I understand that a U.S. citizen (i.e., a non-EU citizen) needs E.U.
permission to accept employment in a E.U. country and that permission
can be difficult or impossible to obtain.

What is the penalty if a U.S. citizen is found working in the E.U
without permission? Does the E.U. and/or its constituent countries
make any significant effort to find violators?

---

Request for Question Clarification by hedgie-ga on 04 Jun 2006 23:01 PDT

Work Permit (or labor permit)  regulations and penalties differ in
different EU countries.

 EU administration (the Brussel) is concerned more with eliminations
of barriers between EU nations,
 rather then 'harmonizing' the penalties, at this time.

 Here is an example:

Ireland: The 2003 Bill sets out that a non-national is not permitted
to work in the State without an employment permit..

The Bill provides for the following changes once enacted:-
? It will be an offence (an ?Offence?) for both the employer and the
employee where employment is entered into without a permit.
? An employer can be fined between  ?3000 and ?250,000 and/or up to a
maximum of 10 years imprisonment for
committing ...

  (Note  250,000  means 250 thousands in Europe)

? Any person who obstructs or attempts to obstruct a member of the
Gardaí, fails to comply with the terms of the warrant or gives a false
or misleading name and address shall be liable to a fine not exceeding
?3,000 and/or aterm of imprisonment up to 12 months.

 http://www.landwellglobal.com/images/ie/eng/custom/ie_download/hr/hi_ie_eng_workpermit0403.pdf.
 http://www.immigrantcouncil.ie/permits.doc


As in US, penalties apply mostly to employer, deportation to employee:

The law establishes severe penalties for those working or staying
illegally in Spain. The Spanish government may deport any foreigner
found living or working in Spain with out a proper permit. It may also
detain such a person pending deportation orders from the office of the
Civil Governor.
http://www.madridinsider.com/guppy/articles.php?lng=en&pg=26

Are you interested in a specific EU country or in general stats?
The price offered may not be sufficient to research all 25 countries.

---

Clarification of Question by gollum9701-ga on 05 Jun 2006 18:37 PDT

Spain.

If possible I would like to include is the governmnt making any effort
at enforcement or does it only take action when it happens to find a
violation.

If possible I would like to include self-employment (e.g., a teach
taking private students).

There are two problems involved when US citizen wants to stay in Spain 
(and other EU) countries long term:  residence visa and work permit.

 They are related. Since you are not planning to wotk for a large corporation,
(which would take care of the paperwork) you may want to look at the  general
terms: US citizens can enter EU vithout visa - and stay for 90 days. While 
extensions are possible, and often granted, to ignore the rules may lead to
problems on leaving and re-entry. 

Rule is:
Non-EU Nationals: Non-EU nationals must obtain a visa for the purpose
of employment before arriving in Spain, the granting of which is
subject to the approval of the work permit. When applying for a visa,
a copy of the application form, passport and medical certificate
certified by the consulate are returned to the applicant as proof of
his application. These must be sent by the applicant to the
prospective employer in Spain with other relevant documentation, who
then applies for a work permit to the provincial office of the
Ministry of Labor (Delagación Provincial del Ministerio de Trabajo).
http://www.easyexpat.com/madrid_en/work_work-usage.htm

Rules are summarized here:
     immstar.com/AAG/Spain.pdf




1) Teaching in Spain
There are two basic types of initial work permits in Spain: ?Cuenta
Ajena? (for those who are employed by a company, with a contract and
social security) and ?Cuenta Propia? (for those who are
self-employed--also called ?autónomo?--and paying their own social
security)...
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/
magazine/0407/work_permits_in_spain.shtm



2) Official info is available here

Residents non-EU who wish to work in Spain must obtain a work permit.
 They must also obtain a visa before moving to work in Spain.
                              ------- 

http://www.workpermit.com/spain/spain.htm#How%20do%20I%20apply%20for%20an%20Spanish%20work%20permit?

also:
A foreign national employee may NOT convert his or her immigration
status from a Visitor status to Work status while remaining in Spain.

http://pubweb.fdbl.com/ihp8/global/media85.nsf/public-country-briefs/spain?opendocument

RESIDENT INFORMATION GUIDE FOR U.S. CITIZENS RESIDING IN THE BARCELONA
CONSULAR DISTRICT

http://www.embusa.es/emba/guia.html
http://www.embusa.es/cons/services.html

Here is detailed procedure
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=86&story_id=1914&name=How+to+get+a+Spanish+work+permit



 While I do not argue with the comment, GA Terms_of_Service (see at
the bottom of the page) prohibit
 giving legal advice and suggesting or condoning any illegal activity.
 To evaluate what could be
 a penalty fro illegal activity seems to confilct with at least one of
those constraints.

 Nevetrtless, i can suggest this: 


3)  Learn from experience of others:
The Expatriate Café>Teaching English in Spain>Finding work in Spain
http://www.expatriatecafe.com/forums/index.php
in particular
http://www.expatriatecafe.com/forums/index.php?act=SF&f=2

http://www.spainexpat.com/spain/information/work_visa_in_spain/


4)
    Form a company: (in many EU) countries is easy and allows company to
    to own property and engage in busniess (in some cases subject to licence)

In requires some documents and

 ?3,006 Authorised Share Capital.

http://www.ukincorp.co.uk/s-H6-spanish-residence-and-work-permit.html


5) Consult a lawyer

Work permits shall be applied to the Foreigners' Office (Oficinas de
Extranjeros) or to the provincial office of the Ministry of Labor
(Delegación Provincial del Ministerio de Trabajo), if the foreign
applicant is in Spanish territory...

http://www.spainlawyer.com/guialegal/guialegal.cfm?IDCAPITULO=08010000

Excellent

There is not much they can do to you.

Here in the UK we have millions of 'illegals'.

If you don't stick out from the crowd, then you could easily claim
your parents to be British born, migrated to Canada, had you and then
went to the USA.
- I would not try to document such a 'legend'

Looking at your previous questions, you sound young, mobile and
interested in shorting Bonds and the US$ - that suggests that you have
an exposure to international finance, but not a deep one.

It is pretty easy to obtain a NI (National Insurance) number.

Somehow, I have a suspicion that you are not interested in menial
work, in which case you can work as a contractor behind a Ltd company.

Europe is not exactly worried about an influx from North America