Digital nomads are those who combine work with travel, using technology and the internet to log on from any location. This work/travel formula is not new but, after the success of remote working during the pandemic, and now that borders have reopened, more people want to try it.
While technology has made working remotely very accessible, historically the immigration status of digital nomads has been a trickier issue, with many working without immigration permission from the beach of their choice. This is because most countries only offer work visas where the employee is sponsored and employed by a local company, guaranteeing they will be paid a minimum salary and meet certain skill requirements. This doesn’t always work given the transient nature of digital nomads, who are often self-employed and do not need or want a sponsor tying them down to work in one place.
However, countries such as Dubai, Italy and Brazil have spotted this as an opportunity. Dubai was one of the first countries to offer a remote working visa, giving high-earning employees the opportunity to work for their employer remotely from Dubai for up to one year. It wasn’t long before Brazil and Italy followed suit, offering similar visa routes. But why?
Digital nomad visas tend to be relatively cheap and easy to apply for, and reduce the likelihood of illegal working. Often issued for limited periods of time, they also provide a handy stop gap for immigration policy – allowing an influx of potentially high-earning individuals to give a short, sharp boost to the local economy, without taking away valuable jobs from local people.
So, what should employers do if their employees ask if they can apply for a digital nomad visa? Before saying yes to this request, you need to understand what the law says in the destination country. For example, while the employee may have a right to work remotely from Portugal, you need to check how their pay should be taxed to make sure they don’t fall foul of Portuguese tax and social security requirements. Employees working remotely may be entitled to Portuguese employment rights (such as the right to disconnect outside normal working hours) from day one, regardless of what their contract of employment says. Other considerations include whether there is a requirement to register the employee with the local authorities, whether there are any cross-border data transfer issues, and what the minimum health and safety requirements are.
If you decide to allow this, you should put in place clear processes so your employees know how to make a request for a visa and when it should be made. Will the visa be entirely the employee’s responsibility to arrange and pay for? Will they need a letter of support from you?
In most cases there will be no obligation on the employer to notify the Home Office in the UK that an employee is working remotely. But you may want to make your staff aware of any impact the remote working could have on their right to work in the UK: if an employee is working under a visa in the UK, time spent outside the UK can prevent them being able to settle here permanently.
Alex Christen leads the business immigration team at Capital Law
