<p>
Yes, working from home (“self-employment”) is illegal in most (all?) countries without a proper work authorization as well. You’re still working; you’re just not employed. </p>
<p>Let’s focus on countries first and worry about specific universities later. I think there are at least 4 major concerns when picking a country:</p>
<ol>
<li>Language</li>
<li>Potential for Legal Immigration</li>
<li>Your Academic Needs</li>
<li>Cost of Education + Cost of Living </li>
</ol>
<p>Ideally you’d study in the country that you want to settle down in afterwards, because it’s really hard to apply for jobs in a country that you have no history in: your references may be hard for prospective employers to get ahold of, you may not easily be able to attend a job interview, your employer may be unsure what your previous job titles meant or exactly what you learned at a foreign university, etc. It’s much easier to apply locally: you can network and intern while in college, go to career fairs at your university and attend local job interviews, your references and prospective employers are on the same page as to what constitutes a reference and the format in which feedback should be solicited, etc. (This differs a lot between countries, and in ways that are not always compatible.) </p>
<p>I’ll start with two countries that I am most familiar with.</p>
<p>United States</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Language shouldn’t be an issue.</p></li>
<li><p>Employment-based immigration is tough. There’s literally a lottery for work visas (because more visa applications are submitted on the first day of the fiscal year than there are visas available for the entire year). Once you get a work visa, you might have to wait up to 20 years for your green card, and meanwhile you are tied to the specific employer who sponsored your visa. There are a few exceptions (e.g. university professors, scientists with major national or international distinctions, famous movie actors, citizens of Hong Kong) but most people will have to be lucky <em>and</em> patient. A viable alternative to the employment-based immigration process is the family-based route, i.e. marrying a US citizen. However, you’d have to get married fairly quickly if you want to stay and work in the US after university, preferably while you are still a student.</p></li>
<li><p>Academically, I think the US would serve you extremely well. American universities are super flexible. For example, Master’s programs in engineering often admit students from other disciplines, with the understanding that they take additional undergraduate engineering classes to fill holes in their background before they start the graduate work.</p></li>
<li><p>Unfortunately, American universities are also expensive. Tuition for international students runs between $20,000 and $50000 per year, and a good Master’s program would take you two years to complete. Add in living expenses and there’s no way that you’d make ends meet with $40,000, at least not legally. (You’re not allowed to work in your first year at all, except directly for the university, e.g. washing dishes in the dining hall. After your first year you can get limited permissions for internships, but every day you work while in school will reduce the length of time you are allowed to work after graduation.) </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Germany</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The major advantage of German universities is that they are free to attend. Well, almost. You might be charged administrative fees up to about $700 a semester. Still a lot cheaper than most of the English-speaking world though!</p></li>
<li><p>German universities teach a fair number of graduate programs entirely in English. (Mostly for the benefit of German students; not so much to accommodate foreigners.) Academically, you’d be fine not knowing German. Socially, it would be extremely awkward and probably fairly lonely.</p></li>
<li><p>German universities are super strict on academic prerequisites. They would only admit you to their Master’s program if your transcript shows every single course that would have been required to get the corresponding Bachelor’s degree from the same university. German students will sometimes take an additional semester to take missing courses if they want to transfer institutions. I am not sure if that would be possible on a student visa though, since you would not be enrolled in a degree-seeking status. It wouldn’t be too hard to find out though if Germany sounds otherwise interesting.</p></li>
<li><p>Immigrating would be fairly easy with a Master’s degree from a German university. You could either apply for a work visa and get permanent resident status after 5 years, or you could apply for permanent resident status directly once your yearly salary reaches 66,000 Euros. </p></li>
</ol>