Yeah, that still sounds like exactly the same difficulties (the online work would likely involve a background check too, right?) plus a huge pile of new difficu

Yeah, that still sounds like exactly the same difficulties (the online work would likely involve a background check too, right?) plus a huge pile of new difficulties. If you'd still be earning in dollars, especially, cost of living in much of Europe would be really rough. You might get work permission yourself after half a decade or so of residency (that's how it worked for me), but I still don't see that it would necessarily help. Wouldn't application forms still ask about your criminal history? I guess you'd be freer to lie on those forms without being found out, but that's an incredibly weak reason to move to another country.