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I'm watching very closely how "digital nomad" Visas are popping up around the world. Things were going very quickly from 1 to 20+ countries in like 4 years. B

I'm watching very closely how "digital nomad" Visas are popping up around the world. Things were going very quickly from 1 to 20+ countries in like 4 years. But... very few locations are really desirable. Most digital nomad countries themselves are countries on demographic decline, or otherwise quite poor. In EU it's either extreme bureaucracy of obtaining it, or some other very odd requirement that quietly sinks the whole appeal. Dubai is one shining exception, except it's a rather expensive place. $5k month take-home on the bank statement pre-requisite is very sensible. You will be spending more than a half of that every month, and easily more than $5k if you want to live fancy. I'm seriously thinking of Dubai now to live there for at least a year. Covid has totally busted the rental market there, it makes sense to exploit. You can get a minimally furnished villa for a year for AED 40000-50000, which is mindblowingly low for Dubai. P.S. Don't EVER go to work in Dubai on a regular work visa without expressed guarantee that the employer will not put any bond, or lien on you, or your papers. P.P.S. Yes, you can even buy pork there as of late: https://cdn-0.dubaiofw.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/where-to-buy-pork-dubai.png https://cdn-0.dubaiofw.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/where-...

disabled 6y ago
> In EU it's either extreme bureaucracy of obtaining it, or some other very odd requirement that quietly sinks the whole appeal. It’s called Croatia, which is part of the European Union. It is better than the Estonian Digital Nomad visa because you do not need a “sponsor”, also known as formal local connections to get the visa. You can also get Croatian national health insurance (obavezno) and supplementary insurance (dopunsko) without issue. As an American, I would get the tertiary insurance (dodatno), which has medical underwriting. It allows you to see private providers with virtually no wait. Anyways, I am extremely unhealthy and somehow I was able to get tertiary insurance. More here on the visa: https://www.expatincroatia.com/digital-nomad-visa-croatia/ https://www.expatincroatia.com/digital-nomad-visa-croatia/ With an American salary, you get to live as a king or a queen. Quality of life is very similar to the US. I am a dual US|Croatian citizen working remote part time for a US company, but of course I can do that without a visa due to my status anywhere in the European Union because I am a dual citizen.
- baybal2 6y ago
  I took a look on it as well. Zagreb is tiny. Less than a million people.
  - disabled 6y ago
    By no means is Zagreb tiny. The metro area is 1.15 million people. If you are going to be that picky, then you are not going to find a digital nomad visa that meets your criteria. There are only a handful of western countries with high quality of living that will let you have such visas on the premise of “willing to pay the taxes”. There is a reason why.
  - mdorazio 6y ago
    Zagreb has more population than Portland and almost as much as Austin. Not sure what size city you're looking for, but a lot of people specifically don't want a Los Angeles size sprawl.
  - JAlexoid 6y ago
    You shouldn't judge based solely on population size. NYC is half the size of Tokyo, but has more going for it. Dublin is just about a million. Amsterdam is about a million.
ohazi 6y ago
> Don't EVER go to work in Dubai FTFY Way too many human rights and labor abuse issues to be worth the risk IMHO.
- baybal2 6y ago
  > Way too many human rights and labor abuse issues to be worth the risk IMHO. I worked in Doha short term once, and frequent Dubai. There is so many expats there other than people who effectively sold themselves into indentured slavery because of they can't read the employment contract, that I would say it worth the consideration. The occasional horror stories of Western C-level exec getting on the bad side of their employers, and getting stuck in the country are very much real, but again most of them wouldn't be examples of good deliberation, and they very much knew what they are going for.
  - ethanbond 6y ago
    The mental gymnastics are impressive. Blaming slavery on people’s poor reading of contracts. What a despicable perspective.
sorenjan 6y ago
You don't have any moral qualms against supporting that kind of government? Homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death, women are charged with extramarital sex after being raped, and foreign workers are treated as slaves. There are other things in life than cheap rental and fancy living, even if you don't happen to be personally directly affected. https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/united-arab-emirates/report-united-arab-emirates/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-a... https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/n-africa/united-arab-emirates https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/n-africa/united-arab-emirate...
- baybal2 6y ago
  I have. And the biggest moral compromise you will have to take will be living in a city ruled by a man who raises hand on his own family, which in my eyes disqualifies a man being called a man. On other hand life in Dubai can be by far more liberal than in most parts of the world. Anything other than fornicating on the beach probably goes there. Far more people complain about Dubai being a Sodom with hipsters, rather than it being a "puritan Arab kingdom" For whom I have the most pity are by far the Emirati natives. Forced to live in this Disneyland for foreigners under a gunpoint. That's for their legal citizens. It was even a bigger shock for me to know how Emiratis can torment, and keep in destitution their own Arabs just for some "wrong surname" because of some century old matter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedoon_(stateless) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedoon_(stateless)
  - realce 6y ago
    > On other hand life in Dubai can be by far more liberal than in most parts of the world. Unless you're poor, gay, a woman, a foreign worker or whoever else the entirely lawless society of SA wishes to execute this week. You're OK with living in a place where there is no actual law and people can be imprisoned or executed with minimal trial. That seems very risky to me.
- csomar 6y ago
  The US and most of the world does have its own set of issues, though. Many countries also have freedoms on paper but in real life it's another story. If you go by that logic, you can only leave in a select few countries. It's an unfortunate world, but remember that by bringing your culture and ideals, you are actually helping changing the place.

disabled 6y ago

> In EU it's either extreme bureaucracy of obtaining it, or some other very odd requirement that quietly sinks the whole appeal. It’s called Croatia, which is part of the European Union. It is better than the Estonian Digital Nomad visa because you do not need a “sponsor”, also known as formal local connections to get the visa. You can also get Croatian national health insurance (obavezno) and supplementary insurance (dopunsko) without issue. As an American, I would get the tertiary insurance (dodatno), which has medical underwriting. It allows you to see private providers with virtually no wait. Anyways, I am extremely unhealthy and somehow I was able to get tertiary insurance. More here on the visa: https://www.expatincroatia.com/digital-nomad-visa-croatia/ https://www.expatincroatia.com/digital-nomad-visa-croatia/ With an American salary, you get to live as a king or a queen. Quality of life is very similar to the US. I am a dual US|Croatian citizen working remote part time for a US company, but of course I can do that without a visa due to my status anywhere in the European Union because I am a dual citizen.

baybal2 6y ago
I took a look on it as well. Zagreb is tiny. Less than a million people.
- disabled 6y ago
  By no means is Zagreb tiny. The metro area is 1.15 million people. If you are going to be that picky, then you are not going to find a digital nomad visa that meets your criteria. There are only a handful of western countries with high quality of living that will let you have such visas on the premise of “willing to pay the taxes”. There is a reason why.
- mdorazio 6y ago
  Zagreb has more population than Portland and almost as much as Austin. Not sure what size city you're looking for, but a lot of people specifically don't want a Los Angeles size sprawl.
- JAlexoid 6y ago
  You shouldn't judge based solely on population size. NYC is half the size of Tokyo, but has more going for it. Dublin is just about a million. Amsterdam is about a million.

ohazi 6y ago

> Don't EVER go to work in Dubai FTFY Way too many human rights and labor abuse issues to be worth the risk IMHO.

baybal2 6y ago
> Way too many human rights and labor abuse issues to be worth the risk IMHO. I worked in Doha short term once, and frequent Dubai. There is so many expats there other than people who effectively sold themselves into indentured slavery because of they can't read the employment contract, that I would say it worth the consideration. The occasional horror stories of Western C-level exec getting on the bad side of their employers, and getting stuck in the country are very much real, but again most of them wouldn't be examples of good deliberation, and they very much knew what they are going for.
- ethanbond 6y ago
  The mental gymnastics are impressive. Blaming slavery on people’s poor reading of contracts. What a despicable perspective.

sorenjan 6y ago

You don't have any moral qualms against supporting that kind of government? Homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death, women are charged with extramarital sex after being raped, and foreign workers are treated as slaves. There are other things in life than cheap rental and fancy living, even if you don't happen to be personally directly affected. https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/united-arab-emirates/report-united-arab-emirates/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-a... https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/n-africa/united-arab-emirates https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/n-africa/united-arab-emirate...

baybal2 6y ago
I have. And the biggest moral compromise you will have to take will be living in a city ruled by a man who raises hand on his own family, which in my eyes disqualifies a man being called a man. On other hand life in Dubai can be by far more liberal than in most parts of the world. Anything other than fornicating on the beach probably goes there. Far more people complain about Dubai being a Sodom with hipsters, rather than it being a "puritan Arab kingdom" For whom I have the most pity are by far the Emirati natives. Forced to live in this Disneyland for foreigners under a gunpoint. That's for their legal citizens. It was even a bigger shock for me to know how Emiratis can torment, and keep in destitution their own Arabs just for some "wrong surname" because of some century old matter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedoon_(stateless) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedoon_(stateless)
- realce 6y ago
  > On other hand life in Dubai can be by far more liberal than in most parts of the world. Unless you're poor, gay, a woman, a foreign worker or whoever else the entirely lawless society of SA wishes to execute this week. You're OK with living in a place where there is no actual law and people can be imprisoned or executed with minimal trial. That seems very risky to me.
csomar 6y ago
The US and most of the world does have its own set of issues, though. Many countries also have freedoms on paper but in real life it's another story. If you go by that logic, you can only leave in a select few countries. It's an unfortunate world, but remember that by bringing your culture and ideals, you are actually helping changing the place.