What Is Digital Nomad Visa? Benefits & Challenges of Digital Nomad Lifestyle #digitalnomad #travel

[00:00] hey I'm Cole marketing director at

[00:03] citizen remote

[00:04] and I'm Tim co-founder and CEO of

[00:07] Citizen remote and today we're going to

[00:09] talk to you about digital Nomad visas

[00:11] and we're going to tell you a few things

[00:12] about them and some things that you

[00:14] might want to know if you're curious or

[00:16] thinking of applying for one

[00:18] so first of all what is a digital Nomad

[00:21] Visa Tim a digital Nomad Visa is

[00:24] essentially a tool that people use to

[00:29] acquire long-term residency in another

[00:33] country so the first requirement of

[00:35] digital limit Visa as being a remote

[00:37] worker and then once you do that you

[00:40] leverage a digital Nomad visa to move

[00:43] from anywhere such as Portugal to Costa

[00:48] Rica Mexico to Bali and as long as you

[00:53] have that remote working job which is

[00:56] characterized as or defined as a job

[01:00] that is anywhere outside of the country

[01:02] in which you're applying then you can

[01:04] use this visa to get up to 12 months

[01:08] sometimes 24 months with the potential

[01:11] to extend for often five years

[01:15] um and and stay longer than what a

[01:17] tourist visa allows so what are some of

[01:20] the benefits to a digital Nomad

[01:21] lifestyle it's sounds like it could be a

[01:24] little hectic living on the road what

[01:28] are what are some things that should

[01:30] pull me into this lifestyle uh

[01:33] flexibility for one

[01:35] um you know a lot of the things that

[01:36] people say about working from home all

[01:40] the time is you know who do you talk to

[01:43] um and like in you know working at home

[01:46] all the time that must be terrible

[01:49] um and you know depending on your

[01:50] situation I can't say for everyone I

[01:52] personally love working at home but

[01:54] that's oftentimes because I get to walk

[01:55] outside

[01:57] um and I'm in the middle of Spain

[01:59] um sure and so you know that's kind of

[02:01] one of the benefits of of these these

[02:04] digital Nomad visas of the digital Nomad

[02:06] lifestyle is you know your day-to-day is

[02:09] always in flux it's always changing

[02:12] um and you get to experience these

[02:14] cultures that you would have never

[02:16] experienced known about you get to learn

[02:18] about uh other areas around the world

[02:22] um how how other governments work how

[02:25] other grocery stores operate I mean

[02:28] you'd be surprised in in the differences

[02:31] um of of the way the world works and it

[02:34] really opens your eyes into the fact

[02:36] that there's not just one way for a

[02:38] society to function

[02:40] um and so that Insight

[02:42] um just kind of that cultural Insight uh

[02:45] is beneficial to you know anyone who

[02:47] wants to kind of venture out into this

[02:49] into this digital limit lifestyle and

[02:51] then to kind of Full Circle you know the

[02:54] the amount of social capabilities I

[02:57] guess you can call it uh of going around

[02:59] and just talking to people and getting

[03:02] to know people when you are working at

[03:04] home all day when you go to the bar and

[03:06] start talking to people it's a lot

[03:07] different than going to the bar in your

[03:08] hometown

[03:09] um or going to the gym in your hometown

[03:11] and the conversations you have uh are a

[03:14] lot uh more exciting I I find

[03:17] um and so those are just a few of the

[03:19] benefits of being a digital Nomad or you

[03:22] know try around the world sure sure what

[03:25] are some of the challenges in your

[03:27] opinion challenges and what's it

[03:31] um so

[03:32] I mean living on the road not really

[03:34] having a solid place to call your own um

[03:39] not really having that sort of social

[03:42] fix of your job

[03:44] um what do you what do you see as the

[03:48] biggest challenges is it finding a place

[03:50] to live is it getting your Visa is it

[03:53] making friends

[03:55] um what are some challenges and how do

[03:57] you overcome yeah all of those

[03:59] um are are definitely definite

[04:01] challenges

[04:02] um of of traveling around the world you

[04:05] know you do have to kind of force

[04:06] yourself to potentially go out of your

[04:08] comfort zone if you're not familiar with

[04:09] that um you have to force yourself to

[04:11] understand you know what makes a rental

[04:14] contract legitimate and how do I acquire

[04:17] this accommodation in a country that I

[04:19] potentially don't speak the language

[04:21] um and so you know and then going into a

[04:24] Visa which is a whole nother can of

[04:26] worms that we're going to get into here

[04:27] in a bit there are a lot of challenges

[04:31] um and there are a lot of tools out

[04:33] there that kind of help with those

[04:35] challenges one of them being citizen

[04:37] remote

[04:38] um and the app that we've built

[04:39] specifically for this you know as being

[04:42] digital Nomads and remote Travelers

[04:44] ourselves uh working from home our whole

[04:48] careers as Peter uh CEO has done

[04:52] um David is an extensive World traveler

[04:54] another co-founder and myself a world

[04:56] traveler and working uh from technology

[04:59] companies to technology company

[05:02] um it's just we know the pain points

[05:05] that come with that and we've used our

[05:07] backgrounds to create

[05:11] um the best tool possible to to address

[05:13] those concerns and make it almost

[05:16] seamless to go from again the middle of

[05:19] the U.S to Portugal or from Portugal to

[05:22] Southeast Asia and back around again and

[05:26] so while there are you know a few

[05:28] potential issues such as accommodation

[05:31] visas potentially taxes

[05:34] um being able to meet people once you've

[05:37] relocated

[05:39] um you know we've tried it citizen

[05:40] remote to address all that within the

[05:42] technology and the platform that we've

[05:43] built sure so in your eye citizen remote

[05:47] is really

[05:49] four digital Nomads and remote workers

[05:52] but not just for them but by them

[05:54] absolutely absolutely and and that

[05:57] Insight is something that we will never

[05:59] uh that we never want to get rid of

[06:02] um because again you know it's something

[06:05] that only those who have lived that

[06:08] lifestyle can create the best technology

[06:10] to solve that lifestyle right because we

[06:13] ourselves have tasted kind of what

[06:16] remote work can do for your life and

[06:17] what travel can do for your life and how

[06:20] combining the two really opens up a door

[06:23] that wasn't really possible when we were

[06:27] growing up and now we've been given this

[06:30] amazing opportunity and we've seen the

[06:33] power it has and we want to make it more

[06:35] attainable for other people yeah so

[06:38] with that said what are some of the most

[06:40] popular digital Nomad locations in your

[06:42] opinion what are some easy visas to get

[06:45] what are some Trend Setters and along

[06:49] with that what are some of the harder

[06:51] digital Nomad locations to enter yeah so

[06:55] I think it kind of just depends because

[06:56] you know what makes a digital Nomad a

[06:59] hot spot as opposed to what is the best

[07:02] digital Nomad visa to acquire or two

[07:04] completely different conversations sure

[07:07] um you know and I'll I guess I'll speak

[07:09] more to what my expertise is which is

[07:12] the digital Nomad visas

[07:13] um something that we are you know

[07:15] heavily involved with at citizen remote

[07:17] and so I think some of the most popular

[07:20] digital Nomad visas out there today

[07:24] um I'll start with Europe Portugal is by

[07:27] far and away the biggest

[07:29] um which is funny because it's also the

[07:30] hardest

[07:32] um and and you know that comes from you

[07:35] know restrictions on how much you need

[07:38] to open up a bank account tax ID getting

[07:42] set up all before applying you have to

[07:44] be in your home country or a country in

[07:46] which you have residence there's a lot

[07:47] of these uh restrictions that make it

[07:50] more difficult to acquire a Visa as a

[07:52] place like Greece which is a very up and

[07:55] growing digital Nomad location from

[07:58] Athens one but also because of the ease

[08:01] of acquiring the visa for uh Greece it's

[08:04] very easy you can do it in country and

[08:07] so for Europe I think that's that's kind

[08:09] of the hardest also most popular and

[08:12] then kind of that dark course up and

[08:13] coming

[08:14] um very easy visa to obtain and then you

[08:17] have also places around the world like

[08:19] Brazil that doesn't necessarily have a

[08:20] digital Nomad Visa they kind of have

[08:22] something similar to the D7 scheme of

[08:24] Portugal

[08:26] um with without the hurdles that you

[08:28] would have to jump through

[08:30] um for for Portugal

[08:32] um and then you know bali's coming out

[08:34] with some new southeast Asia is kind of

[08:35] just now entering the territory but

[08:38] again they're they're Global when you

[08:40] talk about you know every continent

[08:42] besides Australia who's on the on the

[08:45] you know just around the corner South

[08:48] Africa is about to have one

[08:51] um there's a few three or four in South

[08:54] South America

[08:56] um I mean they're around the world so

[08:58] yeah right so with that said what are

[09:03] some of the personal challenges that

[09:05] you've experienced about being a digital

[09:06] Nomad or how much how much work does it

[09:09] take because I mean

[09:11] I'm working a job I don't know if I want

[09:13] to introduce the work of another job so

[09:16] what can I expect from this lifestyle is

[09:18] it is it going to drain me oh no I mean

[09:21] if you work remotely then the lifestyle

[09:24] I often find depending on the pace at

[09:27] which you travel

[09:29] um kind of reinvigorates you

[09:31] um I know if you go all the time

[09:33] depending on who you are you know

[09:34] sometimes you can go you know every two

[09:37] weeks and if that's your lifestyle then

[09:39] great if you can keep up with your work

[09:40] in the meantime fantastic

[09:42] um but I I very much enjoyed this

[09:44] lifestyle because

[09:46] um as we're talking now in the middle of

[09:48] the US

[09:50] um you know I'm still working every day

[09:52] visiting my family for the holidays and

[09:54] it's something that allows me to stay

[09:57] longer and not stress out that the

[10:00] company that we've created is not doing

[10:03] what it needs to

[10:05] um the other side of that is

[10:08] do people not know how to take a break

[10:11] and that's a conversation you know maybe

[10:13] I need to be uh discussing

[10:16] um or somebody needs to discuss with me

[10:18] but uh I mean I think that the ability

[10:21] to travel around the world

[10:24] and be able to work and stay longer in

[10:27] places is just the biggest bonus that

[10:29] there is sure and that's an incentive

[10:32] that people kind of may not consider

[10:35] right away about this is that you choose

[10:37] your pace just because the Visa lasts

[10:39] for one year does not mean that you're

[10:41] locked in that country for a year now it

[10:44] might not be a multiple entry Visa in

[10:46] which case the situation might get a

[10:49] little more sticky but in the end of the

[10:51] day you get to choose how you want to do

[10:54] this lifestyle you get to choose if you

[10:56] want to stay in a place for two weeks or

[10:59] for two years yeah because if it's

[11:01] within the allowance then you can make

[11:04] it happen absolutely yeah and the

[11:06] ability to extend a Visa past that

[11:08] 12-month on the ability to potentially

[11:10] get citizenship in places like Portugal

[11:13] which is why it's one of the most

[11:14] popular you know there are all these

[11:16] benefits to uh digital Nomad visas that

[11:21] people think that my goodness that's

[11:23] going to be so stress useful but it's so

[11:26] easy especially when you have you know

[11:28] the power of a community behind you to

[11:30] bounce questions off of or the

[11:32] technology that we built it makes it so

[11:34] easy to to craft that pace to craft that

[11:38] lifestyle

[11:39] um because just because someone lives on

[11:41] the beach you know if you're a mountain

[11:43] person or a lake person

[11:45] there are places in which you can move

[11:47] and live the lifestyle in which you want

[11:49] almost anywhere in the world right and

[11:52] so it's really kind of blown the door

[11:54] off this idea of finding a job in the

[11:57] place you want to be because now you can

[11:59] find a job and then go to the place you

[12:01] want to be exactly and that's that's the

[12:03] coolest thing and a lot of the questions

[12:05] we get we just had somebody reach out to

[12:08] us and say Hey I want to be a digital

[12:10] Nomad can you find me a good pain remote

[12:13] job and it's like well that's the first

[12:15] hurdle that you as an individual must

[12:18] solve unfortunately we can't find you a

[12:20] remote job for you

[12:22] um unless we give you a through citizen

[12:25] remote

[12:25] um but other than that you know that's

[12:27] the first hurdle people must get get the

[12:29] skills get that remote job and then

[12:32] pursue the lifestyle you want right so

[12:35] and then the world really opens up

[12:37] yeah the steps that it takes to really

[12:40] get to your dream life is seemingly

[12:43] reducing and at citizen remote I know

[12:47] that our passion really is to take those

[12:49] steps down even further and to make it

[12:52] so getting from A to B doesn't require

[12:55] all these steps in between absolutely I

[12:58] mean you used to have to be you know a

[13:00] multi-millionaire to be able to acquire

[13:03] long-term residency in another country

[13:05] and by that meaning invest you know 500

[13:09] 000 or buy a property and live there x

[13:11] amount of time whereas now you can make

[13:14] you know 3 500 a month sometimes as low

[13:17] as 2500 a month and be able to move to

[13:21] countries long term all around the world

[13:23] and so yeah the hurdles that used to be

[13:26] there are are are getting smaller and

[13:30] right exactly as you said hopefully

[13:31] hopefully we can continue to build out

[13:33] stuff to make it even easier for people

[13:35] yeah so I love that so with all that

[13:37] said what do you see as the future for

[13:39] remote work I mean remote work is

[13:42] definitely on the rise since before the

[13:44] pandemic maybe maybe dying a little down

[13:46] since the height of it but these digital

[13:49] Nomad visas they keep popping up day by

[13:51] day do you think that eventually every

[13:53] country is going to offer them or nearly

[13:55] every

[13:56] oh yeah absolutely

[13:59] um I think that

[14:00] eventually this will be

[14:04] there's gonna be two different kind of

[14:06] apps like avenues that people are going

[14:08] to take they're either gonna have their

[14:10] traditional job where they go in and you

[14:12] know their friends or their co-workers

[14:14] and that's absolutely amazing

[14:16] um there are a lot of great company

[14:18] cultures out there I know my brother

[14:19] works for one and he absolutely loves

[14:21] going into work he has the option and he

[14:23] prefers to go in you know 95 percent of

[14:25] the time he says and those people will

[14:28] continue to travel and you know go to a

[14:31] place for a few weeks uh you know at

[14:34] most and then come back home to you know

[14:37] their their setup in their life

[14:39] um and then there's kind of going to be

[14:40] that other aspect of

[14:42] you know these remote workers who have

[14:45] the ability in in only

[14:47] travel from place to place every you

[14:51] know not necessarily every few weeks

[14:53] every few months but every few years

[14:56] um that's something that I do the term

[14:58] is slow mads

[15:00] um you know call it what you will but

[15:03] essentially countries that don't create

[15:06] these visas will lose the huge potential

[15:11] that comes with you know the longevity

[15:14] of these digital Nomad visas this the

[15:18] longevity of this new form of Tourism if

[15:21] you call it um which I would not call it

[15:23] tourism because tourism

[15:25] implies that you're going to go

[15:27] somewhere you're not really gonna in you

[15:30] know engulf yourself in the culture

[15:31] you're just gonna visit some nice resort

[15:33] drink some nice drinks eat some nice

[15:35] food and then go home to your life sure

[15:37] whereas these digital Nomad visas and

[15:39] the future of remote work is really

[15:41] enabling this interconnectivity of an

[15:43] International Community uh in a way that

[15:46] we've never been able to have before not

[15:49] only for the speed of travel but the

[15:52] ability to sustain yourself while

[15:54] traveling it's not just again as we said

[15:57] for the elite few if you want to call it

[15:59] that but it's for the average worker and

[16:03] and it's it's it's a change that we have

[16:06] never seen before

[16:08] um and so I think countries with who

[16:11] don't Implement these visas they're only

[16:14] hurting themselves yeah yeah I never

[16:17] thought that below 30 I have the chance

[16:20] to travel the world without having to

[16:21] quit my job so it's definitely a crazy A

[16:25] crazy future and I'm excited to see

[16:28] where it goes absolutely and if you want

[16:30] to learn more about digital Nomad visas

[16:32] or anything about if you qualify for one

[16:34] you can book a consultation straight

[16:36] with Tim we offer plenty of info on our

[16:39] website and our app is now available in

[16:41] the Apple App Store as well as the

[16:43] Google Play Store so check it out to

[16:45] meet any digital Nomads near you can I

[16:48] do that yeah that's fine perfect

[16:51] or if you just want to see what your

[16:53] next location might be what it might

[16:55] take to get there or need a little help

[16:57] getting there we're here to help you so

[16:59] again I'm Cole marketing director and

[17:01] this is Tim co-founder

[17:03] and thank you for choosing citizen

[17:05] remote