This topic has been on my list for some time, but with the amount of available exhibitions, it's never been time for it, till today. It's a topic that I'm following as it's of utmost importance for millions and today I wanted to see if there is any development in this regard. Which topic you may ask. Well, the crypto nomad visa! What else?
To see if I have missed something lately in this crazy rush called life, I ran a search and this is what the big G gave me.
Not at all what I was looking for and this already indicated that I'm not going to find any favorable development today in this regard, but as I don't like to give up things so easily, I scrolled down to see if the algo can still throw me something good and I found something that surprised me.
When I saw the date of the post, I said Damn! Someone front ran me about two weeks ago in leo and was very curious to see who it was and what they wrote in the post.
This is what I got! Imagine my surprise, when i saw it was my own post that I wrote 3 years ago. It's on the first page now (on both Google and Presearch), if you use the keywords I used. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to see my post, but was hoping to see some official news as well, which can assure me there's development in this regard, but I suppose I have to wait a bit more for that to happen as the world is not ready for crypto nomads yet.
Scrolling thought the list of articles the big G gave me, I came across a bunch of articles about which is the best visa, what are the best countries for digital nomads, analysis regarding cost of living and so on. You go down the rabbit hole pretty fast, if you start reading them, but as I'm really interested, I gave it a shot and here's what I found.
As I mentioned before, I was looking for a crypto nomad visa, but at the moment, the closest you can get is a digital nomad visa. This is not all bad and I'll explain why.
The difference between the two visas is the employee status. Again, crypto nomad visa does not exist at the time of writing, but if it would, being employed would not be a requirement as that's the whole point of being a crypto nomad. Eliminate the obligation of being employed and work for yourself.
However, I think there's a way of getting close to it and being in crypto, while nomading as well, but it's not easy and it's definitely not for everyone.
What Are You Looking For?
Before you look at the offers, I think it's wise to define what you are looking for. A well defined list can help you eliminate the offers that don't fit your requirements.
This is what I would be looking for:
- Fast internet at a reasonable price
- Safety
- Affordable cost of living
- Decent health care
- English language widely used
- Political stability
- Good weather (to my taste)
- and so on.
It's hard to prioritize as all of these are equally important for me, so the ranking is kind of irrelevant.
What Articles Are Highlighting
Going abroad for a whole year is a huge responsibility, especially if you're employed and you must be employed as otherwise you don't get a visa. Therefore you need to do your research and know what you're getting into, before you do it as you can be fooled easily by the nice articles offering you affordable paradise which can turn out to be the most expensive hell.
In this article, Travel Off Path is offering you four destinations where you can live with less than $2k per months. Now, $2k can mean a fortune to many, but if you live in a developed country, you know that's an average, or even good price for a month of expenses.
First on the list is Bucharest, the capital of Romania, where they say you can get away with US$1,945. That's fine, you most likely would have to rent an apartment at the outskirts of the city, but that's not the point now. Average internet speed is 38Mbps , which sounds about right and maybe you can even get a better speed at a very cheep price.
I don't live in Bucharest, but the services are of the same quality in big cities, so I did a test at home and this is the result I get through Wi-Fi.
Here you have two more tests, using two different test providers and the result is pretty much the same. I also need to mention that there are no disruptions, the connection is very stable and if you have a problem, it gets fixed in an hour max, which is more than convenient.
Moving on, the second on the list is Antalya, Turkiye. We all know Antalya as a popular tourist destination and the article praises the beauty of it, which is fine, but then comes the cold shower you don't want to get in life.
NomadList members have agreed that US$1,518 is enough for a salary to live reasonably well in the city, though the internet speed appears to be lower at 7Mbps on average. source
7Mbps on average? Most likely there are countries where this is considered good speed, but I would be pulling my hair for sure. When you go there to work, you need to make sure the work gets done and your efficiency depends heavily on internet speed as well.
Zagreb, Croatia and Skopje, North Macedonia comes next on the list, where life is way cheaper than in the Romanian capital. You can get away with US$1,489 and US$1,322 per month, but the internet speed is almost as slow as in Turkey, being 11Mbps and 9Mbps.
Another aspect to take into consideration is safety. According to numbeo.com, the crime index of the first three cities is pretty acceptable (compared to rates worldwide), with numbers between 21% and 28%, placing these cities on the lower end of the range, but Skopje, with 46.86% looks a bit dangerous.
nomadcapitalist.com provides a list with most of the countries offering digital nomad visa. It's not up to date though as I checked and Romania already has a digital nomad visa, but it's a good source of information, regardless.
Quite many are interested in exotic destinations, myself excluded, so I checked a few offers and saw some countries are looking at this type of visa as a good source of income. When you check the visas in the Caribbeans, the British Overseas territory of Anguilla is first and while the place may leave you with dropped jaw for its beauty, the requirements would do the same for the opposite reason. The visa fee is between $2,000 and $3,000 for up to 12 months of stay, which is a bit steep for those who arrive with a backpack and their laptop. The internet fixed speed is not so good either as it is 10 Mbps, which would drive you crazy for sure.
Antigua and Barbuda is not any different as the visa fee is regarded, as you would need to put down between $1,500 and $3,000 on the table, but the good news is you could get a visa for 2 years and the internet speed is 32.84 Mbps.
If you read a few of these articles, you realize they are all highlighting the beauty of the places and the good travel opportunities, cultural offers among others, which is great as once you're there, you most definitely would want to enjoy all the beauty the country has to offer, but that's not all. You need to fulfill your duties as well. Working in cafes just because of the free WiFi is not a solution. Those places are fun to check your emails or send a few messages, but offer no privacy for work, besides, connecting to a free WiFi is the most dangerous thing you can do. I never do that.
How To Circumvent This?
I don't think you can circumvent it completely, as you still have to be hired and have a valid contract with a company, but today there are a bunch of crypto based companies, where you can do various jobs remotely and get paid in crypto. I'm not saying trade for a prop firm as for that you need stability and a very fast and secure internet connection, but there are other jobs like content creators, admins, streamers (although that's not easy). However, if the company is solid, you can get a business visa as well and you don't have to struggle with renewing your digital nomad visa, or move to another country every year, when your visa expires.
This situation will change in a few years in my opinion. Countries are looking to make money and to attract those with considerable wealth. As crypto is getting adopted by more and more countries, a nice portfolio will have a say in getting a visa. When? I can't answer this question and certainly won't say soon, but it's coming. I'm sure of that.
Photos were taken in Vienna.
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