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It can be hard to get access to a good printer and scanner while moving, especially if you have to sign a lot of documents. Now, I could scan my signature and just copy paste a digital image it on the documents, but that doesnโt feel secure and really easy to copy by others.
How do you sign legal documents while on the road?
Two of my coworkers recently became notaries, and showed this app โNotarizeโ to us.
According to my recently-minted public notary coworkers, you can use this app in all 50 states to get a signature from a public notary. The app drops you into a video channel with the notary where Iโm guessing they perform some authentication steps, and then you can send them the document you need signed.
I canโt speak for the security of this app (I wouldnโt be surprised if they stored all your documents on their servers) but so would any of the other notary websites that people here have suggested! This app seems like the most painless process for using a notaryโs services.
One more thing I do is sign a bunch of empty A4 sheets and hand them to a (very trusted) friend. That way he can just print whatever I send to him on top of it and itโll have a genuine, hand written signature.
Thx for your suggestions so far!
Scanning your signature is something I also did years ago, works great for simple low level stuff. And itโs also legal in most countries. 
Currently I also have my signature legalised at three different notaries, in three different countries for stuff that requires a legalised signature. I even have copies of original legalised digital versions of that, my lawyers also have those copies (has already been proven useful several times, setting up new businesses, larger contracts etc). Works great but can be quite expensive.
Now, for me there is something between the lower level signatures and the heavy notary/lawyer documents. Things that (might) have a great (financial) impact, but currently are not that valuable. For example simpler contracts. To use a lawyer or notary for those would simply be to costly.
My main concern is that I want to exclude the situation where someone said I agreed to a contract and shows my digital signature (scanned image) on that document where I I never even seen that contract, or itโs slightly changed by the other party etc.
Ok, call me paranoid, but that happened to me twice already. 
@mswehli thx for the Echosign suggestion! Looks promising. Itโs now rebranded to Adobe eSign services, but $14.99/month seems a bit to much for my use case. Besides that I donโt really like the vendor lock-in Adobe tries to create.
Today Iโve made some successful tests with digitally signing PDF documents using my PGP key. So if somebody copies my digital signature (scanned image) they can not created a PGP signed version of that document, since they would need me cryptographic private key for that. In that case I can ask the other party, show me the PGP publicly signed version. If they canโt reproduce that, weโre done. I donโt know how that holds up in court, but is sounds reasonable.
Iโll share my findings about this and how to set it up in a blog post!
Any other suggestions?
Just a note though. Things like esign and certified pdf are useful primarily to prove someone signed something and not to prove that you didnโt sign something. So itโs there to benefit the person asking for the signature. So if you want something signed then itโs good to insist they use something like PGP as they canโt claim itโs fake, however if youโre the one signing the documents then a document not being properly signed isnโt really a good enough legal defence that you didnโt sign something.
In anycase the burden is usually on the other person to prove you signed something rather than on you to prove you didnโt.
Hi Gavin,
Look at https://rightsignature.com. Should be the answer for you.
+1 for RightSignature. I used it just once, but it felt like a good solution.
I use a Mac, and Preview can add your own handwritten signature to any PDF.
So, anything that requires me to sign it, I use that. Iโve run into problems where I need a notary public, donโt have a good solution there.
Personally I just do the whole scanned signature thing with adobe acrobat and also use echosign quite a lot when I can. But ofcourse the other person has to agree to use it (and pay a subscription fee)
Same here, I use a scanned signature that I place with photoshop or acrobat onto a document, check, contract, nda, etcโฆ I rarely print, sign, scan, email anymore. I scanned my signature about 10 years ago, cleaned it up in photoshop, and made a stamp out of that for acrobat. I also did the same with my initials, as well as both for my wife. Some legal documents require initialing all over the place. 
It was quick and easy to do, and I have used the same stamp for years, even after upgrading acrobat. Every check that gets photographed and emailed to me for electronic deposit, gets this โsignature stampโ then uploaded to the bank, never had an issue. I donโt know how I would be paid otherwise with no access to physical mail and bank branches.
Also - no solution for notary public. I was thinking about being certified, but for the very rare instance Iโd need it, it was not worth the hassle.
Hi everyone,
I would love to hear what you'd like me to build next on Nomad List, or any other product/feature feedback ideas you have.
It's been 6+ years now but I'm in this for the long term and with the boost remote work got last year it's even more exciting to work on Nomad List than ever.
Current roadmap is here: twitter.com/levelsio/status/1363204985488572417?s=20 and pbs.twimg.com/media/EusS9PKXEAUR8xp?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
The next products/features I have planned:
- ๐ Rebase: visa, residency and immigration services for remote workers
- ๐Courses: learn the steps how to go remote and travel/relocate
- ๐ Gov liaison: diplomacy services to the governments to help us lobby for nomads and for them to attract remote workers
Thanks a lot!
What are the best places right now in the Caribbean/LatAM? (Also cheapest flights/accommodation?) Asking from the US.
As part of signing up for this website I was hoping I would come across a list of Visa and/or Residency requirements by country ideally in a table format to assist with decision making. Does anybody recommend any other websites that might present the information in this format (or Google Spreadsheet)?
I love living in walkable areas of town. I can always find them. But now I'm wondering where in the world are the most walkable places? I'm imagining walk streets (no cars), zoning allowing both business and residential, parks or beaches ,etc.
Hi guys,
After the Netherlands, the Bay Area, Colorado and being on the van life for 8 months, I am now in Sedona, AZ with a few other digital nomads. We are sharing a home here and are wondering if there are more like minded people in the area.
We do a bunch of hikes and campouts in the northern of Arizona. If you would like to connect with us, please do so :)
Val
Has anyone figured out a way to get setup with a virtual number and internet connection anywhere you go?
Hi everybody. I live and work in Germany and want to go to Canary Islands for 6 months to work from there. I'm going to keep my current job, just change the "home" in the home office part of things. Are there any tax issues I have to be aware of? I was reading about becoming a residence after 183 days, thus having to pay taxes there plus my employer having to register there. Does anybody know how it works exactly? Thanks a lot!
Winter is coming and Iโm feeling the ache of travelling after being stuck in the same place since the Pandemic started. Wondering if anyone is travelling right now? If so, where are you currently located and how is the situation where you are?
Hello, everyone!
My idea is to stay as low as 6 months and as long as a year (maybe, who knows) over Lisbon after doing some analysis from many cities in Europe.
I'm an Argentinian and Chilean (both nationalities) so... no Euro-pass for me (getting my Italian nationality could take 2 years easily). I'm also a remote worker and I have a really good income (I work for a Silicon Valley company) so I can show more than enough resources to stay in the country.
Everything I see online doesn't inspire me much confidence (most sites looks a bit scammy) and this is not a "vacation stay"... I want to be clear my head far away from Argentina right now. If someone has a good website, recommendations, etc I will super appreciate.
Thanks in advance!
Hi all,
I am moving to Amsterdam in January and looking for advice regarding legal status.
I work for a small French company. They agreed to let me move to Amsterdam as a remote worker starting January. 
However, they have no business entity and no employee in the Netherlands, so we have no idea how to set up the whole thing legally speaking. Should I remain an employee of the French entity, should I charge them as a consultant/contractor?
Of course, I am looking for a solution that is both simple and with minimum taxes 
Thank you for your help!!
Steph
PS: If you can recommend a good accountant that is competent on the topic, I an happy to pay for the service too!
Just tackling my legal will and bought a little $35 pack at my local Australian post office while Iโm back in my birth country, but upon reading the first few pages itโs fairly apparent this is only an Australian Legal Will.
Has anyone tackled checking out their will situation on an international level?
I need to consider things like decentralised online assets that donโt exist in any particular country, any resources or experiences even just anecdotally appreciated
Cheers
I worked out a few times a week back home, but havenโt been able to figure out how to make it a part of my routine now that Iโm living out of my backpack in hostels. Iโve always gone to gyms, but Iโd be open to trying bodyweight exercises. I thought that I might be able to do bodyweight exercises in parks/etc, but the past few days in London have been wet and miserable and I canโt find the motivation to go do push ups in wet grass. Any advice?
Hey everyone, my girlfriend and I have been nomading for about 8 months now and weโve had a total blast doing it, but something weโve both struggled with is how to stay in touch with personal/professional networks while abroad, especially since we donโt speak the language in most places we live. When youโre at home or in a single English-speaking city, you can attend one of those awful professionals groups and make 10 business connections in 10 minutes, but when youโre moving around monthly, itโs just harder to keep up personal and professional relationships, let alone build new ones. So, as friends who understand this wonderful but often lonely lifestyle, how do you keep your networks up while on the road?
Hey all,
I recently spent 2.5 years as a DN (mostly Europe and SE Asia) but then went through a huge breakup (6 yr relationship) and decided to spend some time back home (Melbourne, AUS). Iโm giving myself a year back here, just to โcome downโ from it all, reconnect with important people in my life, and lick my wounds a bit.
Can I just say, surprise surprise - itโs HAAAARD! Being home is such a slap in the face, even though Iโm earning more money than ever, my business is going great, and doing some other wonderful things/spending time with wonderful people. The breakup, coupled with a complete shift in my reality and routine has been almost too much to bare - I wouldnโt recommend it! NOBODY at home understands the internal existential conflict Iโm experiencing. Itโs been 8 months and not getting any easier.
Hereโs the thing: I know that I want to continue the DN lifestyle, and am very well-equipped to do so, but I canโt stop thinking about why, how and when. Is it the right thing for me anymore? Should I set up a base here again properly, buy an apartment & all that jazz, and just do shorter trips?
This has probably been discussed multiple times, so apologies if Iโm repeating. Here are my main concerns around going back to full time travel:
Being a DN with a long-term partner who was also working a bit seemed like the ultimate lifestyle for me. It was damn amazing. Now that Iโm no longer in a relationship, and am a female nearing 30, I canโt help but feel pressured by society to stay here and remain open to the possibility of eventually meeting someone again. If I want to have a family at any point, I kinda canโt be running all over the world creating fleeting relationship after fleeting relationship and having to deal with the loneliness that inevitably hits when you make beautiful connections and then have to say goodbye over and over. I feel Iโve been โbrokenโ and donโt have the emotional capacity to handle this anymore. At least last time, I had one solid thing that was always there - my partner.
On top of this, donโt you think the DN thing is just way more purposeful and wonderful when you have someone to share it with? I feel like doing it alone will just remind me over and again of my loss. Perhaps though, as I create new memories, that will ease in time.
Also, because Iโm so flustered and restless at the moment, I canโt decide where I want to go next. Iโm overwhelmed by all the places in the world I want to visit, and places I want to go back to. How do you cope with this overwhelm and making some decisions when youโre alone? Was easy for me when I had someone to plan it out with.
And finally, am I being ridiculous? I know everyone says you should just do what you WANT to do in life, focus on yourself, do what makes you happy, and perhaps love will happen again at some point when youโre ready. But you also donโt get the things you want without a little bit of planning. Perhaps I should just stop thinking about my โbody clockโ and be ok with whatever happens. Easier said than done!
Your kind encouragement would be most appreciated.
I am looking for a best virtual Domicle to declare as permanent legal USA address and Legal Domicle where I can receive Virtual mail and have it mailed to my current geography. Please inform if you have recommendations or experience. Thanks!
So I know itโs illegal to work in Europe for European companies without a work visa / permit. Iโm also aware of the Germany freelancer visa, which lets you work in Germany legally for 3 years (but Iโm not stationing in Germany; I want to hop hop hop). I see many digital nomads programming on the road, making income from American companies on a Schengen tourist visa. Of course this seems fine, since itโs brining American dollars into Europe. But is it legal? Has anyone had experiences / conversations with immigration, or seen this discussed anywhere online? My Google fu fails me here.
So I had a client go silent on me recently as soon as I brought up the topic of delinquent invoice payment. We typically speak daily, and otherwise have an excellent relationship. They love the work I do (at least, their praise seems authentic and on target). I love the work I do for them. We had a verbal agreement that I would be paid within 2 weeks of invoice. My contract allowed for 30 days / 4 weeks. At the second invoice, they went into 6 weeks without paying me.
I asked about it, and got no information in return. I kept sending emails twice a week to politely ask for information about what the issue was, and when I could expect payment. I received an extremely brief non-answer once, and more silence. I began to explore what other measures I could take, I honestly believed I had been scammed. They owed me a 5-figure sum (USD).
I work on about 8 different websites/codebases for this client. Each has a git repository, with a full history of all the other contractors, and naturally, their emails. I have paired up with a few of them on some projects (front end / back end dev relationships), so I know some of them on as personal a level a remote dev coworker can have.
I considered extracting all the emails from each project from the last yearโs worth of commits, and then emailing each one individually to ask if theyโve ever had payment problems with this client. This would also obviously share information that I had not been paid for a time that violated the terms of our contract. We have a policy of being able to freely contact each other, via slack, or email, so its not like emailing them alone is violating some kind of privacy term on their end (or mine).
Would it be illegal for me to discuss this information with the other contractors? This concerns businesses incorporated in the USA. They are an LLC, if that matters. Could my client have grounds to seek some kind of legal retribution if they found out I did that? I think its only fair that they all know if I had been ripped off, and also may want to band together to fight the client if they too had also been ripped off. There is nothing explicitly stated in my contract that says I cant share information about my experience with them with other contractors (or anyone, really, outside of technology-NDA sort of things).
Note: I was certainly going to report them to Glassdoor, Freelancerโs Union, BBB, and any other institution that I could, if this went on much longer. They finally caved after the 5th email or so, and paid me (again, without speaking to me about it, which is what bothers me the most). I also was going to start resorting to phone calls AND email bombardments (always polite :-P) first, before taking these next steps. This happened with the 2nd invoice in our relationship, which concerned me greatly, since I was told when hired that they had funds to pay me for even more hours than I was putting in. I am aware of the frequency with which freelancers get ripped off by clients (FU reports ~40%). I refuse to tolerate it, especially if we have been told otherwise, and am a strong advocate (re: activist) for workersโ rights in general. Just an aside, Id have been far more tolerant, had they chosen to discuss things with me, and let me know what was happening - the silence drove me towards this aim.
Hi all,
I have been (sort of) nomad-ing for the past 2 and a half years, spending time in Southeast Asia and mostly Thailand.
I know there has been various discussions regarding the legal nature of working on a tourist visa, but I have honestly never given this much thought as it is not something which bothered me. My attitude was that if I get deported then so what? I move to the next place.
In the past few weeks I have been speaking to one of the big multinational software companies (based in the US) about the possibility of joining them. They are seemingly happy with me working remotely as long as I get into a more favourable time zone (read: Central or South America).
This morning in talking with the recruiter the issue around the legality of working remotely while inside another country on a tourist visa came up. I had no definite answers for them other than โit is a bit of a grey areaโ.
The recruiter said that their legal department will need to look at it in more detail. This is obviously something which can potentially spoil a good opportunity for me.
So my question is whether anyone can provide some reference to blog posts or articles where the legal status of working remotely on a tourist visa has been discussed in more detail?
I guess a definite answer is going to be difficult as it will also differ from country to country, but anything you can help me with will be appreciated.
Thanks
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