2026 ranking of countries offering Digital Nomad Visas and residence permits

Quick overview

The top 5 countries for digital nomads are New Zealand, Dominica, Malta, Australia and Malaysia.

New Zealand ranks 1st, receiving the highest score due to a combination of relatively low minimum income requirements, just $610 a month, a very high level of safety, almost full internet coverage across the country, and English as an official language.

Dominica ranks highly thanks to its safety score and English-speaking environment, but internet coverage is slightly weaker than in New Zealand, and connection speeds are noticeably lower.

Malta is one of the most balanced destinations in the ranking: it shows excellent results for safety, internet quality and English language use, but the income threshold is comparatively high — €3,500, or about $4,100 a month.

Australia shows high scores for safety, connectivity and the language environment but trails the leaders because of strict financial requirements and the high cost of living. For comparison, a family of 4 in Sydney needs about $4,600 on average, excluding rent; in Valletta, Malta, the figure is $3,600, and in Kuala Lumpur, about $2,000.

Malaysia is the most practical option in the top 5. It combines a low cost of living, an accessible entry threshold and fast internet, while local residents have a good command of English. Its weak point compared with the leaders is the level of safety.

Among EU countries, the leaders are Malta, Hungary, and the Netherlands. Malta ranks 1st within the European Union thanks to its balanced indicators. Hungary trails because of high income requirements, while the Netherlands ranks lower because of its high cost of living.

In Asia, the leaders are Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and South Korea. Malaysia offers the best balance in the region between cost of living, visa accessibility in terms of income requirements, internet quality and English proficiency. Kazakhstan’s weak point is the low level of English, while South Korea’s is the high entry threshold for applicants.

In North America, the leaders are Costa Rica, El Salvador and Belize. Costa Rica ranks first in the region thanks to its safety, internet accessibility and cost of living. El Salvador has more modest internet accessibility indicators, while Belize requires a higher income.

In South America, the top 3 are Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador. Argentina leads thanks to the quality of its internet coverage and moderate income requirements. Brazil has an average level of safety and weak English proficiency. Ecuador makes the top three as a more affordable option in terms of both living costs and income requirements.

About the Passportivity ranking

Most rankings for expats are based on subjective surveys or on countries’ appeal as tourist destinations. Passportivity uses an engineering approach: we compare countries using measurable indicators and assess the balance between ease of obtaining a visa and quality of life.

The aim of the study is to objectively compare countries offering Digital Nomad Visas and residence permits using measurable criteria and to determine which of them offer the most attractive conditions in terms of ease of relocation and quality of life.

The main criteria used to assess conditions for digital nomads are the applicant’s minimum monthly income requirement, cost of living, level of safety, local residents’ level of English proficiency, and internet availability. Reference criteria include the average speed of mobile and fixed internet, which may become decisive factors when choosing a country.

The Passportivity Index is a composite indicator that combines World Bank macroeconomic data with manually collected data on visa requirements in each country.

We rely only on verified sources: international databases and official sources, such as the World Bank, to assess the state of the macroeconomy, safety and the level of digitalisation; or government websites, to collect visa requirements.

Complete ranking of countries offering Digital Nomad Visas and residence permits

№	Country	Total score	Region	Monthly income	Cost of living	Safety level	Internet access	Mobile/home Internet speed	English proficiency index
1	New Zealand	87,3	Oceania	610	$$$$	Very High	96	128/217	Native / Official Language
2	Dominica	85,3	Caribbean	4167	$$$	Very High	83	- /47	Native / Official Language
3	Malta	85,1	Europe	4109	$$$	High	92	125/187	Native / Official Language
4	Australia	84,8	Oceania	3300	$$$$	High	97	128/135	Native / Official Language
5	Malaysia	82,9	Asia	2000	$	High	98	139/161	High Proficiency
6	Grenada	81,0	Caribbean	3620	$$$	Very High	74	- /91	Native / Official Language
7	Hungary	80,8	Europe	3522	$$$	High	93	85/230	High Proficiency
8	Netherlands	78,7	Europe	1761	$$$$	High	97	163/218	Very High Proficiency
9	Norway	78,5	Europe	3495	$$$$	High	99	156/161	Very High Proficiency
10	Namibia	78,1	Africa	2000	$$	High	64	27/16	Native / Official Language
11	UAE	78,0	West Asia	3500	$$$	High	100	652/343	Low Proficiency
12	Slovenia	77,8	Europe	3757	$$$	High	90	139/122	High Proficiency
13	Antigua and Barbuda	77,4	Caribbean	4167	$$$	High	77	33/41	Native / Official Language
14	Romania	76,7	Europe	4344	$$	High	91	78/261	Very High Proficiency
15	Finland	76,4	Europe	1409	$$$$	High	93	134/157	Very High Proficiency
16	Spain	75,8	Europe	3244	$$$	High	95	81/255	Moderate Proficiency
17	Croatia	75,8	Europe	3868	$$$	High	83	115/97	Very High Proficiency
18	Montenegro	75,5	Europe	1585	$$	High	88	81/96	Moderate Proficiency
19	Portugal	75,4	Europe	4086	$$$	High	88	140/227	Very High Proficiency
20	Costa Rica	75,1	North America	3000	$$$	Very High	85	78/153	Moderate Proficiency
21	Argentina	74,1	South America	2500	$$$	Moderate	89	59/105	High Proficiency
22	Albania	73,6	Europe	957	$$	High	83	96/86	Moderate Proficiency
23	Barbados	73,6	Caribbean	4167	$$$$$	Very High	80	16/97	Native / Official Language
24	Latvia	73,5	Europe	4946	$$$	High	92	136/120	High Proficiency
25	Italy	72,5	Europe	3170	$$$	High	89	85/103	Moderate Proficiency
26	Georgia	72,0	Europe	2000	$	Moderate	81	156/44	Moderate Proficiency
27	Kazakhstan	71,9	Asia	3000	$	Moderate	93	94/82	Very Low Proficiency
28	Cyprus	71,9	Europe	4109	$$$	High	91	109/130	Moderate Proficiency
29	Greece	70,9	Europe	4109	$$$	High	86	129/80	High Proficiency
30	Germany	70,6	Europe	4725	$$$$	High	93	75/101	Very High Proficiency
31	France	69,7	Europe	2113	$$$$	High	88	139/332	Moderate Proficiency
32	Estonia	69,5	Europe	5283	$$$	High	92	143/93	High Proficiency
33	South Korea	68,5	Asia	5470	$$$	High	97	230/234	Moderate Proficiency
34	Moldova	67,2	Europe	1500	$$	Moderate	80	55/164	Moderate Proficiency
35	Brazil	67,0	South America	1500	$$$	Moderate	84	251/215	Low Proficiency
36	Türkiye	66,6	Middle East	3000	$$	Low	87	69/64	Low Proficiency
37	El Salvador	66,0	North America	1460	$$	High	67	42/91	Moderate Proficiency
38	Ecuador	65,9	South America	1380	$$	Moderate	77	39/139	Low Proficiency
39	Belize	65,8	North America	6250	$$$	High	72	71/48	Native / Official Language
40	Panama	64,6	North America	3000	$$$	High	68	30/192	Low Proficiency
41	Colombia	64,2	South America	1050	$$	Moderate	77	40/199	Low Proficiency
42	Japan	61,2	Asia	6104	$$$	Very High	87	63/219	Very Low Proficiency
43	Indonesia, Bali	58,4	Asia	5000	$	Moderate	72	49/42	Low Proficiency
44	Mexico	57,8	North America	4290	$$$	Moderate	81	41/91	Very Low Proficiency
45	Sri Lanka	57,2	Asia	2000	$	Moderate	51	42/32	Low Proficiency
46	Cayman Islands	57,0	Caribbean	8334	$$$$$	Very High	81	119/118	Native / Official Language
47	Iceland	54,2	Europe	8570	$$$$$	Very High	99	137/289	Very High Proficiency
48	Kenya	47,8	Africa	4584	$	Low	35	50/15	High Proficiency

Methodology

To compile the ranking of countries offering Digital Nomad Visas and residence permits, Passportivity’s experts used reliable data available as of the end of 2025.

Choice of sources

The main data sources for the ranking were laws and government websites from more than 40 jurisdictions, as well as public reports and databases of international organisations, including the World Bank.

Secondary sources were used only if they referred to up-to-date data from 2024—2025 or if official data were unavailable.

Data from before 2024 were rechecked for updates or excluded if they were no longer applicable. This approach ensures that the ranking reflects the conditions in place as of 2025.

Assessment criteria

To compile the ranking, Passportivity’s experts selected five key criteria that reflect the real experience of digital nomads when choosing a country to relocate to:

1. Minimum monthly income requirements for the applicant.
2. Cost of living.
3. Safety level.
4. Local residents’ level of English proficiency.
5. Internet availability.

To obtain comparable data, the indicators were processed using a transparent system of weighting and normalisation.

1. Minimum income requirements for the applicant

The main filter when choosing a country to relocate to is the entry threshold, or the applicant’s income requirement. Countries usually regulate:

• amount of monthly income required for the main applicant;
• conditions for family members to join the applicant;
• income basis — before tax or after tax;
• currency.

For the ranking, Passportivity’s specialists used the salary of a single applicant, and all currencies were converted into US dollars to ensure comparability. All data were taken from the official websites of migration authorities in more than 40 jurisdictions.

Assessment logic: the lower the value, the higher the score.

2. Cost of living

Based on Passportivity’s experts’ experience, digital nomads look for an opportunity to earn in a strong currency and spend in places where life is cheaper. To assess the cost of living, Purchasing Power Parity, or PPP, was used, an economic indicator that makes it possible to compare how many goods and services can be bought for the same amount of money in different countries.

Countries where the purchasing power of the dollar or euro is highest receive a high PPP score. The lower the coefficient, the cheaper goods and services are compared with the United States. The source of the cost-of-living data is the PPP metric.

Assessment logic: the lower the value, the higher the index score.

3. Internet availability

For a remote worker, stable internet is a basic condition for everyday life and work. This indicator reflects how realistic it is to work from a given country without constant disruptions and connectivity issues.

Passportivity’s experts considered the share of the population with internet access, which helps show how well the network covers the country as a whole rather than only tourist areas. Reference data on the average speed of fixed and mobile internet were also taken into account.

If, for example, 99% of the population uses the internet, this usually means that connectivity is stable and widely available across the country, rather than only in city centres or hotel lobbies. High internet speed and strong IT infrastructure indicators also suggest that a country is better suited to remote work.

Assessment logic: the higher the value, the higher the score.

4. Safety level

Relocating to another country is always associated with risk, so it is important for digital nomads to understand how well the rule of law functions in a country and how predictable the political environment is. Risks for the ranking were assessed on the basis of institutional data rather than crime reports.

The Political Stability and Absence of Violence Index shows how stable state institutions are in a country, how low the risk of internal conflict is, and how effectively law enforcement operates.

Assessment logic: the higher the value, the higher the score.

5. English proficiency of the local population

The ability to communicate at a pharmacy, in a shop or in a government office directly affects quality of life and the speed of adaptation for foreigners working remotely. Priority was given to countries whose populations have a sufficient level of English for everyday communication without an interpreter.

Assessment logic: the higher the value, the higher the score.

Calculation formula

The Passportivity Index, or Passportivity Score, is calculated using a weighted formula. The experts assigned the weights on the basis of surveys of digital nomads, giving priority to visa accessibility and cost of living.

Passportivity Score = 0.30(V) + 0.15(A) + 0.25(D) + 0.15(S) + 0.15(L)

Where:

30% — visa accessibility (V), reflecting the applicant’s income requirements;
15% — cost of living (A);
25% — internet availability (D);
15% — safety (S);
15% — English proficiency (L).

All data were normalised on a scale from 0 to 100 before the weighting coefficients were applied.

Sources

1. Ranking of countries by the number and share of internet users for 2024, World Bank.
2. English Proficiency Index for 2025, Education First, the world’s largest international education company.
3. Global Index of mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds for 2025, the Speedtest web service.
4. Statistics for 2025 from the SpeedGeo web portal, which assesses internet speed around the world.
5. Broadband internet speed ranking for 2024, based on data from analysts at the Worldwide Broadband Speed League.

Notes

The ranking has been prepared for educational and informational purposes. It does not constitute advertising or a recommendation regarding immigration decisions.

The calculations are based in part on open data from the World Bank and EF EPI; however, the World Bank and EF bear no responsibility for the interpretation of the data or the final conclusions.

The materials may be used as reference information, provided that the source and a link to the ranking are indicated. We hope that the data collected will serve as a useful guide when choosing a country for relocation.