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I am a British citizen who is waiting for a French visa (long stay, talent passport). Am I able to work remotely (from the UK) for my French employer while I wait for the visa to come through?

(I think the answer is yes because I have the right to work in the UK)

If yes, can you provide anything online that confirms this so that I can show to my French employer?

Jack
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    It may not only be your right to work, it may be that they don't have the right to employ. – littleadv Feb 20 '23 at 09:38
  • So for many professions, the company needs to prove that they have tried to hire locally (job advert online for 3 weeks or something like that) but I don't think this applies to me (fixed term research contract) –  Feb 20 '23 at 09:54
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    I think that the French employer is not even able to establish a legal work contract if you don't have a valid French work permit, that is why they want to wait that your talent passport is issued. Trying to convince them they are wrong might be challenging. – audionuma Feb 20 '23 at 10:03
  • @audionuma - interesting! I'm mostly just interested in finding out the answer. I thought it was possible because the first person I asked said it was possible. The fact there is different opinion on here suggests its not an obvious answer :( –  Feb 20 '23 at 10:08
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    @Jack Unfortunatly, the rules/laws for remote working is very underdeveloped. – Mark Johnson Feb 20 '23 at 10:10
  • @Jack Perhaps your French employer is concerned about how it would deal with its UK tax and NI obligations, especially if you would be its only UK-based employee https://www.taxrebateservices.co.uk/overseas-employer-uk-tax/ – Traveller Feb 20 '23 at 10:16

3 Answers3

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In a cross-border employment relationship, beyond visa/work permit issues, there are also issues with social security/national insurance and with taxation.

If you live and work in the UK, to be employed legally, you need to:

  • Have the right to live in the UK - no problem, you’re a British citizen
  • Have the right to work in the UK - ditto
  • Have your employer be registered with HMRC
  • Have your employer declare your employment to HMRC
  • Have your employer file PAYE returns, deduct NI and taxes from your wages, and pay them (and their own share of NI) to HMRC.

Unless your employer already has a subsidiary/branch in the UK, I doubt they would be willing to go through the hassle just for you.

What usually happens in such situations is that you are not employed, but under a freelance contract: you register as a sole trader, file and pay NI and taxes. Instead of receiving a salary, you send invoices to your customer (not employer). Note that depending on the amounts you may also need to register for VAT, collect VAT, file VAT returns, and pay VAT to HMRC. Depending on the situation it could also make sense to register a company rather than as a sole trader.

The UK have however rules (IR35) to prevent people who are in practice employees (they have a single “customer” who is really their employer) to act as sole traders, not sure how that works in cross-border situations.

There are also alternatives with companies that act as intermediaries (so you have a short term contract with that company, and they in turn invoice the “customer”). See “portage salarial” in French or “umbrella company” in the UK.

In any case, someone will have quite a bit of paperwork and admin to do, so it’s probably not worth the effort unless you expect it to last months.

jcaron
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  • Thank you! This is useful for future reference :) For the moment, I will just wait for the visa (should only take 2 weeks) and delay the start date of the contract. (Apart from actually needing the visa in the first place) Would this situation have been much easier before brexit? – Jack Feb 20 '23 at 15:00
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    @Jack Before Brexit you would not have needed a visa at all, so you could have started right away: just provide your ID to your employer, they file a DUE, and you can work the same day. There is no difference between an EU (EEA and a few more, actually) employee an a french one. If you had been in a situation of working remotely, though, no, it would probably be about the same (though there may be additional red tape now in the process). – jcaron Feb 20 '23 at 15:09
  • Thanks again :) I had a couple more questions https://expatriates.stackexchange.com/questions/25053/work-remotely-for-uk-company-while-in-eu https://expatriates.stackexchange.com/questions/25052/eu-tourist-visa-study-online-for-uk-course mainly about what my partner (not married, if that matters?) would be allowed to do if she was to get a tourist visa to travel to France with me – Jack Feb 26 '23 at 11:56
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One additional consideration is that working remotely may undermine your case for getting a visa in the first place. The officer evaluating your application may well reason: "he's already working remotely, so there is no need for him to actually be present in France".

This is the kind of tricky question that would be best asked of a legal expert experienced with this type of case.

Kevin Keane
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Am I able to work remotely (from the UK) for my French employer while I wait for the visa to come through?

Yes, French laws would not apply to you while working from inside the United Kingdom.

If yes, can you provide anything online that confirms this so that I can show to my French employer?

The European Commission text ('Which rules apply to you?'), shown below, should be sufficient.

Which rules apply to you?
You work in one country
As a basic rule, you are subject to the legislation of the country where you actually work as an employed or a self-employed person. It doesn't matter where you live or where your employer is based.

Sources:

Mark Johnson
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  • Thank you! On this page, it also says "EU rules on social security coordination no longer apply to and in the United Kingdom as of 1 January 2021". I think i need to read the document that is referred to here: "For persons not covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, social security coordination between the EU and the United Kingdom is regulated by the relevant Protocol to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. While similar to EU rules and comprehensive in scope, the Protocol does not provide for an identical level of protection as the EU Regulations." –  Feb 20 '23 at 10:01
  • @Jack And for any payments, UK laws would apply. – Mark Johnson Feb 20 '23 at 10:03
  • Sorry, but this is plainly wrong since Brexit. – henning Feb 21 '23 at 08:32
  • @henning 'you are subject to the legislation of the country where you actually work ...' are you saying, while working only in the UK that UK legislation applies is not true since Brexit? I would say that is still true, before and after, where taxes on income are concerned. – Mark Johnson Feb 21 '23 at 09:55
  • If you work remotely in the UK as an employee for a French company, you are not working in the UK for legal purposes. You have an employment contract with a French company, in France, which allows you to work from home (wherever that is). Nevertheless, the French company has to pay taxes and social security contributions in France, and as a non-EU citizen, you need a French work permit. Now, if you are self-employed, that's a different matter. – henning Feb 21 '23 at 10:22
  • The text you have quoted also begins with "When moving within the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland ...", which doesn't include the UK. – henning Feb 21 '23 at 10:24
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    @henning That is not true (from first comment). The text I quoted in contained in my answer (and does not contain your text). What I quoted is still true because nothing has changed in this regard. – Mark Johnson Feb 21 '23 at 10:42
  • What has changed is that the principle of free movement of labour no longer applies to UK citizens. Therefore they now need a work permit when working as employee of a company in an EU country, whether or not this is done remotely or in-place (unless there are special arrangements between the UK and the other country). – henning Feb 21 '23 at 13:50
  • @henning Yes, but that is not what the OP is asking and not what was answered. The core question is a) if they can work from the UK (yes this has not changed)) and b) 'provide anything online that confirms this' which the answer supplies. This has nothing to do with Brexit. The OP knows they need a visa and has applied for one, is now waiting for it to come through. – Mark Johnson Feb 21 '23 at 15:05
  • The principle is that you work in the country where your body is physically located while you work. It’s not where you live (for people near the Dutch/German border for example where many live in one country but drive to the other country every morning to work, but also for remote workers). And the UK kept this EU rule after Brexit, so nothing changed. – gnasher729 Mar 15 '23 at 21:21