Strange COVID times and pro-active digital nomads are opening doors for remote workers aiming to work from beautiful places around the world.
Jan De Jong is a digital nomad who had the bold idea of sending an open letter to Croatian Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, on his Linkedin profile telling him about the advantages of starting a special visa program for digital nomads.
The Prime Minister reacted very positively, invited him for an interview, and a few months later, the Croatian government has announced the first efforts to launch a new VISA curated for digital nomads.
Related: Countries Offering Digital Nomad Visas or Residency
How millions of people changed their way to work
Before the pandemic, there was already a steadily growing number of fortunate digital nomads who were able to work from their laptops surrounded by exotic landscapes and breathing out the ocean breeze or the mountain air. For many nomads, the office has been a trendy coffee place in Prague or a hotel room in Bali overseeing the ocean.
The pandemic pushed the job market towards alternatives to the old stuffy office building. Companies were forced to make the leap and allow remote working for a good chunk of their employees. By doing this, they proved what digital nomads have known all along; you can do your job from any place you choose as long as you have a reliable internet connection.
Seasoned digital nomads, know that not only they can absolutely do their jobs from home, but also, that said home can be anywhere in the world.
How Croatia’s Getting Ready to Take in people from all over the World With New Digital Nomad Visas
The Croatian digital nomad visa initiative is not ready just yet, but the good news is that it’s moving forward faster than expected!
This initiative is still in its first stages, and that is why you won’t find any official information about visa prices, dates, etc. But, based on the Primer Minister’s LinkedIn updates, the first digital nomad visas may be ready by the first quarter of 2021.
So far, people working on this project believe that Digital Nomads from all over the world will be able to apply. The price is still unknown, but considering that Croatia is not really an expensive country, it should be affordable.
Georgia and Estonia are the two other countries in Europe that are offering similar visas. Georgia charges nothing to apply for the program whereas Estonia charges 100 euros. So it is safe to expect Croatia’s application process to cost between 0 and 100 euros as well.
Not all Digital Nomads have a fixed monthly income and beacuse of this reason, they also believe the minimum required shouldn’t be too high. In Georgia, for example, the minimum required is only USD $2,000, in Estonia € $3,504 and in Dubai, USD $5,000. But you know, it’s Dubai!
Another exciting piece of information that has been released is that would be an option to apply for a 1-year Digital Nomad Visa plus 1 more year extension. That will assure a home base in Croatia for at least 2 years.
Related: Becoming a digital nomad & working from anywhere in 2020
Why choose Croacia as a home base?
We could mention here its beautiful beaches, its history, its international cuisine, natural parks and many other rather awesome attractions.
But let’s focus on what Digital Nomads like the most, zero or little government bureaucracy that makes their lives easier.
Croatia is getting ready to offer both these things. Not to mention that, since the country is part of the European Union (not the Schengen area yet), non-EU nomads will be able to easily spend a weekend in Germany and the next in Barcelona, or have dinner at fancy restaurants in France every time they feel like having a spontaneous adventure.
Why becoming a digital nomad
While many people think being a digital nomad is reserved only for a small group of millennials living beyond their means, there is nothing further from the truth.
The number of people choosing a nomad way of life is growing everyday and technology has made it possible for a myriad of jobs to be done remotely.
There is a good chance that the job you have been doing from your living room during pandemic times can be done from an AirBnB villa in Italy. While there are related costs to consider, the beauty of being a digital nomad is that you have the whole world to choose from.
Pro tip: Making ends meet is easier when you earn in a strong currency but spend in a weaker one.