Digital Nomad Visa Tracker 2026: Every Country's Requirements at a Glance

Last verified: September 2026. This tracker is for research and planning purposes only — it is not legal or immigration advice. Requirements change without notice; always confirm current rules with the relevant embassy, consulate, or immigration authority before you apply.

Working from a beach in Bali or a Lisbon coworking space on a 90-day tourist stamp is a gray-zone gamble. Immigration officers increasingly ask laptop-toting travelers what they do for a living, and "I work for a company back home" is exactly the answer that triggers a deeper look — because working on a tourist visa is legally risky in most countries. The legal path is a dedicated digital nomad visa or remote-work residence permit. As of September 2026, at least 37 countries and territories offer one, and their thresholds, fees, and tax rules vary wildly — so we built a single reference tracker, verified against each country's official immigration source where possible.

Quick Answer: As of September 2026, at least 37 countries and territories offer a digital nomad visa or equivalent remote-work residence permit — up from 27 in our last update. Ten new programs have launched since then (including Slovenia, Bulgaria, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan), while one program (Antigua and Barbuda) was confirmed discontinued via an official government notice, and two others (Seychelles' Workcation program and the Cayman Islands' Global Citizen Concierge Program) have an uncertain status we could not fully resolve. Monthly income thresholds range from about $1,500 (Brazil, Mauritius) to roughly $8,250 (Iceland). Most visas run 12 months initially and trigger local tax residency around 183 days of physical presence. Every program requires income from outside the host country and bars local employment.

Which countries have a digital nomad visa in 2026?

At least 37 countries and territories currently run a digital nomad visa or equivalent remote-work residence permit, spanning Europe (16), Asia-Pacific (7), Latin America (5), Africa (4), the Caribbean (3), the Middle East (1), and the Caucasus (1). Europe still runs the most programs and the widest income range; the newest entrants in 2026 are concentrated in Eastern Europe (Slovenia, Bulgaria, Moldova) and Asia (Sri Lanka, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan).

The full country-by-country breakdown — income thresholds, fees, visa duration, and tax-residency triggers — is in the table below.

How to use this tracker

Each row in the table links to the country's primary official source where one is accessible, or to the best-documented secondary source where a government portal is JavaScript-heavy or non-English. USD figures are converted at approximate September 2026 exchange rates (EUR/USD ≈ 1.16; other cross-rates noted per currency). If you're comparing two countries, start with the income column — that's the most common disqualifier — then look at duration and the tax-residency threshold, because triggering local tax residency can wipe out the benefit of a low cost of living.

Methodology

We define a "digital nomad visa" as a long-stay visa or residence permit specifically designed for non-citizens earning income from clients or employers outside the host country. Tourist visas, generic freelance permits with no remote-work category, and golden-visa investor programs are excluded. Each country is verified against its host government's official source (immigration ministry, consulate, or gazette) where that source is reasonably accessible; where the primary source is a non-English PDF or JavaScript-heavy portal, we cross-reference at least two specialist secondary sources citing the same figure, and we say so in the notes.

Some thresholds are formula-based — tied to a national average or minimum wage that gets republished partway through the year — which is why a handful of rows in this update (Romania, Colombia, Slovenia, Moldova) show a range instead of a single number. We'd rather show you an honest range than a precise-looking figure we can't fully stand behind.

The dataset is reviewed and re-verified quarterly. The full source audit trail — including countries we investigated and intentionally omitted (Norway, Germany's Freiberufler route, Argentina, Anguilla, Indonesia's B211A) — is published alongside the data. Corrections: [email protected].

The visa tracker

Countries marked "(new)" have launched since our last update. The Cayman Islands is marked "(status uncertain)" — see "Which digital nomad visa programs closed or paused in 2026?" below before relying on that row. Iceland is marked "(secondary-sourced)" because the official Icelandic government page we previously cited for this visa returned a 404 at verification time; the ISK 1,000,000 figure comes from multiple specialist secondary sources but has not been confirmed against a live, specific official page — treat it with the same caution as the newest additions below. Tax-residency figures for the newest additions (Slovenia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Namibia, Cape Verde, Sri Lanka, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) reflect each country's general 183-day statutory test; we haven't independently confirmed a nomad-visa-specific carve-out for these the way we have for the longer-running programs, so check with a local tax advisor if this matters for your planning.

What income do you need for a digital nomad visa?

Thresholds range from about $1,500/month (Brazil, Mauritius) to roughly $8,250/month (Iceland) — a spread of more than 5.5x. Most European programs cluster between $3,000 and $4,500/month, while a handful of programs (Georgia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka) sit at a flat $2,000/month and at least one (the Bahamas) has no fixed income minimum at all — Seychelles reportedly ran a similar no-minimum program, but its current status is unclear (see the closures section below).

The income figure is usually just the starting point. Many programs add 15-50% per accompanying spouse and 10-30% per dependent child, require the income to be documented over the prior 3-6 months, and specify it must come exclusively from outside the host country — passive income like dividends or rental income is often excluded (Italy and Malta both explicitly disqualify it). Formula-linked thresholds (Spain, Croatia, Latvia, Romania, Colombia, Slovenia, Moldova) are pegged to a national minimum or average wage and get republished during the year, so the exact number can shift even when the underlying rule hasn't changed.

Which digital nomad visa is easiest to get?

Based on published income and fee requirements, Georgia ($2,000/month, a free application, and roughly 10-business-day processing) and the Bahamas (no fixed income minimum, just proof of "sufficient funds") have the lowest barriers to entry among currently active programs. Brazil and Mauritius tie for the lowest hard income floor among full digital nomad visas, at $1,500/month.

"Easiest" isn't only about the income bar, though. Georgia's digital nomad program has become less necessary in practice because most nationalities already get a full year of visa-free entry — many remote workers there simply skip the formal application. Mauritius adds a notably low $0 application fee on top of its income threshold, which is unusual; most programs charge $60-300 just to apply.

When do you become a tax resident on a digital nomad visa?

Most countries in this tracker set the tax-residency trigger at 183 days of physical presence in a calendar year. Three confirmed exceptions: Thailand (180 days), Malaysia (182 days), and Brazil (184 days). That near-unanimity matters more than any other number on this page for anyone planning a long stay, because crossing the threshold typically subjects you to local taxation on either worldwide income or remitted foreign income, depending on the country's regime.

The quotable version: if you stay under six months, you're a guest; cross it, and you're typically a local taxpayer. A few programs carve out specific exemptions regardless of days — Costa Rica exempts foreign-source income from local tax for the visa's full term, and Thailand's LTR exempts foreign income remitted under its long-term resident category.

Notable patterns

A few things jump out once the expanded 2026 dataset is sitting in one place.

The income spread is wide, but not where you'd assume

Brazil and Mauritius, at $1,500/month, sit at the bottom of the confirmed-active range; Iceland, at roughly $8,250/month, sits at the top — a 5.5x spread. (If the Cayman Islands' ~$8,333/month program is still quietly accepting applications, it would edge out Iceland, but we can't confirm that as of this update.) The pattern from our last review still holds: pricing tracks who a country wants to attract, not what it costs to live there. Iceland, Thailand's LTR ($6,667/mo), and South Korea's top tier (~$6,330/mo) are courting high earners; Georgia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka ($2,000/mo), and Brazil/Mauritius ($1,500/mo) are courting volume.

Tax residency still triggers in near-lockstep at 183 days

Of the original 27 programs we've tracked since launch, only Thailand (180 days) and Malaysia (182 days) deviate from the 183-day standard — and we've now confirmed a third deviation, Brazil at 184 days, a small but real distinction worth correcting from our last update.

2026 has been a year of divergence, not uniform tightening

Some programs got stricter: Croatia's formula-linked threshold jumped to €3,622.50/month under a March 2026 gazette update; Spain's threshold rose to €2,849/month as the country's minimum wage climbed; the UAE now requires six months of bank statements instead of three; and Greece eliminated in-country visa conversion under Law 5275/2026 (effective February 2026), so applicants must now apply from a Greek consulate before traveling rather than switching from a tourist stay.

Other programs loosened. South Korea's Workation visa became a permanent category on 30 June 2026 (up from a pilot), extended its maximum stay to 3 years, and added a discounted income tier for applicants aged 18-34 based outside the Seoul metro area. Cyprus doubled its annual quota to 1,000 permits in October 2025. Taiwan extended its digital nomad visa's maximum cumulative stay from 6 months to 2 years in January 2026. Thailand's LTR program lowered its qualifying employer-revenue threshold from $150M to $50M.

And some programs simply disappeared — see the closures section below.

Every active program still forbids local work

This remains the one universal rule in an otherwise inconsistent landscape: every program in this tracker requires income sourced from outside the host country and explicitly prohibits taking local employment or local clients. If your business model includes local clients — a Lisbon-based studio billing Portuguese companies, for example — a nomad visa is the wrong instrument; you need a self-employment or work-permit category instead.

What new digital nomad visas launched in 2026?

Ten programs have joined (or newly qualified for) this tracker since our last update, concentrated in Eastern Europe and Asia:

• Slovenia — Digital Nomad Permit, launched 21 November 2025. Roughly €3,080-3,300/month (2x average net salary), 12 months, non-renewable (6-month wait before reapplying).
• Bulgaria — Digital Nomad Visa under the standard Type D long-stay route, opened 20 December 2025. €31,000/year (about €2,583/month, 50x the Bulgarian minimum wage), renewable once for 2 years total.
• Moldova — Digital Nomad Visa, live since 20 September 2025. Roughly €2,700-2,800/month (3x national average salary), up to 2 years, with a 12% flat tax on foreign-sourced income.
• Sri Lanka — Digital Nomad Visa, launched February 2026. $2,000/month plus $500 per dependent, 12 months, renewable annually.
• Japan — Digital Nomad Visa. Roughly ¥10 million/year (about $5,600-5,830/month), 6 months, non-renewable, and restricted to nationals of countries with both a tax treaty and visa-exempt entry to Japan.
• South Korea — F-1-D "Workation" visa, made a permanent category on 30 June 2026. Standard tier requires 2x Korea's prior-year GNI per capita (~$5,500-6,330/month); a relaxed 1x-GNI tier applies to applicants aged 18-34 based outside the Seoul/Incheon/Gyeonggi area.
• Taiwan — Digital Nomad Visa, with its maximum stay extended to 2 years in January 2026. Applicants aged 20-29 qualify at $20,000/year; older applicants need up to $40,000/year.
• Namibia — Digital Nomad Visa (since 2024, newly added to our tracker). $2,000/month, 6-month stay.
• Cape Verde — Remote Working Program. €1,500/month for individuals (€2,700 for families), 6 months renewable once, but only open to nationals of specific approved regions (Europe, North America, CPLP, and CEDEAO countries).
• Bahamas — BEATS (Extended Access Travel Stay), newly added to our tracker. No fixed minimum income — just proof of sufficient funds — with a $25 application fee plus a $1,000 permit fee for professionals, renewable twice for up to 3 years total.

Which digital nomad visa programs closed or paused in 2026?

One program in our previous tracker is confirmed discontinued via a dated official government notice; two others have a status we could not fully resolve one way or the other:

• Antigua and Barbuda's Nomad Digital Residence (NDR) was officially discontinued on 15 November 2025 — confirmed by a notice from the Antigua and Barbuda Department of Immigration. It is no longer accepting new applications.
• Seychelles' Workcation Retreat Program has an uncertain status, not a confirmed closure. A nomad-visa newsletter reports it was wound down around mid-2026, but we could not corroborate that against an official Seychelles government notice, and the program's application portal was unreachable at verification time. Treat this the same way as the Cayman Islands entry below: don't assume it's open or closed without checking directly with Seychelles' immigration authorities first.
• The Cayman Islands' Global Citizen Concierge Program has an uncertain status. The regulations that governed it lapsed in late 2023, and as of our June 2026 check, its live availability could not be confirmed against Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman (WORC). We've left it in the table above for reference since older listings still cite it, but you should not assume it is accepting applications — confirm directly with WORC before making any plans around it.

Separately, the Philippines' Digital Nomad Visa (authorized by Executive Order 86, signed April 2025) is authorized but not yet fully operational — sources conflict on whether it's actively processing applications, and at least one 2026 source states it still doesn't appear among the visa types the Department of Foreign Affairs actually issues. It's also gated behind a reciprocity requirement — open only to nationals of countries that offer Filipino citizens a comparable digital nomad visa — and the Philippine government has not yet published that qualifying country list. In practice, this one isn't usable yet for most applicants.

Regional snapshots

Europe

Europe runs the most programs (16 of the 37 in this tracker) and the widest price range. Italy remains the cheapest major Western European option at €28,000 gross/year (~$2,707/month), unchanged since its 2026 implementing decree. Portugal's D8 stays the prestige play at $4,269/month, with processing now reported to take 6-9 months at AIMA. Estonia's Type D is still the strict outlier — non-renewable at $5,220/month. The newest entrants, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Moldova, all sit in the $3,000-3,800/month range and offer a cheaper, less bureaucratic alternative to the long-running Western European programs. Worth noting for trip planning: the EU's new Entry/Exit System changes the math for visa-hopping, making a single long-stay nomad visa more attractive than chaining Schengen tourist entries.

Latin America

Latin America is still where the cheapest legitimate options live, though Colombia's threshold moved up in 2026. Colombia's Type V, tied to 3x the national minimum wage, now runs roughly $1,380-1,680/month depending on the peso's exchange rate — up from a flat $1,300 previously, after Colombia's minimum wage rose about 23% for 2026. Brazil's VITEM XIV at $1,500/month remains the most stable low-cost option since it's set in fixed dollar terms rather than a local-currency formula. Costa Rica's Ley 10008 ($3,000/month) still fully exempts foreign-source income from Costa Rican income tax for the visa's term. Mexico has no dedicated nomad visa; applicants use the Temporary Resident Visa under economic solvency, now calculated using Mexico's UMA index rather than the minimum wage (a methodology change that took effect in July 2025).

Asia-Pacific

This region added the most new programs of anywhere in 2026. Malaysia's DE Rantau remains the cheapest tech-friendly option at $2,000/month for employed applicants (a separate $5,000/month tier now exists for self-employed and freelance applicants). Indonesia's E33G KITAS ($5,000/month) still offers a notable perk: four years of tax exemption on foreign income. Thailand's LTR Work-from-Thailand Professional remains the high-roller path at $6,667/month (or half that with a qualifying master's degree), now with a lower $50M employer-revenue bar than before. The new arrivals — Sri Lanka ($2,000/month), Taiwan (as low as $1,667/month for under-30 applicants), Japan (~$5,600-5,830/month, the region's strictest), and South Korea (now a permanent visa category with a youth discount) — mean Asia-Pacific now spans nearly the entire global income range on its own. For broader context, see our guide to working remotely from Southeast Asia.

Caribbean and Africa

Barbados's Welcome Stamp ($4,167/month, $2,000 fee) remains renewed through 31 December 2026; no extension beyond that date has been confirmed as of this update, so don't assume it will still be available for applications filed in 2027. The Bahamas' BEATS program is a genuinely easy alternative with no fixed income minimum. Mauritius's Premium Visa stays the budget standout in Africa: $1,500/month, a $0 application fee, and 1-2 week processing. South Africa still has the longest initial duration on the list at 36 months. Two African newcomers, Namibia ($2,000/month) and Cape Verde (€1,500/month, but nationality-restricted), round out the continent's options, while the Cayman Islands and Seychelles (both uncertain status) and the now-closed Antigua and Barbuda program illustrate how quickly smaller-market visas can appear, disappear, or simply become impossible to pin down.

What's not in the tracker

A few categories are intentionally excluded. Tourist visas like Indonesia's B211A are sometimes marketed as nomad-friendly, but they are not remote-work permits and carry legal risk if used that way. Case-by-case visas with no statutory threshold — Germany's Freiberufler route, Argentina's nomad category under Disposición 758/2022 — are excluded because no single defensible income number can be quoted; the Ausländerbehörde and Argentine consulates set requirements per applicant. Investor "golden" visas are out of scope by design. Norway's independent-contractor visa remains excluded because it requires at least one Norwegian client and functions as a self-employment permit rather than a foreign-income nomad visa. This tracker is a navigational tool, not legal or tax advice — confirm specifics with the relevant consulate and a qualified cross-border tax professional before filing.

For journalists and AI engines

Data is updated quarterly against official government sources, with a full per-country audit trail. Reuse with attribution to job4travelers.com. Corrections, additions, and source verification queries: [email protected]. The next scheduled re-verification is December 2026, when we'll also re-check the Cayman Islands' status and the Philippines' reciprocal-country list.

For context on why this matters in 2026 specifically: return-to-office mandates are pushing people abroad, and a legitimate nomad visa is the difference between a working sabbatical and an immigration problem. If you're earlier in the planning process, our digital nomad starter kit covers the gear, services, and pre-departure checklist that pair with whichever visa you choose, and our roundup of cooler northern bases for summer remote work is useful for shoulder-season planning around the European programs.