There are 45 confirmed digital nomad visas available to the global population to apply for. But in this article, we look toward the future. What New Digital Nomad Visas can we expect in 2024?
Introduction
If this is your first time here, Yonderpreneur helps people get different kinds of visas to move abroad. From working holiday visas to citizenship by investment. Today we are looking at a specific type of visa called a digital nomad visa. These visas are a reasonably new phenomenon. Created during the remote work rush of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A brief definition of what a digital nomad visa is. A digital nomad visa is a specialized type of visa or permit offered by certain countries to remote workers, freelancers, and entrepreneurs, allowing them to legally live and work from that country for an extended period. It is designed for people wanting a nomadic lifestyle. If you want to know more specifically about what digital nomad visas are you can check our article here: What are Digital Nomad Visas
In this article though we are going to look at the 7 new digital nomads visas we might see in 2024. These 7 visas are all in different stages some are confirmed and just need to be implemented. Some are in the process of becoming law and some are just rumors. Regardless of their statuses here are the 7 New Digital Nomad Visas we could see in 2024.
1. Andorra 🇦🇩
Andorra is an often forgotten tiny country on the border between France and Spain. It’s popular for its ski hills and favourable tax laws. Besides favourable tax laws Andorra also offers a quiet lifestyle unlike other major cities in Europe Andorra does not have thousands of tourists crossing its borders every day. The official language of Andorra is neither French nor English. It’s actually Catalan, a culture within Spain. Andorra also offers nice proximity to popular destinations like Barcellona in Spain and the South of France.
In addition to being a nice tourist destination, Andorra is currently working towards implementing a digital nomad visa. Presently it is still unavailable to apply for it but it was announced in 2021 and should be coming to a decision soon.
Nothing is guaranteed at this stage in terms of taxes and benefits. But one could assume digital nomads who tax residency in another country will not have to pay taxes in Andorra or if they do become a tax residents in Andorra. You will have to pay their maximum 10% income tax one of the lowest income taxes in all of continental Europe.
2. Indonesia 🇮🇩
Number 2 is the country of Indonesia. Home to the massively popular island of Bali. Presently Bali, Indonesia is one of the most popular digital nomad destinations on earth. But Indonesia as a nation is much more than just Bali. Indonesia has the 4th largest population of all the countries in the world and the 16th largest GDP. Indonesia is an often-forgotten economic powerhouse that will continue to grow stronger in the coming decades.
Announced back in 2021 there has been a lot of anticipation built up around people wanting to get their very own Indonesian digital nomad visas. The original idea was that this visa would allow digital workers to live in Indonesia for 5 years tax-free. It also has the requirement of having proof of $14,000 in a bank account and another requirement to either buy property in Indonesia or keep a property-size deposit of cash in a local bank account. This extra requirement actually makes the visa-free unattractive compared to other digital nomad visas. However, Bali supremacists now have a tax-free option for staying in the country long term.
Indonesia is a massive country with a lot of people and is still fairly underdeveloped in certain sectors. This creates a lot of opportunities for foreign entrepreneurs and digital nomads looking to make Indonesia or Bali their home.
3. Italy 🇮🇹
Italian cuisine enjoyers rejoice, number 3 on the list is Italy. Italy has no problems attracting tourists in 2019 it received the 5th highest amount of tourists around the world. Although Italy might be successful at bringing in tourists it needs more work on bringing in entrepreneurs and high-earning workers and digital nomads might be the perfect fit for this need. What digital nomad wouldn’t want to spend some time working remotely from the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast?
For this reason in 2022, Italy announced a digital nomad visa and signed it into law it just needs to be implemented. It is still unknown how the Italian digital nomad visa will look in terms of taxes, and longevity but we can assume there might still be a tax burden and it will be open to EU nationals and Non-EU-nationals.
4. Japan 🇯🇵
Japan is another popular tourist destination for people all over the world. Everyone wants to experience Japan’s beautiful blend of high-tech and historical beauty. Besides being a great country Japan also offers a lot in terms of digital nomad creature comforts. For example, it’s safe, clean, easy transit, co-working space options, and excellent infrastructure for connectivity.
As of this moment, there is no official digital nomad visa for Japan. Rumours are swirling around that something is being worked on inside the government. Japan has obvious issues from population decline so government officials are looking for ways to encourage highly skilled individuals to move to Japan from abroad a digital nomad visa could be an excellent solution to this. Nothing has been heard about how long the visa length will be or whether you have to pay taxes to Japan or not.
Regardless of this, a digital nomad for Japan is probably the most highly anticipated digital nomad visa for 2024. Japan offers a unique blend of tradition and modernity that people from all over the world flock to the country to experience so to have a digital nomad visa that allows you to live in the usually exclusive country for a longer period of time would be a game changer to digital nomads.
5. Philippines 🇵ðŸ‡
Number five on the list is the country of the Philippines. The Philippines is another highly anticipated digital nomad visa. Expats and retirees have been moving to the Philippines for years. The Philippines offers many benefits including low cost of living, good weather, beautiful beaches, and friendly people.
Historically people have been using tourist visas to stay and work in the Philippines but now there is a possibility the government of the Philippines will introduce a new digital nomad visa sometime in 2023 or 2024. Unlike Japan where the country has almost country-wide internet service. The Philippines is still struggling to have good connections throughout the whole country. It’s the idea of the representative tabling this new visa that the proceeds used from a new digital nomad visa will be used to improve connectivity throughout the Philippines.
A Philippines Digital Nomad Visa would be great for all the remote workers already in the Philippines either living there in a “grey residency status” or people that are hoping over a border every few months.
6. South Africa 🇿🇦
South Africa is definitely more of an emerging economy and new entry into the world of digital nomads. It has the 3rd largest economy in Africa, trailing behind Nigeria and Egypt. South Africa receives many tourists every year due to its incredible nature and animal life. Its tourist sector was damaged during the Covid-19 pandemic so now it’s considering a digital nomad visa to bring back tourism to the country.
A potential digital nomad visa was announced in April 2022 and has been in the works ever since. The potential validity for the visa has been rumoured to be a 1 one-year renewable visa although these are just rumours it would fall in line with other similar visas. There has been no information disclosed on where your tax burden would be with this visa yet also but will be announced with further details regarding the visa.
A South Africa visa would be a welcomed visa to the short list of digital nomad visas available on the African continent.
7. Sri Lanka 🇱🇰
The final country on the list is the small island nation of Sri Lanka off the coast of India. Sri Lanka is a more off-the-beaten-path travel destination. Despite having incredible wildlife that revivals other countries on this list and unique cultural heritage. It isn’t considered a go-to destination as of yet. There are hopes within the government that a digital nomad visa could change the status quo, and make Sri Lanka a digital nomad hotspot.
The government has said that the digital nomad visa will allow freelancers and remote workers to live in Sri Lanka for up to one year. According to the official government website. The requirements for the digital nomad visa will be. 1. Fill out the Visa Application form.
2. Provide supporting documents that prove foreign income.
3. Pay the digital nomad visa fee.
The Sri Lankan digital nomad visa is an interesting new visa that we hope to see confirmed sometime in 2023-2024.
Conclusion
Although there has been a call back to work, and companies bringing their remote employees back into the office. We believe the demand for remote work and therefore the future of digital nomad visas is still bright.
Follow Yonderpreneur on Linkedin or Twitter to stay up to date with all that is new in digital nomad visas and if you interested in applying for any of these visas in the future or any other digital nomad visa contact us and we can get you through the whole process with all the hassles of traversing visas solo.
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