Be a Digital Nomad in Estonia

Estonia hopes to capitalize on the trend of people who want to travel while working (i.e. being a digital nomad) so the country is offering a digital nomad visa program.

Estonia has become a hub for tech workers and runs an e-Residency program that allows entrepreneurs to access Estonian government digital services to start a business within the European Union. Next, the country plans to add a new visa that will allow workers from outside Estonia to live and travel in the country for 365 days.

Because Estonia is part of the European Union, this also allows these digital nomads to have 90 days to travel in the Schengen Area of Europe, made up of 26 EU member states with a common visa policy.

Digital nomads can do all or most of their work online, theoretically giving them the freedom to work from anywhere.

Estonia’s plans are created in tandem with Jobbatical, a company that helps connect people with jobs around the world.

At this point many details are still forthcoming. Killu Vantsi, legal migration adviser, Estonian Ministry of the Interior, said in a statement: “The exact scope of possible applicants, as well as the criteria for obtaining such a visa are currently being studied. Though we are still in preparatory phase and it is too early to say how the visa will work in practice, the main idea would be that location-independent mobile workers could obtain a visa for traveling and working in Estonia for up to 12 months.”