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Work-from-home opportunities have changed our lives. Many people no longer have to drive to work to do their jobs – they can do them from home and communicate with their bosses and co-workers via phone, email, or video chat. Some people are even fortunate enough to be able to work on their own, only answering their clients. These opportunities are easy to find in the United States, but what if you live abroad? 

There are still plenty of opportunities for people who live abroad to work from home; I’ll discuss some of them in this post. 

Freelance  

The number one way people who live in other countries can work from home is to do freelance work. You can find freelance work on many different platforms depending on the type of work you want. They include:

Upwork 

You can find almost any freelance work on Upwork. People post projects in all job categories, such as accounting and financial consulting, administrative support, customer service, data science and analytics, design and creative, engineering and architecture, IT and networking, legal, sales and marketing, translation, web, mobile and software development, ad writing.

In addition, Upwork freelancers can list consulting gigs and standalone projects customers can buy (similar to Fiverr). 

What countries can use Upwork? 

Almost any country, except Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria because of US trade restrictions. 

To learn more about how to get started on Upwork check out this link. 

Freelancer 

You can find about any freelance work on Freelancer as well. People post jobs in different categories like website design, logo design, mobile app development, mobile app development, and article writing. In addition, companies also occasionally post contests freelancers can enter to win money. 

What countries can use Freelancer? 

Check here to see the list of countries Freelancer supports. To find out more and get started on Freelancer click this link. 

Toptal 

If you have business, design, or technology skills, check out Toptal. Toptal’s clients are always looking for software engineers, coders, architects, UI, UX, Visual and interaction designers; financial and modeling valuation, startup funding, interim CFOs, and market sizing; digital and technical project managers, scrum masters, and others with experience in different PM tools, frameworks and styles; digital product managers and scrum product managers with experience in banking, healthcare, and eCommerce among other things; and project consultants. 

What countries can use Toptal?

Toptal hires freelancers from over 100 countries – an exact list was unavailable. 

What is the hiring process like? 

Since Toptal only hires top talent (Toptal is short for this) their hiring process is extensive – it can take four to six weeks. You can find out more about it here. 

If you’re interested in applying with Toptal, you can start the process here. 

Guru 

Guru is similar to Upwork – you can find almost any freelance work on Upwork. You have to sign up and develop your profile, so people see what skills you have. If you have work samples, you can add them to your portfolio on Guru, just like you can on Upwork. Guru also hires for many job categories, such as freelance writing, editing, transcription, and software development. 

What countries does Guru hire in? 

Guru hires in 75 different countries. You can get the complete list here. 

How do I sign up for Guru?

You can sign up for Guru using this link. 

Behance 

If you’re a creative (graphic designer, illustrator, developer, UI or UX designer) Behance is a good place to check for freelance gigs. You can visit their site, post your profile, and check out their freelancer listings. 

What countries does Behance hire in? 

As far as I can tell, Behance hires in all countries. I could not find any specifics on countries they don’t hire in. 

How do I sign up for Behance?

To sign up, go to this page. 

99designs

If you’re a designer, consider signing up with 99deisgns. They give you everything you need to grow your clientele and expand your skills. You can choose the industries, styles and categories you work in; the more you participate, the better they can start matching you with clients looking for what you offer.

It’s free to sign up and start freelancing with them; rates and rewards vary depending on the type of work you do – you’re paid in three business days or less, once you become a top-level designer. 

With 99designs, you can work two different ways – directly with clients, or you can earn big bucks through design contests. 

What countries does 99designs hire in? 

A full list was unavailable, but according to this article, the only countries they don’t do business with because of sanctions are North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Cuba, Russia, and Belarus (except for designers who signed up before March 2022), separatist regions of Ukraine like the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic, and Crimea, and any individual or nation named on sanctions lists like OFAC’s SDN List or Austria’s Consolidated List. 

Dribble

This is another great freelance platform for designers. Designers can find both full-time jobs as well as freelance work here. 

What countries does Dribble hire in?

Dribble accepts sign-ups from every state in the US and many other countries. You can check out their full country list here. 

ServiceScape

ServiceScape hires professionals to work on editing, translation, graphic design, and writing jobs. They work a bit differently from other platforms – rather than bidding on jobs, you set up your freelancer profile on ServiceScape by adding a description of your services, a list of degrees and positions that are relevant to the services you’re offering, and then adding your portfolio so potential buyers can see samples of your work.

Your profile contains your average client rating, client reviews, amount of work you’ve done with ServiceScape, headshot photograph, video introduction, languages you speak, social sharing buttons, and service prices. In addition, it has several buttons that let clients interact with you, including buying a service, sending a message, setting up a teleconference call, submitting a free sample (for editing only), and adding to favorites. 

Once you’ve set up your profile, you’re added to the freelancer directory, and potential clients can search for you. 

What countries does ServiceScape hire in? 

ServiceScape doesn’t appear to have any restrictions on where you can live. If you live in the US, they use a payment method called Gusto.  You’ll be paid by Paypal or check if you live outside the US. 

DesignHill

This is another great place for designers to find freelance graphic design work. You can enter contests, offer graphic design services on your terms, and sell your artwork on different products to customers. 

What countries does DesignHill hire in?

DesignHill didn’t have specific information on countries, but their website claims they have designers in 52 countries worldwide.  Their designers are paid through Paypal or Payoneer when they reach at least $50 in earnings. 

Companies that Hire Remote Workers Overseas

Amazon 

This company not only offers their in-house teams more flexibility when it comes to working from home, but they’ve also established completely remote positions that are full-time and based outside the US. The positions vary based on the company’s needs – roles could include customer management, cloud infrastructure, video editing, software development, or product marketing. 

Trilogy 

This company was founded in 1989 as a startup in Silicon Valley. These days it’s considered a comprehensive business platform that hundreds of leading software companies run on. It ha a 100% fully-remote workforce, and it’s focused on securing the best global talent. Roles they offer on a full-time remote basis include software engineers, innovators, cloud operations engineers, and QA testers. 

Xerox 

Xerox manufactures and sells office equipment including scanners, printers, and multi-function systems. It was founded 116 years ago in New York and is now one of the best-known American companies worldwide. It has its own virtual office program and currently has more than 8000 home-based employees around the globe performing many different full-time roles. Some of the areas offering work-from-home opportunities include customer care, tech support, data entry, quality control, and software programming. 

Aurea Software 

Aurea’s goal is to provide businesses with everything they need to embrace the future of work, commerce, and IT. Their software library creates unrivaled and unlimited possibilities, helping global businesses accelerate their digital transformation. 

This Texas-based company’s team of 2,000 plus employees has become fully remote. They frequently advertise technical analyst, manual QA tester, account executive, sales lead generator, and customer success manager positions. 

Adobe 

Adobe is consistently among the top places to work in the world. They’ve made Fortune’s List of 100 Best Companies to Work for 20 years. This computer software company encourages employees to make their hours rather than confirming to rigid workplace schedules. They also frequently offer full-time, work-from-home roles to employees outside the US, including within the United Kingdom and some European countries. 

Bloom Institute of Technology 

This company, called BloomTech for short, offers a new model of accessing higher education with no upfront costs. This San Francisco-based company provides an intensive program and online curriculum that teaches students the hard and soft skills needed to launch a new tech career. They regularly advertise for full-time remote employees, particularly in roles like Salesforce development and administrator, as well as other software engineering architecture positions. 

Crossover

This global recruitment platform specializes in fully-remote jobs. They connect talented professionals from around the globe with leading American software companies that want to hire the best. Their vision is to revolutionize how people perform their roles and make remote work more efficient. 

One of the most revolutionary things that set them apart from other remote working platforms is that they offer both full-time and part-time careers – not short-term gigs that don’t offer employees the security or stability they deserve. In many cases, they can also double or triple the pay compared to what people earn locally. 

Crossover developed remote work solutions years before COVID-19, unlike recent global recruitment platforms. They have long understood that traditional working models are severely outdated, where everyone is expected to be available between 9 and 5 pm. The days of synchronous work are over, and the 70+ leading US companies that use Crossover to recruit global talent for high-paying remote positions recognize this. 

These are just some ways you can work from home while living outside the United States and some companies that hire remote workers outside the US. Whether you work as a freelancer or an employee, make sure you find a job that pays you enough to live on.

If you choose to work as a freelancer, make sure you save money on each payment for any taxes you might have to pay in your country. Whether you live in or outside the United States, if you need help or advice on working from home, schedule a consultation, so I can help you develop a plan for finding a work-from-home job.