Digital nomad visas compared: the numbers that matter
This guide is educational — rules change, so rely on the official sources linked below before you act.
A digital nomad visa is not a golden ticket. It is a residence permit rented out to your laptop: you prove that your income arrives from somewhere else, you promise not to take local employment, and in exchange a country lets you live there — usually for a year or two, sometimes longer. Some of these permits are serious front doors to permanent residence. Others are explicitly designed to send you home. The difference is worth knowing before you spend months on paperwork.
Key takeaways
- Every program asks for the same four things: proof of foreign income, no local job, private health insurance, a clean record.
- European income bars cluster around €3,500–€4,500 a month; Japan wants ¥10 million a year but caps your stay at six months.
- Thresholds are usually pegged to local minimum wages or average salaries — they drift upward every year, so last year's blog post is probably wrong.
- Only a few (Portugal, Spain, Greece) are renewable residence permits that can mature into long-term status; the rest are dead ends by design.
What they all require
Whatever the branding — "digital nomad", "remote work", "workation" — the formula is nearly identical. You show a track record of income from employment or freelancing outside the country, usually through tax returns, bank statements and contracts covering recent months. You may not work for local clients. You must carry private health insurance for the whole stay (Japan makes it an explicit condition; South Korea expects cover of at least KRW 100 million including repatriation). And you need a clean criminal record, plus, in Portugal and Spain, proof of housing for your first period in the country.
Seven programs, side by side
| Program | Monthly income to prove (single) | Stay & renewals | Leads to permanent residence? | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal D8 (digital nomad) | €3,680 (4× minimum wage) | 2-year residence permit, renewable for 3 | Yes — permanent residence after 5 years | vistos.mne.gov.pt |
| Spain digital nomad visa | ≈ €2,849 (200% of minimum wage) | 3 years, renewable to 5 | Yes — long-term residence after 5 years | inclusion.gob.es |
| Greece digital nomad visa | €3,500 (+20% with a partner) | 12-month visa → 2-year permit, renewable | Possible after years of renewed residence | mfa.gr |
| Estonia digital nomad visa | €4,500 (net) | D visa up to 12 months | No | e-resident.gov.ee |
| Croatia digital nomad permit | €3,622.50 (2.5× average net wage) | Up to 18 months; new stay only 6 months later | No | mup.gov.hr |
| Japan digital nomad visa | ¥10m/year (≈ ¥833k/month) | 6 months, not renewable | No | mofa.go.jp |
| South Korea workation (F-1-D) | ≈ KRW 78.6m–104.8m/year (age-based) | 1 year + extensions, 3 years max | No | immigration.go.kr |
One trap worth naming: Spain closed its investor "golden" visa to new applicants in April 2025, but the digital nomad visa in the table above is a separate program and remains open. Portugal's D8, likewise, has nothing to do with its golden visa — see our golden visa reality check for that story.
Travel medical insurance for nomads
Most nomad and long-stay visas require private health insurance as a condition of the visa. Compare international medical plans before you apply.
Compare international plans →What the income number actually means
The threshold is only half the question; the other half is how you count it. Most programs quote gross monthly income — Estonia is unusual in stating its €4,500 figure as net. If your salary is paid in Hong Kong dollars or New Taiwan dollars, the consulate converts it at the day's rate, so an income that clears the bar in a strong month can fail in a weak one. Leave headroom. And officers rarely accept one good month: they want a consistent history, commonly the last three to six months of statements, so a lumpy freelance income needs a longer paper trail (and often savings on top).
Which ones lead somewhere
Portugal's D8 is the clearest ladder: a two-year residence permit, renewable for three, and eligibility for permanent residence after five years of legal residence (the full walk-through is in our Portugal D7/D8 guide). Spain's visa similarly runs three years, renews to five, and from there long-term residence is reachable. Greece's permit renews, and years of renewed residence can eventually add up. The rest are deliberately temporary: Japan's visa cannot be renewed at all and never counts toward residence — it is a six-month lookaround, nothing more. South Korea's workation visa now allows up to three years but with no bridge to permanent residence. That is not a flaw; it is the design.
A nomad visa is not a tax plan
Spend 183 days or more in a country and you will usually become its tax resident, nomad visa or not. Portugal's famous NHR tax regime has ended, and most other nomad programs give you zero special treatment on local taxes. Wherever you settle, get advice from a tax professional before day 183 — unwinding a mistaken residency is far more expensive than preventing one.
Key numbers last verified: October 2026
- Portugal D8: €3,680/month = 4× the €920 minimum wage — GetGoldenVisa, Grow in Portugal
- Spain: ≈€2,849/month (€34,188/year = 200% of the 2026 minimum wage of €17,094/year) — Greenback Tax Services, Spain Relocation
- Greece: €3,500/month, +20% for a partner — Taxes for Expats
- Estonia: €4,500/month net — e-Residency (official)
- Croatia: €3,622.50/month, or lump sums of €43,470 (12 months) / €65,205 (18 months); +10% of the average net wage per family member — Croatian MUP (official)
- Japan: ¥10,000,000/year from sources outside Japan; 6-month stay, not renewable; open to nationals of 49 countries/territories — including both Hong Kong and Taiwan — Japan MOFA (official), ISA country list (PDF)
- South Korea: ≈KRW 78.62m/year (ages 18–34) to ≈KRW 104.83m/year (35+), Seoul-metro rates; maximum stay extended to 3 years effective June 30, 2026 — Pureum Law Office
Rules change — always confirm with the official portal before you apply.
Related reading
- Portugal's D7 and D8 explained — the full walk-through of the most ladder-like nomad route
- Japan's practical visa routes — what to do when the six-month nomad stay runs out
- Apostille and legalization for HK/TW documents — the paperwork stage every application passes through
- How to choose your emigration route — a five-gates framework for deciding at all