Remote work visas and digital nomad visas

What does the phrase 'digital nomad' convey to you?

According to the statistics and history, you'd typically describe a single 20-something male software engineer from the US, who'd sold up all their stuff to see the world and swerve tax residency by drifting from one place to another, on an endless working holiday.

But this notion is so out of step with the reality today. The globally mobile workforce encompasses executives, employees, parents, third-agers, consultants, solopreneurs, and everyone in between. Exciting, isn't it?

The power that knowledge workers discovered during the pandemic lockdowns to decouple work from a place you go to do it has unlocked incredible freedom now we are able to travel again, and more and more people realise they can take their work with them when they go. If you can do it on a laptop, then why not live somewhere cheaper, with a great lifestyle on your doorstep, see the world as you travel, or relocate to be near someone you care about for a prolonged stay...

Hang on a sec! We hear the business regulators, tax authorities, and legacy financial industry representatives yelling. You can't just go and work from *anywhere* - can you?

Well no, it's not quite as simple as that - although let us not forget that plenty of people have discreetly managed this lifestyle, for years. Mostly winging it on tourist visas, and the power that some passports have over others by sheer accident of birth.

It's difficult though, in a more globally connected world - and ironically the same digital freedoms which have opened up new ways to travel and get around, have increased the prevalence of random IP checks and getting busted by HR breaching your employment contract by overstaying overseas, or working when your visa says you're on holiday.

So, one outcome of this has been the explosion of new ways to police the mobile workforce across borders, and create new frameworks for both employees and self-employed people to go and work somewhere else for a while (sometimes a long while) - legally, safely, and with approval.

Remote work visas, digital nomad visas, workations and working holiday schemes... there's a continuum of provisions around the world, with more appearing every day. Simply keeping track of it all is a massive job, which is why I wanted to speak to Lily Szabo on the Future is Freelance podcast - because if anyone's got an overview, it's her.

One of the points we discuss is that a lot of the documents being advertised as digital nomad visas are simply unsuitable for anyone actually nomadic, because they're really aimed at prolonged stays, as routes to long-term residence or even change of citizenship. Which is great, but the incentives are misaligned, with those who are exploring FREEDOM.

Too many of these schemes are forcing people to choose in advance where they want to be living in one year or even 5 years' time, and that makes it more likely that those who don't want to be pinned down will continue to be 'just here on holiday' for the time being.

As Lily wrote on her excellent blog:

"Digital nomadism is both a cultural identity and a state-change that people slip in and out of. This misunderstanding is also why most digital nomad visas miss the point and get so much grief. They're demanding that digital nomads stop being digital nomads in order to get them. They're not built around enabling the work and travel lifestyle, they're built around encouraging you to move and settle down in so-and-so country."

Provided you work within the rules of each scheme, however, you can still use the emerging raft of remote and nomad visas to facilitate a good degree of flexibility, depending on your personal passport freedoms (for example in relation to Schengen travel eligibility... speaking as someone who has had that freedom recently curtailed against their will 🤬)

They all have slightly different criteria, but in most cases require that you have a clean police record (nowhere wants to import criminality), health insurance cover, and also that you have a source of income you are bringing with you - this is the whole point, that countries want to welcome new people who will be net contributors to the economy. They won't take a job away from a local person, or claim benefits. This is particularly important because in most cases there are greatly reduced local tax liabilities under these visas, so they have been designed to ensure no one becomes a burden on local public services.

The minimum income, and costs of application, vary considerably, as do the tax terms. For example, with the Estonian digital nomad visa you will need to prove a monthly gross income of €3504, and then it costs the state fee of $85 for a Type C (short-stay) visa or $107 for a Type D (long-stay) visa up to one year - but, after 183 days you will become tax resident by default.

If you find the Cayman Islands climate is more enticing than the Baltics, however, no problem - but you'll need to prove $100,000 annual income (for an individual, up to $180k for a family), and pay a non-refundable visa application fee of $1469 per year, plus an additional $500 per dependent. You won't pay any income tax when you get there though.

Xolo have prepared a great roundup of the present state of play, up-to-date for September 2022:

Which is fantastic for comparing the different scheme requirements and plotting your adventures.

You'll notice my chosen home of Spain remains conspicuously absent from this list... because the visa legislation enabled by the startup law still hasn't been enacted yet. Sigh. I promise you news as soon as there is any (as opposed to endless speculation about what it might entail...)

Bear in mind that new visa schemes evolve literally every week, and we can also expect to see increased arbitrage and competition between them - as lower income countries rich in attributes like local beauty and beautiful small communities, compete to attract higher income remote workers. And as ever pay attention to the small print and to shifts in the landscape - for example, Malta recently had to start taxing digital nomads after its visa related exemptions proved to be in conflict with the country's existing tax laws.

So remote work and digital nomad visas are not a passport to paradise with no strings attached. Finding the right one for you might take some patient research, and there might be other legal tests in process (in fact, I'd be surprised if there were not.) Furthermore, being mindful of the privilege of skills, native language, and passport power, is a responsibility for all of us, in this exciting new world.

Our next podcast episode will bring you some great new ideas on how to give back and share, with the people and places this lifestyle enables you to visit.

Until then, wherever you are, best wishes, from

Maya Middlemiss

The Storyteller From The Future