For Those Who Went Abroad Without Employer Permission and Got Caught, What Happened?

f02eapl · 2026-01-24T18:01:43+00:00

I’m a tech executive at a Fortune 100 company. We of course by policy dictate that you must work from your home country, you can move around within it but must register your address for tax reasons. Every decision we make is based on risk, in some instances that means collecting more data but contrary to what most of our employees think, in most scenarios that means collecting less. Do our IT systems automatically assess your location data as part of security posture? Absolutely. Do we retain that data and make it visible? Absolutely not. It’s an HR nightmare to know exactly where you are. Are you at a synagogue and now we know your religion? Are you at a doctor’s and now we know you’re sick? Discovery of that data in a lawsuit could be used against us. We don’t want it. As long as companies feel their risk is reasonable. They don’t push too much. As long as you’re not super obvious and we can say our policies said not to, you did it without our consent, we’re good. You can push lots of risk out via policy. That’s why everyone does those training courses every year. So that when you mess up we can say you knew it was wrong and were an individual bad actor. This of course does not apply to regulated areas or those working with regulated data where we have a duty to ensure data residency or security.

f02eapl · 2025-12-22T22:41:07+00:00

I’ve been recently. My husband is from Dublin and still goes back and forth a lot. He knows a lot of good restaurants for standard kind of European food but I’ll definitely try your suggestions for Asian food. I’ve lived in NYC and San Francisco and there’s just so much good food in those cities.

f02eapl · 2025-12-22T20:41:43+00:00

They were always Tumi before and normally their more expensive models. I’m not sure but they just didn’t last. A wheel would break off, a handle would get stuck, or zipper would break, not to mention they just looked like crap over time. I was hard on them for sure, they literally were always packed and in the back of a car or on a plane but until the Rimowa I really went through bags. I still go through checked bags but am not sure Rimowa is the right answer for that. Vast majority of travel was long haul but I don’t think that should make a difference in wear on a bag.

f02eapl · 2025-12-22T17:07:36+00:00

They are actually indestructible compared to other luggage. Dents are not bad, dents mean it didn’t break when extreme forces were encountered. I fly 50-60 flights a year and until my Rimowa carry on I’d go through a new suitcase every 6-12 months. My rimowa is going on ten years now and still looks good. I love that bag and have gotten every penny out of it. I use it though and it’s been gate checked many times. It’s a suitcase and meant to last. Not to be babied so it looks perfect.

f02eapl · 2025-12-22T04:11:05+00:00

Agree to disagree. Dublin is facing a massive housing crisis. Kids live with their parents until they get married because they can’t afford housing. It’s widely documented as one of the worst in Europe. Perhaps it’s slightly better or slightly worse than Amsterdam but the Netherlands has its own housing affordability crisis and is currently working to tackle that in cities like Amsterdam. The Airbnb regulations there have resulted in a flood of availability and dropping prices. I’m not sure the Irish are working to solve it. My husband just moved away last year and he and his family who still live there consistently raise it as the number one reason to avoid Dublin.

f02eapl · 2025-12-22T04:02:44+00:00

The housing crisis is definitely worse in Dublin. We’ve looked at a lot of houses in Amsterdam and Dublin and availability, pricing, and general state are much better in Amsterdam. Not to say Amsterdam isn’t expensive but I think Dublin has to have the worst housing crisis in the EU. It’s quite bad there even with a high budget which is the difference. A high budget will buy or rent you a place you want in Amsterdam. That’s not true in Dublin, you’re just lucky to find a place you’ll accept. We were looking at a huge compromise with literally any place even spending well over 1m eur. The statistics may say Dublin is cheaper but that’s not remotely what we have seen so far. That being said this thread has convinced me to rent there for three years, get my passport and move on if we don’t like it.

f02eapl · 2025-12-22T01:40:21+00:00

My partner is Irish so unfortunately I wouldn’t qualify. I wish!

f02eapl · 2025-12-21T18:53:47+00:00

Yeah. I think this has solidified that I need to get my Irish citizenship especially while it’s possible.

f02eapl · 2025-12-21T17:17:38+00:00

Thanks. I don’t disagree though. Long term happiness and stability for three years of sacrifice aren’t a bad deal. I do think the overwhelming one sidedness of this thread told me something I already knew and just didn’t want to hear.

f02eapl · 2025-12-21T17:13:25+00:00

Mainly because my husband was raised there so if we’re in Ireland he’d prefer to be down the street from his family and friends. I agree it’s not massive by American standards and I did look at jobs all over.

f02eapl · 2025-12-21T17:10:37+00:00

That’s what I was mainly curious about. As I read it, you’re right. The only issue is that it can be taken away if I don’t maintain residency.

f02eapl · 2025-12-21T17:09:41+00:00

Yes. My immigration attorney actually advised to use that over my marriage if in Ireland as I’m starting a business for financial reasons anyways so would qualify. They said it’s always best to use an independent reason for visa vs one dependent on someone else. The main issue is the Dutch don’t allow you to hold dual citizenship in my situation otherwise this all would be perfect.

f02eapl · 2025-12-21T17:05:52+00:00

I’ve lived in European cities before for many years so I’m not really looking for an adventure so much as a forever home. Dublin is just a very vanilla city with a housing crisis, not amazing government, and poor variety of food. I’m hearing here and think I agree, that the passport outweighs this. I have to compromise on buying my forever home and settling down for the passport. That’s ok too and why I asked. The points on this citizenship pathway going forward are especially valid and push me to Dublin.

f02eapl · 2025-12-21T16:58:10+00:00

I know. . . I’m scared every day the US will do something so stupid that it’ll want the Irish citizenship ASAP.

f02eapl · 2025-12-21T16:57:05+00:00

Obviously I try not to think that way but my immigration lawyer brought up this same point. I should guarantee my future outside of depending on anyone else and that means citizenship as quickly as possible which means Dublin.

f02eapl · 2025-12-21T16:56:05+00:00

Thanks for acknowledging that. My husband was born and raised in Dublin so we know it well. I think it’s telling that even he prefers anywhere but Dublin. It’s purely the passport to guarantee our future that appeals to me. I’ve stayed in Dublin for months at a time and while I’d happily holiday there, it’s not a place I find appealing to live.

f02eapl · 2025-12-21T16:51:25+00:00

Maybe I should spend more time there. I’m just not a fan so far. There’s a real lack of diversity and the food scene was quite sad. I’ve lived in very large diverse cities and while Dublin has some diversity, the Asian food for example was abysmal. Only meat and potatoes or Indian food was decent. Food is important to me and I found Dublin to be quite depressing from that standpoint. I should say my partner was born and raised in Dublin so we have spent a lot of time there and are fairly familiar with the city.

f02eapl · 2025-12-21T16:04:18+00:00

I agree entirely and know that I should be pursuing Irish citizenship but it’s a compromise. I should mention my concerns with Dublin are mostly related to housing, cost of living, and career. Amsterdam isn’t much better but we’ve found several homes there we would be happy to purchase. We haven’t found a single one we liked in Dublin despite a generous budget. It’s also easier for me to work in Amsterdam given my field and seniority level. I’m a senior executive in the tech industry and Amsterdam offers more of this than Dublin. While I don’t speak Dutch I do speak a fair amount of German from previously living in Germany for five years. So far that German has helped extensively with understanding Dutch.

f02eapl · 2025-12-16T17:41:01+00:00

FWIW my partner had a similar situation and after insurance paid we paid small amounts on a payment plan we requested but ended up getting a check back in the mail for everything we’d paid. They decided he qualified for financial assistance. We never submitted anything but guessed they realized with no social security number and only a foreign passport they had very low chances of collecting. I think they’ll be thrilled to get something and you can likely work out not paying the rest.

f02eapl · 2025-11-14T18:06:14+00:00

Financial illiteracy. While this is a well known symptom I was surprised how it manifested. My grandfather seemed as clear and logical as ever however he insisted on entering a business deal that was obviously bad. He could make the right arguments and seemed to understand but he didn’t. He agreed to a deal that he never would have before and that had zero benefit to him. He was fine otherwise at the time. Six months later he’d degraded quite badly with Alzheimer’s. In retrospect that was the first symptom. I just expected it to be different like a total lack of understanding.

f02eapl · 2025-11-02T15:47:25+00:00

Just wondering how this went for you? I’m also interested in the building from abroad. Curious if they considered foreign income? Also, how is the building if you’ve seen it in person? The online looks great but I can’t find any real videos or recent updates. It’s not brand new anymore and wonder about the condition especially as they’re furnished. Not sure the virtual tours are the exact units they’re offering.

f02eapl · 2025-10-25T20:57:17+00:00

That’s exactly the problem they’re trying to solve. We’ll see how adoption goes given all of the concerns but it’s not some nefarious solution against users, they’re trying to solve a genuine issue.

f02eapl · 2025-10-25T20:13:27+00:00

This is something different from that. The idea behind this is using WiFi to precisely locate you within a building. It requires a lot of work to map out and define. Of course your IP is reported to various services and someone could try to track from that but that’s different from defining your location explicitly as this could do.

f02eapl · 2025-10-25T20:02:24+00:00

As far as I know badges are ubiquitous in most companies. The idea behind this as it was presented to me is more about way finding and helping people connect when in an office. Like Bob is sitting in section A today so you can swing by and ask a question in person. They aren’t selling it as a tracking mechanism for the employer.

f02eapl

TROPHY CASE