You Can Get a Digital Nomad Visa in These 46 Countries
If you’re an entrepreneur who can work remotely, or one of the lucky ones whose employer doesn’t require you to return to the office full-time, you might be interested in becoming a “digital nomad”—someone who can legally live and work in foreign country longer than the tourist visa allows – for a period of one month to four years.
And you wouldn’t be alone. In 2021, this fast-paced trend has led to a 42% increase in the number of Americans with traditional jobs, rising from 6.3 million in 2020 to 10.2 million in 2021, according to trend-tracking firm Small Business Labs . If you have the ability to work from anywhere in the world and would like to explore other cultures freely, there are currently 46 countries ready to host you for the long haul (many of which may already be on your travel list).
The good news is that working digitally from another country benefits both you and the host country. According to the Harvard Business Review (HBR), “…digital nomads are investing their time and money in the local economy without taking local jobs and building bridges with local knowledge workers – a win-win for both remote workers and local communities. “.
Now we want you to be thrilled with the possibilities (my pre-child brain can’t stop imagining flying to new lands with just a laptop, a suitcase, my rusty cross-cultural social skills and an open mind). But there are a few key things to figure out before becoming a techpath (remote tech worker). We previously wrote about consulting with your employer and checking your income tax situation, among other important considerations, before taking the plunge.
If it doesn’t violate any of your employer’s rules, and you can do it without paying excessive taxes, the next step is to decide where you want to go. There are many tropical regions (Ecuador, Barbados, Costa Rica, Cayman Islands), European travelers (Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal) and Southeast Asian tourist destinations (Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia). According to HBR , “Visa programs typically cost around $1,000 and exempt visa holders from local income tax for six months to two years of stay. They also have income and employment requirements to ensure that these visa holders can support themselves without taking on a local job.”
See the full list below. (And see this article for more details such as visa fees and length of stay for most countries.)
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Aruba
- Australia
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bermuda
- Brazil
- Cambodia
- Cape Verde
- Cayman islands
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Curacao
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Dominica
- Dubai, UAE
- Ecuador
- Estonia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Grenada
- Iceland
- Indonesia
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Montenegro
- Montserrat
- Norway
- Panama
- Portugal
- Romania
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Saint Lucia
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Vietnam
A simple Google search for country and “digital nomad visa” will lead you to a plethora of websites explaining how to apply for each.