70M could become digital nomads in the next few years

investmentnews.com:

Considering remote working from overseas? Join the growing segment of untethered persons: In the US alone, 17.3 million Americans, 11% of the workforce, now identify as digital nomads—traditional jobholders and independent workers—an increase of 2% from 2022, according to the August 2023 report from US workforce management company MBO Partners. Another 70 million are either planning to become digital nomads over the next two to three years or are considering it. 

Consequently the list of attractive destinations cutting red tape and offering remote work visa schemes is getting longer. It includes more locations in the Global North, as industrialized nations are often described. That’s because the competition is for long-term talent, not temporary tourists.

As of 2023, Spain’s residency visa is open to “international teleworkers,” which allows digital nomads to live in the land of Don Quixote, paella and Mediterranean beaches for a period of up to a year while they work remotely for an employer that’s based outside of Spain. You can apply at a Spanish embassy or consulate in your home country.

If you are already in Spain on a tourist visa, you can submit an application for a residency card as a digital nomad that will be valid for three years, and renewable for two.

Open to non-European Union citizens, Spain’s one-year remote work visa requirements, among others, include an income of at least double the Spain minimum wage (more than €2,600, or $2,750, a month, about $33,000 a year, for a solo traveler, a clean criminal record, private health insurance, a one-year employment contract with a company outside of Spain, and proof of sufficient work experience or a university degree in that field. Expect a fast-track, 20-day