Want to Move Abroad With a Digital Nomad Visa? 5 Things to Consider

So you dream of living somewhere else?

Is it on a faraway beach?

Is it in a towering mega-city that looks like it’s out of some cyberpunk fantasy?

Maybe you envision yourself on a mountain, or outside a Buddhist temple.

Perhaps you prefer to follow your nose and stomach. You may even fancy yourself surrounded by Italian men or Colombian women.

We all have a dream destination.

Up until a few years ago, dropping everything to move to these destinations was a little complicated. Or, more accurately, unless you found work ahead of time, were going to college, had ancestry connections, or married a national of the dream destination, moving was a little more than a pipe dream.

All of that changed with the creation of the digital nomad visa.

Sure, there have been other financial visas, where you drop a hefty sum of cash as an investment, or flat out buy your residency. These are options, if you have money to burn. Outside of having a few hundred thousand dollars lying around, the digital nomad visa makes it possible to live in dozens upon dozens of countries around the world. Some of these visas can even lead to residency!

And yet, on the flip side, some digital nomad visas are nothing more than a costly waste of time to apply (I’m looking at you, Iceland).

But how do you know which visa is good, and which one is something you might want to think twice about? It’s so much more than picking out a country you like that has a digital nomad visa (DNV) available. To help, here are the bits of fine print you need to look into when deciding what DNV is right for you.

Duration and Renewal

This is a two-parter but both go hand in hand.

You need to know how long the DNV is good for, and whether or not you’re able to renew it. These are two very important factors.

The majority of DNVs are initially good for one year. You’ll find a few offering two years out of the gate, which is nice as it saves you some renewal money, and more importantly, the headache of dealing with paperwork. Sometimes the length of time will depend on where you’re applying for the DNV from. For example, if you apply for, and receive, the Spain DNV while in the United States, it is good for a single year. But, if you apply for the DNV while in Spain, it is good for two years.

On the flip side, some DNVs are only good for up to six months. Iceland, for example (Iceland’s DNV is going to take all my criticism throughout this entire piece). It is only good for six months, which is the first problem, and the second issue is you can’t renew it.

Renewal is as much, if not more important than the initial length of time. Especially if you’re planning on staying in the country for longer. Some DNVs allow you to renew for years on end (usually capping it at five years or so, but by then you’re able to apply for a different kind of visa or residency). Other DNVs give you one year then kindly show you the door.

Nearly all of the DNVs in the Caribbean are good for a single year without the opportunity to renew. It’s a bit of a downer, but the good thing about this is you could literally island hop around the Caribbean for years without repeating an island.

Lead to Residency?

Would you like your DNV to lead to permanent residency in your chosen country? Typically, you must stay in a country for a specified period of time before you’re allowed to apply for residency. Some countries count the time spent with a DNV toward this time, others do not. Spain and Portugal, for example, both count your DNV time. So, when you’re no longer able to further extend your DNV, you can extend apply for residency.

Malta, on the other hand, does not. You can stay for a few years and then you either need to leave or secure a different visa. Thankfully, with Malta, if you’re paying a set amount of money for rent you can qualify for a kind of investment visa (there are a few in Malta and other countries like this). So, even if you can’t count that time toward residency, there are usually alternatives, but still, it is something to consider.

Is It A Self-Employment Visa or a Digital Nomad Visa

Far too many publications, blogs, and other posts out there treat these two as one and the same.

They aren’t.

There are some subtle but very important differences.

Typically, when a country offers a self-employment visa, you will be required to perform several additional steps. First, you will need to register your “business” inside of the new country. Usually, this is about on-par with setting up an LLC. You’ll probably need some help with the paperwork (unless you have a firm understanding of the language), but it’s not terribly complicated.

Next, you might be required to create a business plan and even a pitch deck to demonstrate to immigration what work you provide and how it can help the new country you’re moving to. It might be as simple as working and spending money inside the new country, but you still have to create all this documentation.

Needless to say, if you’re a W-2 remote worker this kind of visa will not work for you. The only digital nomad visa I’ve come across so far that doesn’t work for W-2 workers is the Spanish DNV. This currently is because Spain requires a document from the Social Security office that doesn’t exist. Until Spain corrects the requirement (and Spain isn’t exactly known for speedy bureaucracy) W-2s need not apply. But for everyone else, if you’re a remote worker applying for a DNV you’ll pretty much just need a document from your company saying it’s cool you work overseas.

Income Requirements

Yes, some DNVs out there do not have income requirements. Most of these are located in the Caribbean, but there are a handful to consider. While this doesn’t mean you should pack up because you’re currently making $73 a month selling feet pics online, it is nice that you don’t have to gather up financial documentation to complete the application.

Income requirements are all over the place. Some are under a grand per month, so who knows, if those foot pics take off you’ll be solid. Iceland, on the other hand, requires over $7,000 a month minimum. Again, the Iceland DNV is just about pointless.

The minimum income requirements do fluctuate on a yearly basis, so make sure you find out what it is for the given year you’re applying. Typically it is about two to three times what the cost of living is in the country, and as this changes annually so too do the minimum income requirements.

You will need to prove your income level, which generally means you show bank deposit statements for the past several months, and if you’re freelance you probably need to show some kind of working contract that proves you will still make money once you arrive. You can avoid this, potentially, if you have a year’s worth of income in a bank account. So, if the minimum income requirement is $2,000 and you prove you have $24,000 in your account, you can bypass all the other financial bank statements.

One last thing to keep in mind regarding income requirements. The vast majority of income requirements are based on your gross monthly income. However, there are a few out there that require your net, after-tax income. So check for this when looking over the DNV requirements. It is such an infrequent requirement, so it will explicitly tell you the income requirements must be net, post-tax income

Kids Eat Free

Moving by yourself? Disregard this entire section.

But if you plan on moving with a spouse or children, you’ll need to look at what requirements there are for this.

Some DNVs are cool with you moving with a spouse and children, although your minimum required income will increase for every dependent and spouse (only claim one spouse…things get weird if you’re moving with more). And yet some will either require your spouse to apply for their own DNV, they will need to wait a few months after you have moved to the country to pick up official government documentation, or your required minimum income will double.

Again, every country is a bit different when it comes to this, but these are the most important points you need to consider.