluable. Thanks

EDIT:

I have savings of about €6500 in my bank account

Also, I have a salary of about €1460 per month through my contract which is valid till Dec 2020.

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    Of course you should mention it, it's what gives you money to travel abroad.
    – CaldeiraG
    Commented Sep 12, 2019 at 9:00
  • But do they understand what a remote job is? Because I work from home as an independent contractor. I am salaried but still under an "Independent contract agreement"
    – sp497
    Commented Sep 12, 2019 at 9:05
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    If you don’t mention it, how will you explain your occupation and from where you derive your income and savings? Pretty much everyone understands the concept of remote working nowadays. Provide your contract with your application for the avoidance of doubt. The downside of this type of employment is that inherently it can be done from anywhere in the world therefore it’s a weaker tie to your home country than an India-based job would be, so your other ties to home need to be strong to compensate.
    – Traveller
    Commented Sep 12, 2019 at 9:09
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    Why do you think a European country won't know what a remote job is?
    – Hanky Panky
    Commented Sep 12, 2019 at 9:24
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    There are many (and worse) red flags then telling the truth. "Indian remote worker"? In Europe we know too well this concepts: outsourcing and remote workers.
    – Giacomo Catenazzi
    Commented Sep 12, 2019 at 9:25

2 Answers 2

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Yes, you need to explain in the application how you make a living. Otherwise your visa will surely be refused because then your application is indistinguishable from "unemployed with no income, probably desperate to try to find work as an illegal immigrant in our country".

"Working remotely for a foreign company" is perhaps less convincing for a visa officer than actual local jobs -- you could keep doing that work even from the Schengen area, so it's not a close tie to your home country. But still having a job (that you document in the application) is infinitely better than not having one.

Document the job you have. It's not helpful that speculate that a different job would make for a stronger application if you had it, because you don't.

I would understand "office address location" to be the place where you physically carry out your work. If you're working from home, you don't have a separate office address.

(Do document the employer's office in Canada -- but it's not yours).

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  • So I mention my house address as "office address location"? In which field of the Schengen Visa application form do I mention the employer's office?
    – sp497
    Commented Sep 13, 2019 at 11:36
  • I cannot work from a different location because my work requires powerful desktop computers with a powerful graphics card. So basically, I have a home office. I cannot work from anywhere using laptops. How do I mention all this in my cover letter?
    – sp497
    Commented Sep 13, 2019 at 11:37
  • @sp497 I wouldn't write any "office address" at all if you don't have one. - And, as far as the visa officer is concerned, there'd be nothing stopping you from having your work computer shipped to you if you decide to immigrate illegally.
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Commented Sep 13, 2019 at 13:23
  • Ok. I will mention that I have not put the office address in the cover letter.
    – sp497
    Commented Sep 13, 2019 at 13:27
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I did mention that I am a remote worker in my application and cover letter. Also, I mentioned that my employers are based out of Canada and their office address too.

I got my multiple-entry short-stay visa today for 35 days.

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