Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy now all offer a dedicated digital nomad visa for non-EU remote workers, and on paper they look much alike. The differences that actually matter sit in the detail — minimum income, who you can work for, how you are taxed, and how long the permit lasts. This guide sets them side by side, at a general level and current as of 2026, so you can see where they diverge.
What these visas are for
A digital nomad visa lets a non-EU citizen live in the country while earning income from work performed remotely — usually for an employer or clients based outside the host country. It is aimed at salaried remote employees, freelancers and self-employed people whose income does not depend on the local job market.
All four countries share the same broad logic: you must show stable foreign-sourced income, valid health cover, a clean criminal record and somewhere to live. What changes from country to country is the threshold, the paperwork and the tax treatment. None of these schemes is a tourist arrangement — they create real tax residency and real obligations, so they deserve careful thought rather than a quick comparison of headline numbers.
Income and remote-work conditions
Every one of these visas sets a minimum income requirement, typically expressed as a multiple of the national minimum wage or as a fixed monthly figure. As a very general picture, Spain and Portugal tend to anchor their thresholds to a multiple of the local minimum wage, while Greece and Italy publish their own monthly or annual targets. These figures are adjusted regularly — rules change, so confirm the current amounts with a lawyer before you rely on them.
A few practical points tend to apply across the board:
- Income source: the work and clients should generally be outside the host country, though limited local income is sometimes tolerated within a cap.
- Family members: bringing a spouse or children usually raises the income you must prove, often by a set percentage per dependent.
- Proof: expect to show contracts, recent payslips or invoices, and bank statements covering several months.
- Employer letters: salaried applicants are often asked for confirmation that the employer permits remote work from abroad.
Employee versus freelancer
The structure of your work matters. Some programmes are written mainly with salaried remote employees in mind; others accommodate freelancers and the self-employed comfortably. If you invoice multiple clients, check that the specific visa you are targeting accepts that profile, as the supporting documents differ.
Tax angles
This is where the four countries diverge most, and where mistakes are costly. Once you spend enough time in a country in a given year — a threshold often discussed as roughly 183 days, though the exact test and counting rules vary — you usually become tax resident and may owe tax on income earned while living there.
Several of these countries have offered, or still offer, preferential tax regimes for new arrivals — reduced rates or partial exemptions for a fixed number of years. These incentives are frequently revised, narrowed or closed to new applicants, so any regime you read about may have changed by the time you apply. Treat favourable tax rates as a possibility to verify, never a guarantee.
Two issues deserve special attention:
- Double taxation: whether you are taxed twice on the same income depends on the tax treaty between your home country and the host country. Outcomes are very individual.
- Social security: where you pay contributions can differ from where you pay income tax, especially for the self-employed.
Because tax residency, treaties and incentive regimes interact in ways that depend on your nationality and circumstances, this is the area to model carefully before committing — ideally with a tax adviser in the destination country.
Duration and the path forward
Initial permits commonly run for one to two years, with renewals available if you still meet the conditions. Over time, continuous legal residence can count toward longer-term residence and, eventually, possible citizenship — but the qualifying periods and rules differ significantly between these four countries, and they change.
A useful way to compare duration is to look beyond the first card:
- Initial term: how long the first permit lasts before renewal.
- Renewal: how often you must renew and what you must re-prove.
- Long-term residence: how many years of residence open the door to permanent status.
- Time abroad: how much travel outside the country is allowed without breaking continuity.
If your aim is simply a year or two abroad, the initial term matters most. If you are thinking about settling, the renewal and long-term pathway should weigh more heavily in your choice.
How to choose between them
There is no single best option — the right country depends on your income level, your work structure, your family situation and your long-term plans. A freelancer with modest but steady invoices may find one country's threshold comfortable and another's out of reach. Someone chasing a favourable tax regime needs to confirm it still exists and that they qualify. Someone planning to put down roots should look hardest at the route to permanent residence.
As a general framing: compare the income thresholds against your real earnings, check that your work profile — employee or freelancer — is clearly accepted, model the tax outcome including your home-country treaty, and look at the full duration pathway rather than the first permit alone.
A note before you decide
This guide gives general, current-as-of-2026 information only and is not legal or tax advice. Income thresholds, tax regimes, processing rules and timelines in Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy change often and apply differently to each person. Before you apply or move, speak to a qualified immigration lawyer — and, where tax is involved, a tax adviser — in the country you are considering, so that your plan rests on the rules as they stand for your own situation.