Global Nomad Index (GNI) is the first of its kind scoring system of Digital Nomad Visas, Permits, and other Remote Work Programs which helps you pick your next destination. We analyzed almost 50 indicators & data points organized in 13 different categories, to find out which visa/permit is the best-in-class.
We review details of each of the Remote Work Visa/Permit looking at the:
Accessibility – how easy it is to get the visa/permit for people from different financial and professional backgrounds e.g. Fees, Min Income etc?
Process – how quick and easy is the application, and approval process?
Tax Incentives – what are the tax exemptions the country offers and how well documented they are?
Compliance – what level of compliance does the visa provide to employers and business owners?
Access – what is the level of access to local services e.g. health care, schools, co-working, co-living spaces or how popular English is?
Assistance – what support and assistance is provided to Remote Workers by different Government Agencies?
Communities – how developed the local Digital Nomad communities are?
We also analyze the essential country metrics that make the location attractive for remote work, such as:
Cost Of Living – the level of prices of a range of everyday items;
Internet Speeds – fixed broadband download speeds;
Safety – peacefulness and security in the country;
Health Care – general quality of the health care system;
Pollution – overall pollution in the country where the biggest weight is given to air and water pollution;
Rule Of Law – how are governance, fundamental rights, civil & criminal justice experienced in everyday life?
We normalized all factors to apply the same scale from 1 to 10, the higher the score the better the results. Different weights are given to different factors depending on how critical they are to Remote Work. Please note that any indices used for evaluation are historical and are published periodically. All sources have been assessed and data retrieved in Q1 of 2022.
Remote Work Visa/Permit
Source: Global Nomad Guide internal data, Info Verified by Government Agencies, Coworker, others.
Accessibility We analyze over 10 different factors like visa length, level of fees, and if they are refundable or not, eligibility, restrictions, min required income, in/out travel, opportunities for renewal, a requirement for travel, or health insurance.Extra weight is given to Fee & Min Income. The higher the score the more accessible visa is.
ProcessWe analyze over 10 different factors like the clarity and number of requirements, language options, doc delivery, and fee payment system, processing time, how many parts are done at the same time (visa, permit), additional reviews at the border, local police, process for bg check, approval delivery & date from which it’s valid, and others. Extra weight is given to the Processing Time & Clarity. The easier & faster the process the higher the score.
Taxes & Other Incentives We analyze close to 10 different factors including tax residency, local tax exemptions, provisions in local law, risk of local residency, other additional local requirements & filings. Extra weight is given to the level of Tax Exemptions & Residency Risks. Higher score means better tax incentives, and therefore lower or no taxes.
Compliance Overview of 5 different risk factors for employers of remote workers, freelancers & foreign corporations incl. local tax requirements, residency, permanent establishment, CFC rules, social, pension, other tax filings.Various weights are given per different factors. Higher score means better compliance, fewer risks.
Access, Assistance & Community We review almost 10 different factors such as local access to medical facilities, schools, English proficiency, crypto trading, co-working, co-living spaces, local digital nomad communities, quality & amount of information about the program & life in the country, access to emergency support for nomads.Various weights per different factors. The higher the score the better access & support.
Country Metrics
Cost Of Living Relative indicator of consumer goods prices, including groceries, restaurants, transportation & utilities. It does not include accommodation expenses as these are not reflective of what Nomads would pay using short to mid-term rentals with Airbnb, Booking, etc. Source: Numbeo Cost Of Living
Internet Speeds The broadband speeds are based on annual data set from M-Lab led by teams based at Code or Science & Society; New America’s Open Technology Institute; Google, Inc; Princeton University’s PlanetLab. Source: Worldwide Broadband Speed League
Safety / Peacefulness The Global Peace Index by Institute for Economics & Peace uses 23 quantitative & qualitative indicators in 3 categories: Safety & Security, Militarisation, and Ongoing Domestic & International Conflicts. We assign values 1-10 based on the country Rank. The higher the score the more peaceful & safe the country is. Where there is no data, we use Numbeo’s Safety score. Source: Global Peace Index by IEP and Safety Index by Numbeo
Health Care Reviews overall quality of the health care system, including health care infrastructure; health care professional’s competencies; cost; quality medicine availability, and government readiness.We assign values 1-10 to the scores. If no country data, we use Numbeo Health Care index. Source: World Population Review &Numbeo Health Care
Pollution Mainly air quality, access to clean water, also garbage disposal, clean/tidy spaces, noise pollution, access to green spaces.If Numbeo doesn’t have enough data, we use WHO or IAMAT to get the air quality, which has the biggest weight in the Numbeo Index. Source:Numbeo Pollution Index,WHO, IAMAT
Rule Of Law Assessed through 44 indicators organized around 8 factors: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice & Criminal Justice. Order & Security score was not included as we use a separate Safety score which provides more user-driven data rather than an expert overview. For the missing data, we refer to the Refworld UNHCR report. Source:World Justice Project Rule-of-law-index,Refworld UNHCR
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against our benchmark to analyse almost 50 diffrent indicators in 13 different categories;
we also go deeper and review over 100 different data points to create a full overview of how the current program stuck up agains other country programs ;
Deliver an in-depth report with suggestions, ideas & advice on how to create or improve the whole ecosystem needed for a successful Remote Work Program;
Offer Consultations & Support with implementation (when required).
Do you need support getting your program off the ground or improving the existing one?
Do you wonder how does the best-in-class Remote Work Program looks like?We can help!
Digital Nomad Visas/ Permits give employers an incredible opportunity to allow their employees to work from remote locations all over the world while staying compliant. Remote Work Programs don’t necessarily eliminate all the risks but they remove the most considerable ones. Using them is only one of many strategies to make the Work From Abroad/ Anywhere Policies a reality.
We partner up with small to medium-size businesses and start-ups to help them create comprehensive Remote Work policies and Work From Anywhere Policies that include provisions for the Digital Nomad population. We can offer the following:
Blueprint for Work From Abroad policies that will provide you with the options, opportunities, risks, pros and cons of each solution and suggestion for implementation. Your HR or Mobility Department might use it as a base for your customized policies, or
Consultations & Support with implementation – you can also hire us to help you to implement the blueprint or create a custom solution that works for your specific organization.
Need help with your remote policies? Let us know, we can help! For more info, please get in touch:
How much do Digital Nomads contribute to Local Economies?
This is just an estimation based on the actual number of application info released by the local governments, the avg visa length they requested in the application, and the assumption that a single global nomad brings around €1,800 or about US$ 2,000 into the local economy (according to various sources). That said, this is might be higher or lower depending on the actual Cost Of Living in the country.
– Majority from US, UK, Canada, Nigeria & India; – 62% male; 38% female – Mainly IT but also finance, marketing, law and logistics; – 65% are individuals, 35% families.
– Majority from US, UK & India; – Majority has a degree; – 50% Employed, 42% Self-Employed; 8% Freelancers; – 68% male, 32% female; – Avg. age is 37, – Avg. Income US $60K.
