Estonia’s Digital Nomad Visas to Encourage the Idea of Working While Holidaying
The coronavirus pandemic has given a push to the idea of remote working. As an increasing number of people are working from home, employers and employees are exploring work tourism. To saviour the economy from the ongoing crisis, Estonia and Barbados are issuing digital nomad visas that will benefit the tourism industry.
Until now people working remotely in a new country could do so by using a tourist visa only. This implied the employee to pretend to be on a holiday while in actuality they were working. Although Mexico, Portugal, Czech Republic and Costa Rica do offer digital nomad visas, but these are focused at freelancers.
With the help of Estonia’s digital nomad visas, international visitors can stay in the country for up to 12 months. To apply for the visas, applicants must show an earning of at least $3,988 (€3,504) a month. Also, they must be hired by some firm and not stuck to one location permanently. The cost of the nomad visa ranges from $100 to $125 based on the duration of stay.
As per the Head of Interior Ministry Department — Ruth Annus, “One of the goals is to promote Estonia in the world”. Speaking about the nomad visa plan, a Canadian government worker Clark Jang said, “A Digital Nomad Visa like Estonia’s gives a level of certainty not only for employees but also employers who may be reluctant to let their personnel fly the coop”.
Travel restrictions imposed by Estonia in the spring had affected international mobility to a greater extent. This affected the countries’ ability to welcome companies’ and individuals’ willing to do business there. According to Estonia’s Chief Information Officer on new digital visas — Siim Sikkut, “Estonia is committed to borderless collaboration and through the digital nomad visa it would love to welcome anyone who wishes to work abroad to become one”.
Skilled digital nomads are known to have a higher pay than people working in a permanent office. This scheme will encourage students to explore the travel market and search for places where they can work in a destination of likeminded peers. Since most people have now realised that work from home can be done effectively, people will turn to more nomadic solutions instead of a fixed office.
If you are tired of the industrial model jobs, you can explore companies like Coboat, which offer round the world sailing trips for freelancers. Better known as the remote workstation for adventurous entrepreneurs, Coboat provides remote workstations for adventurous entrepreneurs.
The digital nomad visas in Estonia and Barbados will attract tech-savvy long-term travellers who wish to work in an environment that feels like a holiday.
