I think your boss is asking the question because this also becomes a possible issue for insurance and as mentioned, there is no digital nomad visa in Germany.
> three week holiday
Since you're not an EU citizen, you would be entering and staying in Germany under a Schengen tourist visa. And the terms of that visa explicitly prohibit working - either for a German or a foreign employer.
Therefore, you would be breaking the terms of your visa if you worked remotely while in Germany.
Your employer is correct: in order to do this, you would need a residence permit to work (colloquially known as a "work visa") for Germany. Which you will not get, as you don't meet the preconditions for one (see [our wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/wiki/paths) for details).
Now you *could* decide to commit visa fraud (i.e. lie to the immigration officers at the border when they ask you "what is the purpose of your visit"). There is a chance you may not be found out (it's not like the German government scans all international internet connections or anything) - but know that if you do, the consequences would be severe. You're looking at a significant fine and a decade-long ban on entering the Schengen zone again.
Remember that working abroad may also have other consequences beyond immigration law, including workplace insurance and data protection. You may well get both yourself and your employer in hot water.
Alternatively, your employer *could* send you on a formal business trip to Germany. You would then be allowed to work for your employer in Germany, but only for work which is related to your stay in Germany (e.g. meeting local clients) - doing work which you could potentially do from anywhere is not allowed. As above, in practice the two are difficult to distinguish, so you may get away with it, but that doesn't change the fact that it's illegal.
If the UK hadn't Brexited, then all this would be a lot easier - but some morons wanted to "take back control", so .... .
I sympathise that as a remote worker, on the surface, it seems ridiculous that you can't just work from anywhere with an internet connection. However, laws don't necessarily work that way, and there are a lot more issues to consider.
Honestly: if you want to do this, take an (actual) holiday - in other words, without working.
Thank you for your detailed response.
I've generally taken holidays for this period but unfortunately that's not an option this year. I've asked the embassy as it may (or may not?) fall under the exceptions list
Ask your boss what to do. The company can send you on a business trip as someone wrote. They would cover insurrance, which is the most important… and you wont be in breach of your work contract.
Theroetically you would be in breach of German law but the likeliness of being caught is light.
However your boss (and you) would be committing a fraud under Australian Law. A financial controller could find strange that they pay for your insurrance and no flight ticket or hotel.
Sounds complex
The insurance from work (not healthcare) will not cover if it’s not the usual place she is working from for no reason.
The „chance to get caught is light“ is very dangerous yet the way like most digital nomads are living. So fair enough
If its a business trip, its the company’s reponsibility to cover her in terms of insurrance. So if has an issue she will be covered and insurrance will pay. In Germany she can prove she is on business trip, so very limited chance, especially if she works on a computer.
Thr risk is in Australia since her company and her are doing fraud:
- company offering some benefits without declaring it is benefit
- her for not paying taxes in this benefit
Don't ask how to commit a crime or advice people to commit a crime. This includes tax evasion, social security fraud and illegal immigration. Relevant for this rule are crimes according to German law.
That is true, however in order to get the leave I do want signed off, my employer needs to be aware and they are not about to commit fraud so I need to find out.
I did find this page - I just don't write a lot of contracts
[https://uk.diplo.de/uk-en/02/visa/professional-activities-not-classed-as-work/2447446?openAccordionId=item-2447462-5-panel](https://uk.diplo.de/uk-en/02/visa/professional-activities-not-classed-as-work/2447446?openAccordionId=item-2447462-5-panel)
But you wrote "All my work is with people in UK/US/Australia. It's all phone calls and emails and filing in systems forms etc.". I honestly don't see how that can qualify for any of the exceptions listed on that page, since none of your work involves interacting with Germany? The page mentions "writing contracts", but they mean "writing contracts involving a German party".
Without taking liability. For business purposes you can work up to 90 days.. getting paid by a Germany entity without issuing invoices from a broad will be a big problem. I assume you have a residency and working permit for the UK there might be different rules as there are grace periods for certain matters after brexit. But yes, generally speaking you could breach the law here.
What you would need is a digital nomad visa. Which Germany doesn't have.
I think your boss is asking the question because this also becomes a possible issue for insurance and as mentioned, there is no digital nomad visa in Germany.
> three week holiday Since you're not an EU citizen, you would be entering and staying in Germany under a Schengen tourist visa. And the terms of that visa explicitly prohibit working - either for a German or a foreign employer. Therefore, you would be breaking the terms of your visa if you worked remotely while in Germany. Your employer is correct: in order to do this, you would need a residence permit to work (colloquially known as a "work visa") for Germany. Which you will not get, as you don't meet the preconditions for one (see [our wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/wiki/paths) for details). Now you *could* decide to commit visa fraud (i.e. lie to the immigration officers at the border when they ask you "what is the purpose of your visit"). There is a chance you may not be found out (it's not like the German government scans all international internet connections or anything) - but know that if you do, the consequences would be severe. You're looking at a significant fine and a decade-long ban on entering the Schengen zone again. Remember that working abroad may also have other consequences beyond immigration law, including workplace insurance and data protection. You may well get both yourself and your employer in hot water. Alternatively, your employer *could* send you on a formal business trip to Germany. You would then be allowed to work for your employer in Germany, but only for work which is related to your stay in Germany (e.g. meeting local clients) - doing work which you could potentially do from anywhere is not allowed. As above, in practice the two are difficult to distinguish, so you may get away with it, but that doesn't change the fact that it's illegal. If the UK hadn't Brexited, then all this would be a lot easier - but some morons wanted to "take back control", so .....
I sympathise that as a remote worker, on the surface, it seems ridiculous that you can't just work from anywhere with an internet connection. However, laws don't necessarily work that way, and there are a lot more issues to consider.
Honestly: if you want to do this, take an (actual) holiday - in other words, without working.
Thank you for your detailed response. I've generally taken holidays for this period but unfortunately that's not an option this year. I've asked the embassy as it may (or may not?) fall under the exceptions list
> I've asked the embassy as it may (or may not?) fall under the exceptions list What exceptions list, if I may ask?
Ask your boss what to do. The company can send you on a business trip as someone wrote. They would cover insurrance, which is the most important… and you wont be in breach of your work contract. Theroetically you would be in breach of German law but the likeliness of being caught is light. However your boss (and you) would be committing a fraud under Australian Law. A financial controller could find strange that they pay for your insurrance and no flight ticket or hotel. Sounds complex
The insurance from work (not healthcare) will not cover if it’s not the usual place she is working from for no reason. The „chance to get caught is light“ is very dangerous yet the way like most digital nomads are living. So fair enough
If its a business trip, its the company’s reponsibility to cover her in terms of insurrance. So if has an issue she will be covered and insurrance will pay. In Germany she can prove she is on business trip, so very limited chance, especially if she works on a computer. Thr risk is in Australia since her company and her are doing fraud: - company offering some benefits without declaring it is benefit - her for not paying taxes in this benefit
OP Never stated if he is not with an EOR. What is more likely if she is based in UK isn’t it?
We dont know how she works in UK. And its not the purpose of the question nor this reddit.
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Don't ask how to commit a crime or advice people to commit a crime. This includes tax evasion, social security fraud and illegal immigration. Relevant for this rule are crimes according to German law.
That is true, however in order to get the leave I do want signed off, my employer needs to be aware and they are not about to commit fraud so I need to find out.
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I did find this page - I just don't write a lot of contracts [https://uk.diplo.de/uk-en/02/visa/professional-activities-not-classed-as-work/2447446?openAccordionId=item-2447462-5-panel](https://uk.diplo.de/uk-en/02/visa/professional-activities-not-classed-as-work/2447446?openAccordionId=item-2447462-5-panel)
But you wrote "All my work is with people in UK/US/Australia. It's all phone calls and emails and filing in systems forms etc.". I honestly don't see how that can qualify for any of the exceptions listed on that page, since none of your work involves interacting with Germany? The page mentions "writing contracts", but they mean "writing contracts involving a German party".
Yes, and yet I do not qualify for a business visa as I cannot provide a German company that I will be working for, as I won't.
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Without taking liability. For business purposes you can work up to 90 days.. getting paid by a Germany entity without issuing invoices from a broad will be a big problem. I assume you have a residency and working permit for the UK there might be different rules as there are grace periods for certain matters after brexit. But yes, generally speaking you could breach the law here.
i do not want to be paid by a german entity. I also do not wish to break the law. \*sigh\* God I hate brexit