Estonia has a tremendous PR when it comes to the "digital state" concept. It was the first (and the only, as far as I know) country to launch an e-Residency program. It also has a very streamlined governance process, almost everything happening digitally (identity, taxes, etc).
My personal experience with the e-Residency program is not fabulous, though. I mean, you get the chip-enhanced e-Residency card on time, if you tweak your browser it eventually works, but you can't open a crypto-based business in Estonia now. The accounting companies with which I talked about that told me the legal framework is still uncertain in the country and they don't want to be part of such a company.
But let's be patient here and try to focus on the positive side of stuff.
Following the above steps, Estonia recently announced they intend to launch a "digital nomad visa". Since the e-Residency program doesn't give you full residence, you still have no way to access services like health care, for instance. The "digital nomad visa" targets freelancers, people who are spending t least half of the year traveling and who can perform work from everywhere (usually as designers, programmers, project managers, etc).
The announcement was made a few days ago by Estonia Ministry of the Interior, according to this news published on Quartz. As far as I understand this, it's going to be a public-private partnership between the Ministry and a freelance-oriented company called Jobbatical. The CEO of Jobbatical, Klaus Hindricks, estimated that the visa may be launched as early as the spring of 2019.
And how this will work? Well, according to the same source:
Nomads who obtain the visa will be able to legally reside in Estonia for 365 days, and will also be entitled to a Schengen visa which allows them to visit member countries for up to 90 days. Hindriks says the idea is not necessarily to require nomad residents to pay tax, but to verify that they are a registered tax payer in their country of origin or permanent residence. Later on, the nation may explore “packages” nomads can buy, which will entitle them to public services like healthcare during their stay.
This approach balances a bit the overwhelming "wall" approach to work, from Brexit to US Mexico border. It's nice to see this happening.
image credit: Pixabay.
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
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