Bought my One-Way - now I'm scared to death

Sounds like an excellent education opportunity.
Treat everything as a positive experience and you're on a winner.

With little info, you have given us, age and what your profession you are in. I can't give a true answer. But with me moving overseas was the best thing I ever did (twice).

Exactly what I needed to hear.

Thank you guys.

As far as age, etc. I am 31 and I work in a field that is in pretty high demand. I have been told that I can get anywhere from 40-60 euro / hr for remote and 80-100 euro / hr for onsite work. Am currently doing this freelance from here at rates that are quickly approaching these. I also am able to work remotely with jobs from the U.S. while overseas.

It's still fresh. Things are going to work out ok, I'm just trying to put together a plan.

So it sounds like you are coming officially as a tourist. As an American you will get 3 months for the entire EU. You can look around for a job but without working papers you will have to be open about your situation and find an employer willing to do the extra paper work to get you a work visa which entails showing they could not find a EU citizen to fulfill the position. In high demand niche markets like in high tech or academia this is possible, for most jobs not. To set yourself up as self-employed and doing free-lance work will take some proof to show high qualifications and probability of success, so a sensible business plan.

Remote work from the States or anywhere is complicated because if you are living in Germany then you have to pay taxes and make social contributions to the German system. But the Americans will probably want to tax you as well. An American usually gets around this when working exclusively abroad by taking the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion which exempts the first 100,000 or so of income from American federal taxes. But this won’t count as foreign earned as you’ve described. 

Be aware that America is one of two countries worldwide that require it’s citizens to file and report earning and financial assets on an annual basis regardless if they would end up with a tax obligation or not. At this point some banks still offer American clients a bank account to make and receive payments (Giro-Konto). Most no longer allow them to have other financial investments. The same goes for brokerage firms. This is based on heavy-handed requirements to report financial data to the US officials and few banks in the world want to take the risk.

Sounds like you need to do your homework and find out a lot of information. Not to discourage you but not knowing about visas, work permits, residency and  banking and tax laws when considering relocation abroad is like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. Don’t just take people’s opinions on forums or sites like this since the situation might not be the same. Look at the official German immigration website:  bamf.de and the US tax site: IRS.gov – and then if you have specific questions post them here.

Regarding the feelings before a big move, I clearly remember bein scared the first few times I did it. It is human and entirely normal to be afraid of the unknown. But most of my fears turned out to be unfounded - and the actual problems I encountered were usually in areas where I expected no issues.
This might also be true for you, if (as I read between the lines of your post) you expect to be able to do remote freelance work from home like in the USA now. Unfortunately this will not easily work:
First, you need a visa allowing work. Depending on what you do, this could be a freelancer or business visa. (Don‘t do it on a tourist visa - it is illegal and can, no will, bite you sooner or later!)
And then there are various issues regarding accountancy, tax, compulsory health insurance, permits (for some professions), etc. Most of these are nearly impossible to manouvre for a foreigner without engaging professional help (for a fee).
Last not least, you will have to learn German if you want local clients (and a meaningful social life).
For all this, I heard, experienced consultants recommend coming with sufficient finances to survive the initial 1 - 2 years until the venture becomes profitable - and have a Plan B if it doesn‘t. Do not expect running a business in Germany to be nearly as easy as at home!

Appreciated, thanks for the info.

Yes, I have done my homework as anxiously as possible. I have been ready to jet for years now. Lucky to have bought the ticket and locked in, I am now happily awaiting my exit journey

As far as the 3 month rule goes, the plan is to either work remotely or seek out work in DE. If freelance visa permit doesn't work out then I head off to UK to "reset" the clock.

I don't know what "reset the clock" means, but in case you are talking about visa-runs and working on three months Schengen visa: This won't work!
For one thing, these visa do not allow work and even remote work is illegal.
And on the other hand, you can only stay in the EU on Schengen visa for up to three months in any six months period, so your "reset" would take three months.

If you plan to go to the UK, I would direct your questions in maybe the England forum because they have different rules and different visas.

skahler wrote:

Appreciated, thanks for the info.

Yes, I have done my homework as anxiously as possible. I have been ready to jet for years now. Lucky to have bought the ticket and locked in, I am now happily awaiting my exit journey

As far as the 3 month rule goes, the plan is to either work remotely or seek out work in DE. If freelance visa permit doesn't work out then I head off to UK to "reset" the clock.

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

You can't work in the UK on a visitor visa which is the only UK visa I suspect you will qualify for; if you want to work in the UK, check out our England Forum where I've posted a sticky that tells non-EU citizens what they need to do.  You run a real risk of being denied entry into the UK and probably deported back to the US if the UK Border Force officer has any doubts on the legality of what you're doing.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

I am going to go ahead and close this thread for simplicity's sake.

Thanks guys

Hello everyone,

> @skahler: Have you obtained the answers which you were looking for?  If yes, please confirm whether you wish to close this thread.

Thank you,

Diksha
Team Expat.com

As this is a discussion of general interest also for other readers and contributors, I see no need to close it.

Agree with Beppi; the OP has no obligation to contribute further but the advice received may be relevant to others.