Is it possible to find a truly remote US job from Buenos Aires?

[zeno]

US Remote jobs usually assumes a US domicile. No W-2 job ever allows you to work remotely for a US company while residing abroad due to tax and labor laws both in the US and in the country where you reside. If they happen to have an office in a foreign country, you are hired by the local office and follow local labor contracts and laws. In effect, you are working for a multinational whose headquarters are based in the US. You will be paid competitive to the local market and will not be much different from having a local job.

So when you meet people who are working remotely under W-2, they are either doing it under the radar, or they have another arrangement set up, such as a 1099 or a B2B contract.

Remote working is typically possible only through highly-experienced and highly skilled trades. That's why you run into so many software developers because it's an in-demand skill, and most workers can dictate their terms because they are in high demand. I've personally been in this field for 27 years and despite its ups and downs, the demand has never subsided.

In my digital nomad travels, I've seen others whose skills are in high demand, such as those in "creative" fields such as 3D animators, graphic designers, and a fair number of tutors, teachers, coaches who typically run their own business and have clients. Regardless, they have crafted their skills to be at the top and are in high demand. What I'm saying is that you will hardly find any entry-level remote jobs.

 

[zeno]

I've tried using a relative's address, but the problem is always the phone. (I'm now looking into forwarding lines from the US as others have suggested in this thread.

Why do you anticipate having a US number as a requirement? It seems most companies have settled on using Zoom, Meets, or Teams to do work calls/meetings. If you have a US carrier, you always have the option to have it roam, meaning you will continue receiving calls and messages abroad, but the better way is to get a VoIP if you need direct inward dialing capabilities. I personally use an eSIM for my US carrier and use my SIM slot on my phone with Claro for local calling and cellular data

 

[Neil]

These guys are great...Voip provider..lots of good info....

 

[argentinaorbust]

OP needs to worry less about phone numbers & work permits & more about raw technical skills. If you can actually solve tech problems no one will care what your phone number is or if you have a J873 visa. Unfortunately a strong tech bull market led to an entire generation of 25 or 30 yr old valley girl senior engineers making 250k & people think that's the norm. It's not.

That's not to say there isn't a ton of very easy remote "work" jobs out there, I see these people all day everyday in resort lounges, but I'm going to guess these people are getting these positions based on connections, politics, what family they're from, etc & not merit. If you want this, then don't look in the tech industry right now.

We would need to talk about what, if any, tech skills the poster has to determine what tech jobs the poster is relevant for. So, OP, what are your technical skills?

 

[Fooze]

I wasn't able to set anything up with Google Voice or Skype from here. I did manage to get TextMe working, though. Gonna update my info with a US address and phone number and see if that makes any difference.

 

[Fooze]

OP needs to worry less about phone numbers & work permits & more about raw technical skills. If you can actually solve tech problems no one will care what your phone number is or if you have a J873 visa. Unfortunately a strong tech bull market led to an entire generation of 25 or 30 yr old valley girl senior engineers making 250k & people think that's the norm. It's not.

That's not to say there isn't a ton of very easy remote "work" jobs out there, I see these people all day everyday in resort lounges, but I'm going to guess these people are getting these positions based on connections, politics, what family they're from, etc & not merit. If you want this, then don't look in the tech industry right now.

We would need to talk about what, if any, tech skills the poster has to determine what tech jobs the poster is relevant for. So, OP, what are your technical skills?

I have more than 20 years of experience in tech support roles, including internal support at Google here in BA. I'm fairly good in 4 different coding languages, have linux administration experience and SQL database experience. I'm not a newbie trying to break into anything. Also have an Associate degree in computer science and working on a Bachelor (from a US university)

 

[zeno]

I have more than 20 years of experience in tech support roles, including internal support at Google here in BA. I'm fairly good in 4 different coding languages, have linux administration experience and SQL database experience. I'm not a newbie trying to break into anything. Also have an Associate degree in computer science and working on a Bachelor (from a US university)

We usually call them "programming languages", not "coding languages".

With your experience, you should be able to set up a linux-based router like DD-WRT or OpenWRT with a friend in the US and use OpenVPN or Wireguard to mask your location and use any number of VoIP providers to set up a phone service to call and receive US numbers at fractions of pennies per minute. Of course you can always pay for a VPN provider or do cloud based with an EC2 on AWS or VM on GCP for much less money as well

 

[Fooze]

Why do you anticipate having a US number as a requirement? It seems most companies have settled on using Zoom, Meets, or Teams to do work calls/meetings. If you have a US carrier, you always have the option to have it roam, meaning you will continue receiving calls and messages abroad, but the better way is to get a VoIP if you need direct inward dialing capabilities. I personally use an eSIM for my US carrier and use my SIM slot on my phone with Claro for local calling and cellular data

The problem with the number comes up with filling out the application forms everywhere. They all want a phone number and, of course, won't take the format of an Argentina number. I've put in made up numbers in US format and had some recruiters say they tried to call and couldn't reach me. When I switch the country code (on the site that allow me to do that) to Argentina, I get messages saying they want someone physically in the US.

 

[argentinaorbust]

I have more than 20 years of experience in tech support roles, including internal support at Google here in BA. I'm fairly good in 4 different coding languages, have linux administration experience and SQL database experience. I'm not a newbie trying to break into anything. Also have an Associate degree in computer science and working on a Bachelor (from a US university)

If you're looking for programming, then the answer is the same as it has been since the 90's - whatever your niche is, go show off your skills on those forums & work will come you where you set your own terms.

I've been "digital nomading" since the '00 bust, the majority of remote workers are not employees & those who are employees generally aren't working for corporations. I've never met someone who got a real, skilled, remote work job by spamming their resume.

What programming languages do you know, what are their applications & what industries are you experienced in?

You won't make anything close to US salaries, but Latin America actually has quite a bit of tech work available, especially in the security industry (alarms, private patrols, etc), call center (setting up pbx/exchange servers) & agro automation (lots of work with sensors, IoT, etc) & in my experience if you speak Spanish you're going to be given preference over locals & paid better than they would be.

 

[zeno]

The problem with the number comes up with filling out the application forms everywhere. They all want a phone number and, of course, won't take the format of an Argentina number. I've put in made up numbers in US format and had some recruiters say they tried to call and couldn't reach me. When I switch the country code (on the site that allow me to do that) to Argentina, I get messages saying they want someone physically in the US.

The easiest thing to do for you is to just purchase a Skype subscription with a US number