Working remotely and dreaming of a move abroad, yet you’re unsure about the Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) rules and other technicalities? A new online calculator developed by travel experts is able to tell you which country you are eligible to relocate to as a remote worker based on income, easing the process and reducing the risks of an unsuccessful visa application.
How To Use The Calculator?
A creation of Goats on the Road, a couple of travel bloggers who have been on the road full time since 2008, many years prior to the existence of Digital Nomad Visas, the calculator is quite simple to use. Simply access the blog itself on this link, enter your annual earnings in the indicated field, and hit the submit button.
Once you do, a list of countries that either issue DNVs already or have plans to do so in the near future will pop up, allowing you to visualize which visas you may qualify for. Seeing that a sizable percentage of digital nomads are young people starting a business online and yet to turn in huge profits, the tool can be quite handy in helping pick the right destination.
Digital nomadism has never been as popular as it is now, with numerous countries having relaxed their once-strict immigration laws and launched DNVs, granting nomads a longer séjour provided they fulfill a number of prerequisites, including satisfying financial requirements – which can be prohibitively high in some cases.
Despite the rising popularity of nomadism, the costs associated with DNVs, concerning not only the application itself but a high financial threshold that must be met, and the hoops you must jump through only to get an acceptance letter have been a deterrent for many entrepreneurs, especially those earning less than US$40,000 per year.
Where Can Low-Income Workers Go?
To draw a comparison, while the Emirate of Dubai expects nomads to provide proof of an annual salary of US$42,000, immediately ruling out emerging business owners and other categories of remote workers, Colombia is welcoming foreigners earning as little as US$684 per month, making the Colombian visa 80.4% cheaper to apply.
According to the calculator, when earning US$20,000 per year, nomads could access the following countries:
- Anguilla*
- Argentina**
- Bahamas*
- Bermuda*
- Brazil
- Cabo Verde
- Colombia
- Curacao*
- Czech Republic
- Ecuador
- Indonesia**
- Mauritius
- Montenegro**
- Saint Lucia*
- Seychelles*
- Sri Lanka*
*Applicants must earn enough to support living, though an actual value is not stipulated
**Financial requirements are yet to be confirmed by national authorities
The only country in the European Union (EU) offering nomads earning US$20,000 (or less) per year a path to residency is the Czech Republic: all other ‘workcation’ hotspots – Croatia, Spain, Greece, Italy – will not consider their application and have been known to adhere to a strict set of criteria applied across the bloc.
Outside the EU, but still in the European continent, the increasingly trendy Montenegro has also opened doors to guests on a limited budget of under US$20,000 a year, though the Montenegrin DNV is not officially available yet. As seen above, it’s mostly developing nations centered in the Global South accepting low to middle-income workers.
Lucky for them, it’s where a majority of sunny destinations are located, and visa procedures tend to be pretty smooth compared to some European or Asian countries: in Georgia, for instance, a hidden gem of the Caucasus stacked with cobblestone towns and the cradle of wine, nomads can stay for up to a year bureaucracy-free.
Other Useful Tips For Using The Calculator
We should remind our readers the calculator is merely a helping tool, and it has not been approved for use by authorities. It can be used as a point of departure for aspiring nomads who are unsure where to start and whether a certain country will welcome them, but we strongly recommend that they conduct more thorough research ahead of making plans.
It is worth noting the calculator can only show you where DNVs are easiest to apply based on financial requirements alone. Other criteria must be met, and depending on the destination, it can be showing proof of valid accommodation for the intended period of stay, undergoing a background check, and/or taking out health insurance.
Lastly, not qualifying for a visa does not mean you can’t travel long-term as a digital nomad: DNVs are a relatively new concept, and prior to the health crisis and normalization of remote work, most countries, particularly in Europe, were certainly not receptive to the idea. Still, globetrotters have lived abroad for years simply by observing tourist visa rules.
