By Alex Ledsom,Senior Contributor

Copyright forbes

Spain takes the top spot in the Global Citizen Solutions Digital Nomad Report 2025, but which other countries ranked highly?

The convergence of high-speed internet and the normalization of remote work, particularly since the pandemic, has led to a sharp rise in the number of people choosing to work from a different country, seeking out new cultural experiences and a relatively better quality of life. And over the past five years, since 2020, governments around the world have launched 91% of today’s digital nomad visa programs, looking to attract more of these skilled workers. Many of them are Americans, tempted by a life abroad, but with over 64 countries offering a digital nomad visa, it can be difficult to work out where to go. Which countries have the best infrastructure, legal clarity on taxation, and the best quality of life? A new report by Global Citizen Solutions might help navigate some of these differences between digital nomad visas, globally.

The 64 Digital Nomad Visas Share Some Similarities

The 64 countries analyzed, highlight the large difference in global digital nomad offerings, but there are some similarities and trends between them:

The vast majority of these 64 visas, 66%, offer a one-year visa as standard, and while some are renewable, this might only be possible by obtaining a different visa type or by leaving the country to renew it and then returning. Taiwan, Colombia, and Norway notably offer longer-term visas, such as two to three years.

Of the assessed programs, 58% of programs are open to any nationality, while just under a quarter target non-EU/EEA/Swiss. 16% restrict to specific passports and 3% filter by profession.

Crucially, for expats looking to convert these visas to citizenship, few programs lead to permanent residency, with Spain, Greece, and the Czech Republic being exceptions. Most allow only temporary residency although some digital nomad visa programs offer a pathway—Portugal, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Uruguay.

The 64 Digital Nomad Visas Have Very Different Tax Implications

Taxation can be tricky for digital nomads who often straddle different global taxation rules, making it difficult to understand where to pay taxes and how.

This is also one of the biggest causes of local hostility, too; temporary residents use local services, can often afford to pay more for groceries and rent in new communities through a form of economic arbitrage, and so price locals out of the market and leave the country before they pay any form of tax.

Some countries offer preferential tax rates for digital nomads, as a means of attracting global talent into the country. Among these 64 digital nomad visas, 20% of these countries offer a tax environment where digital nomads pay zero tax, while 53% follow worldwide taxation policies. Some countries have introduced beneficial tax advantages just for digital nomads—such as Spain’s impatriate regime, Indonesia’s four-year foreign-income relief, and Ireland’s remittance rules.

Digital Nomad Visas Align With Immigration And Tourism Policies

Many countries are using digital nomad visas to align with immigration policies, rather than just treating them like travel visas. This sense of ‘slomadism’ that GCS identifies, is on the up; where countries attract talent—and increasingly their families too—to want to stay in the country and to integrate in communities, and stay long-term. The research identifies that 79% of digital nomads earn more than $50,000 per year (based upon GCS definition of a digital nomad), and the average is $124,416.

It is also true that some of these digital nomad visas can be a stepping stone to citizenship elsewhere, part of a sort of global passport arbitration that can take place. Citizens with a passport from the ‘Global North’, as GCS calls it, can often more easily access visas in other countries than citizens of the ‘Global South’. However, once someone has a visa for a Latin American country and has residency for two years, they can sometimes apply for a Spanish passport, for instance. This is another reason that golden passport programs in places such as Argentina are so advantageous.

People seeking digital nomad visas obviously have different requirements but this index compares countries offering digital nomad visas across six main factors: procedure (online applications, path to citizenship), citizenship and mobility, tax optimization, economics (the cost of living, the rental cost of a co-working space, a country’s tax rates), quality of life (healthcare, pollution, purchasing power, English proficiency, etc), and tech & innovation (performance and quality of internet connections.

Global Citizen Solutions used the indices that reflect real-world priorities, based on academic research, industry surveys, and expert analysis—things like affordability, work environment quality, visa accessibility, and technological infrastructure.

As Patricia Casaburi, CEO at Global Citizen Solutions, says, “the result is a 64-country ranking that identifies the most attractive jurisdictions for digital nomads, accounting for not just affordability or visa length, but the complete ecosystem required for a thriving nomadic lifestyle.”

The Best Digital Nomad Visas For Different Indices, As Per GCS

The index has defined the countries with the best digital nomad visas along certain factors, and overall:

Digital Nomad Visas With A Great Quality of Life

Eight of the top ten countries in the index with a great quality of life are in Europe, with the Netherlands, Norway, and Iceland holding the top three spots. Australia, Germany, Estonia, Japan, Spain, Croatia, and the Czech Republic round out the top 10.

Digital Nomad Visas With The Best Tech And Innovation Indices

France is in first place, followed by Iceland and the UAE. Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Canada, Romania, and Thailand make up the top ten. France’s visa is not called a digital nomad visa, but it does offer a one-year, long-stay visa that it is possible to extend.

Digital Nomad Visas With The Best Economics

India, Ecuador, and Malaysia take up the top three spots, with Colombia, Namibia, South Africa, Armenia, Mauritius, and Serbia rounding out the top ten.

Digital Nomad Visas With Great Tax Optimization

Once again, the UAE is high up on the list, in first place, followed by the Seychelles, Bahamas, St. Lucia, and Bermuda. Curacao, Belize, Anguilla, Barbados, and Dominica round out a very Caribbean top ten.

Digital Nomad Visas With A Great Citizenship and Mobility Index

Many of the countries that have the best citizenship and mobility indices are found in Europe—Spain, the Czech Republic, Greece, the Netherlands, and Portugal. Germany, Latvia, Italy, Uruguay, and Canada make up the top ten.

Digital Nomad Visas With The Best Procedures

When it comes to procedures, the Seychelles, St Lucia, and Montenegro are in the top three, with Bermuda and Canada in the top five. For the top ten, it’s Armenia, Albania, Ecuador, Curacao, and Australia.

Top 10 Overall Digital Nomad Visas, As Per New GCS Index

The Netherlands

The Czech Republic.

The breadth of choice when it comes to digital nomad visas, as highlighted in this index, is evidence that the phenomenon of digital nomadism is here to stay. Indeed, as Dr. Laura Madrid Sartoretto, research lead at Global Citizen Solutions says, “the digital nomad phenomenon has evolved from a niche lifestyle choice to a mainstream economic driver”.

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