Right now, everyone could use a vacation. With new opportunities for remote work visas opening up worldwide, some of these vacations might be permanent. Are you or your remote staff tempted to hop on a plane and set up a home office in the sand?
After proving a certain income and paying an immigration fee, just about any remote worker can begin clocking in from a new country or city. Because of this relative ease, we predict many people to be pursuing these visas in the coming years.
In this guide, we’ll outline all the current countries with incentives or visas specifically for remote work, the requirements to get them, and how much it could cost to get setup there by looking at laptop prices, and cost of living.
The best part?
At GroWrk, we help companies supply and manage laptops, devices and other equipment to all the countries on this list!
Purchasing and distributing office equipment can have significantly different prices depending on the territory where you reside. It can also be a wasted expense if you can’t collect that furniture after an employee leaves or if they only plan to stay in this location for the short term. We are here change that.
So let's dive in!
One of several Caribbean teleworking locales on this list, Anguilla’s 33 white-sand beaches are reason enough to apply for a Remote Working Visa here. You can set up your office in an affordable beach bungalow and spend your off-hours in the waves or maintaining a perfect tan.
Getting a visa here has a hefty price tag ($2000), but you will be able to spend up to a year at a time in Anguilla, and entire families can come for $3000. You can get a remote work long-term visa for Anguilla online, but your arrival in the country will be dependent on a negative PCR test for coronavirus.
The visa can last from three months to a year, after which you will have to reapply. This is a new offer for Anguilla, and the easily acquired visas may only last for a limited time.
Just south of Anguilla is a nation of two islands that also offers remote work visas. People typically visit Antigua and Barbuda for the tropical weather and amazing seafood. You can sail around Antigua in one day. The island takes little time to get to know and even less time to fall in love.
Antigua and Barbuda also offer much longer visas for those who might never want to leave the Caribbean. The visas only need to be renewed bi-annually once you register as a “Nomad Digital Residence.” That being said, Antigua and Barbuda is not for teleworkers of modest income. You’ll have to make at least $50,000 per year to be eligible for the visa.
Recognizing the trend of people switching to remote work after the pandemic, Barbados adopted a program to bolster its tourism through remote work. Their “Barbados Welcome Stamp” allows anyone working remotely to stay in the country for up to 12 months with the ability to reapply afterward.
Like with most Caribbean islands, workers will enjoy Barbados’ tropical attractions and relaxed atmosphere.
Bermuda might be a place where your remote team member went looking for a vacation and ended up staying for the long term. That’s because they offer the ability to change a tourist visa into a remote working visa while still in the country if you’re a citizen of the US, UK, Canada, or the EU.
They’ve been able to keep COVID-19 at bay through a rigorous testing program. They even have several online resources to make your transition into Bermuda life easier. With a cost of living similar to the United States, this country has the potential to become a remote working hotspot for many digital nomads.
If you’re paying your remote team well or you own your own remote business, then proving $100,000 annual income should be no trouble when moving to the Cayman Islands for remote work.
Their Global Citizen Concierge program will allow you to stay and enjoy the islands for up to 24 months. You have to enter the Cayman Islands within three months of getting approved. The Cayman Islands recognizes the value of digital nomads and will also assist you with booking a flight through their national airline Cayman Airways.
Croatia began offering residence permits to remote workers in 2021 through their “ Digital Nomad Visa.” The residence permit will allow you to stay in Croatia for up to 12 months and you can reapply for it at least once. Croatia is a beautiful country with many volcanic beaches and one of Europe’s lesser-known archipelagos right off the coast.
If you already have workers living in Croatia, they will be able to apply for the Digital Nomad Visa after six months of residency.
While it may be one of the lesser-known European nations, Estonia has beautiful wetlands and is actively encouraging tourists and workers to visit or relocate there. It is a part of the Baltic states bordering Russia and is less expensive than most mainland European nations and the United States.
The country has taken giant steps towards encouraging digital nomad migration through its E-Residency Program. Every Estonian citizen has a state-issued digital identity which allows their population to provide digital signatures to identify themselves and use e-services. With the E-Residency, you will acquire this status as well, regardless of if you live in Estonia or not.
However, this E-residency does not permit you to live in Estonia or the EU. To do that, you’ll need their Digital Nomad Visa, which became available in August 2020. It allows you to live in Estonia for up to a year. After it expires, you can’t renew it, but you can apply for a new one.
In a couple of years, some of your employees might be enjoying a daily Khachapuri in Georgia. Also recognizing that remote work was here to stay, Georgia announced its “Remotely from Georgia” initiative to incentivize remote workers to move to Georgia for six months to a year.
The program welcomes 95 different countries to come and work from home while traveling Georgia with minimal paperwork, no embassy visits, and no visa fees. Georgia also has an impressive internet for their relatively low cost of living, boasting speeds of 100 MBS for as little as $10 per month.
Iceland has the most volcanoes of any nation in the world, and it’s quickly becoming a hotspot for remote work as well. Digital nomads will enjoy the location close to mainland Europe and the unique vistas and otherworldly landscapes that make up the tiny island populated by just 357,000 people.
Their Long-Term Visa for Remote Workers targets people who don’t need a visa to visit Iceland and already make a sizable income (more than $7000 monthly). After filling out the visa application, the visa holder will be eligible for a maximum stay of just 180 days. However, you will also be allowed to live in any Schengen country during that time. The remote visa requires that the resident does not intend to settle in Iceland.
Montserrat is another Caribbean island offering a remote worker visa for people who want to work and live in the country for up to a year. The Remote Work Stamp will allow teleworkers to live in the country and bring their families while enjoying the island life from their home office.
This country also has one of the cheapest fees for a remote work visa in the Caribbean and does not have a minimum income visa requirement, making it one of the easiest countries to get a digital nomad visa.
The island itself is uniquely beautiful, with some of the most dramatic peaks in the Caribbean. They also have the Soufriere Hills Volcano, which erupted in the 1990s and turned the town of Plymouth into a modern-day Pompeii.
The United Arab Emirates, especially Dubai, is one of the wealthiest economies in the world. Now they’re trying to attract new digital nomad residents through their Virtual Working Program. Applicants can live in the UAE with a remote work permit for up to a year.
The program was initially just for Dubai but has grown to encompass the entire country since 2021. While the cost of living in the UAE is relatively high, their 0% income tax policy will help mitigate the difference.
While the entire country doesn’t offer any remote work visas for foreigners, certain states and cities have introduced incentives to encourage domestic remote workers to relocate.
The following states and cities provide remote work incentives in the United States. Check out this website with the complete list and will even help you plan your move and claim your incentive.
For those considering an international move, it's essential to research specific work visa requirements and opportunities in the desired destination.
It is a simple process to change a remote working location. In most cases, all you need to do is pick up your computer and pack a bag.
With all these countries trying to expedite the visa process through fees and documentation, it’s only a matter of time before some of your remote team trades in their rain boots for a pair of sandals or start learning a new language.
Being aware of these policies and the digital nomad hotspots worldwide will give your company an edge when distributing equipment to your remote team. It will also open you up to the top remote talent that decides to move to these places.
Through GroWrk, you can deliver devices and equipment to all these locations. You will be able to manage each item through its lifecycle and pick it up when an employees leave.
Although, if you encourage your employees to work in any of these locations, they probably won't leave your company for a very long time.
Discover the platform that will get your distributed team everything they need to be successful. From laptops to standing desks, from the U.S to any location in the world.