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Comment by math | Hacker News Reader

I develop software. I did this for 10 years in Australia before moving here and because of this have relationships with Australian companies that would allow me to do contracting work remotely for good money if that is what I wanted (however at the moment I'm working on personal projects, currently backrecord.com). You are right - GNI per person in Australia is ~$42k (assume it is similar for USA). GNI per person here is $650. So you live like a king.

Internet is reliable and fast enough (I use a 3G connection and this is very cheap). There are many telcos so lots of competition.

Weather is hot and at the moment wet. I love the weather.

btw: I don't think you'd ever get away with pretending to be located in America.

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> GNI per person in Australia is ~$42k (assume it is similar for USA). GNI per person here is $650. So you live like a king.

Yeah, US is $46k according to Google. Can you afford a chef, maid, and chauffeur? That would be absolutely awesome! (Sorry if I sound a little too giddy; I come from a lower middle class, rural background, and the thought of doing software development while living like a king in a faraway tropical paradise sounds absolutely magical.)

> btw: I don't think you'd ever get away with pretending to be located in America.

Why is this (honest question, I really don't know much about freelancing yet)? The time difference? For phone calls, I'd use Skype to get an American number I could give clients, and my parents would have no problems scanning & emailing any documents that might arrive in the snail mail.

Because you aren't actually in America.

Yes, I already gleaned that much. My question is how a client I would only communicate with over the internet and/or phone could possibly know this.

You have to appear in person to get certain paperwork done.

How often do you have to do this sort of thing? Is it per client, or if you use a freelancing website, can you do it just once at the beginning?

And if you can build some relationships before leaving (I'll be doing it for a while before I graduate from college), would it then be possible?

> > btw: I don't think you'd ever get away with pretending to be located in America.

If you are an American citizen, you have an obligation to pay income tax on your earnings. The same goes for many countries.

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