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There is a question on this site asking about countries they can stay for prolonged periods to work remotely, which has a nice post-COVID answer listing a bunch of countries. However, those are actually long term remote work permits, which still require special application and is meant for longer stays than the usual tourist visa or visa waiver will allow. There are a few questions that do not specify a duration, and they are either marked as duplicates of the previous question or only garner answers that essentially say "in most countries you can't do that legally but no one really cares". The questions are also rather old (around 2015, or at least pre-COVID), and things may have changed since.

My question is about remote work for short periods, perhaps combined with a holiday, of a total duration of no more than a month in the destination country.

Which countries allow me to remote work legally for a company in a (generally arbitrary) foreign country with a regular tourist visa or visa waiver (90 days or less), where the work has no connection to the destination country? (If it changes anything, I still work most of the time from my home country where the company is based in.) I'm looking for actual specific countries where it is legal, instead of just the broad non-answer of "you can't do that legally but no one really cares".

I imagine we could have a community wiki or something like this answer.

Just to show that this actually exists in the first place: It is legal to work remotely for short periods on an eTA (visa waiver) in Canada, because "long distance (by telephone or Internet) work done by a temporary resident whose employer is outside Canada and who is remunerated from outside Canada" is not considered work over there.

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  • The key is in your last sentence. There are vanishingly few countries where you can "work" as a tourist for the immigration definition of work but in almost all countries, what most people consider work for their out-of-country employer (emails, documents, calls, meetings, writing code, writing words etc) is not considered work and therefore you can do it while you're a tourist.
    – Kate Gregory
    Commented May 1, 2022 at 12:46
  • The UK allows visitors to undertake ‘general business activities’ gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/… but a visitor’s main purpose of coming to the UK must be to undertake a permitted activity, rather than specifically to work remotely from the UK assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/… So for example tourism/visiting friends+some remote work is fine, but a wandering digital nomad who travels from country to country wanting to work remotely is not
    – Traveller
    Commented May 1, 2022 at 13:28

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I think Brazil allows work for up to 90 days. I'm not a lawyer, but based on this sentence from the Digital Nomad guide:

For stays of up to 90 days, digital nomads may enter the country as visitor/tourist, according to the rules of the visitor visa for each nationality.

It doesn't explicitly say they are allowed to work, but since it mentions "digital nomads" I think it's assumed they are doing remote work. And if they wish to stay (and work) longer they can apply for a digital nomad visa when they are in Brazil already.

Uruguay is probably also in a similar situation because in the entry requirements guide they exclude digital nomads from the "working in Uruguay" section:

Foreigners who have not obtained legal residency are prohibited from engaging in any kind of work or activities for or in companies that are established in the national territory (except in the case of digital nomads). The legislation establishes that no company may proceed with the hiring or inclusion of foreigners in their Company Registry if they do not prove that they are duly authorized to legally work in the country, either on a permanent or temporary basis.

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I'm looking for actual specific countries where it is legal, instead of just the broad non-answer of "you can't do that legally but no one really cares".

Can I ask you why?

So, I will give you an answer first. Romania has a digital nomal visa. More broadly, you can find information about digital nomad visas in different EU countries here.

But, I am still confused as to why you actually need this. Is there any reason?

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    The question was which countries allow you to work on a tourist visa. It is irrelevant that Romania has simplified the requirements for giving you a long-term residence and work permit.
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Commented May 1, 2022 at 12:57
  • Well, for one, both I and my employer will be happier if there is clear documentation that says it is legal.
    – Bernard
    Commented May 1, 2022 at 14:04

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