When Lamin Ngobeh, a high-school teacher at the Freire Charter School in Wilmington, Del., saw a social media post last month about working remotely in Barbados for 12 months, his interest was piqued.
“My school probably won’t open for in-person classes at least until February 2021, and I want to be in a country that’s safer —- health wise — and also enjoy the quality of life,” he said of the reasons for considering a temporary relocation. “I reached out to my school leaders and they were very supportive of my decision.”
When it announced its 12-month Welcome Stamp program in mid-July, Barbados became one of the first of several countries, in regions from the Caribbean to Eastern Europe, to create programs for remote workers. The programs employ either special visas or expand existing ones to entice workers to temporarily relocate. Other countries offering similar visas currently include Estonia, Georgia and Bermuda.
A substantial drop in these countries’ tourism numbers is a key reason for the new programs.
“Tourism is the lifeline of the country,” said Eusi Skeete, the U.S. director of tourism for Barbados. Tourism accounted for 14 percent of the country’s annual gross domestic product in 2019, according to data published by the Central Bank of Barbados, and had a record number of international arrivals of more than 712,000. But in 2020, the number of visitors during the months of April, May and June were near zero.
Mr. Skeete said that the country’s new remote worker visa program will help with those numbers. “A 12-month period will allow visitors to experience the country in a holistic way,” he said.
More than 1,000 applications from around the world were submitted within the first week, the country said, with the majority of responses from the United States, Canada, and Britain.
Mr. Ngobeh’s application was approved on Monday. He plans to move mid-September.
Catering to the Digital Nomad
Even before the pandemic, the number of remote workers worldwide was growing: Research from the consulting firm MBO Partners found that the number of independent workers in the United States, which includes consultants, freelancers and temporary workers, was around 41 million in 2019. More than 7.3 million workers in the United States described themselves in 2019 as “digital nomads”: those who chose to embrace a location-independent lifestyle that allowed them to travel and work remotely.
David Cassar, MBO Partners’ chief operations officer, notes that the international leverage of freelancers is increasing considerably. “We absolutely expect interest in becoming a digital nomad to spike among independent workers in the coming years. Covid-19 has accelerated the adoption of widespread remote work, and independent workers will be among the first to take advantage of a location-independent, technology-enabled lifestyle,” he said.
Many workers are drawn to the lifestyle of digital nomads because of a lower cost of living.
Maggie Turansky, whose hometown is Phoenix, currently lives in the Republic of Georgia. She runs a website, The World Was Here First, with her partner, and rents a brand-new apartment in Tbilisi for about $500 a month. They stayed there during the pandemic.
“I can’t think of any other major city in a Western country that would be comparable,” she said. “The utilities on top of that rarely go above $50 a month, and the Wi-Fi is great. Georgia is appealing and there’s so much to see and do, and we kind of fell in love with it.”
Mr. Ngobeh noted that he has found decent two- to four- bedroom apartments that rent from $500 to $1,500 a month.
Amanda Kolbye, another United States citizen, currently works from Malaysia as an online business coach She has enjoyed living and working overseas for the past two years, living in six countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Qatar and Taiwan.
“I’m not planning to return to the U.S. for the foreseeable future,” Ms. Kolbye said. “I’m considering running my business in another country, like Estonia or Barbados or Bermuda that will allow me to be closer to home.”
Criteria for extended stays
Some criteria for international visitors who seek these extended stays are similar.
While all countries require proof of health insurance and negative virus tests (either pre-arrival, upon arrival, or both), some require an application fee and proof of a monthly salary, complete with bank statements.
For Barbados, prospective remote workers need to fill out an online application form and submit photos, they also need to supply proof of employment and an income declaration of at least $50,000 annually during the period that they are on the island, An application fee of $2,000 per person is only payable after he or she is approved; families pay a fee of $3,000, irrespective of the number of members in their household.
Bermuda’s Residency Certificate Policy, which was announced Aug. 1, has an application fee of $263.
Edward David Burt, the premier of Bermuda, said that the certificate did not require any change in law (the country has issued residential certificates before), but rather an expansion of it. “This will certainly help with our tourism industry,” he said. “You can have either 52 weeklong tours, or one 52-weeklong tour — the bottom line is the same: that it will support our economy.”
In 2019, Bermuda reported $419 million in leisure tourism revenue and more than 808,000 visitors — the most in the country’s history. Not surprisingly, the pandemic has depressed these numbers. In the first quarter of 2020, Bermuda’s tourism spending was $19.8 million compared to $32 million the previous year, and leisure air arrivals fell by nearly 44 percent.
“Tourists during the months of April, May and June were nearly zero,” said Glenn Jones, the interim chief executive officer of the Bermuda Tourism Authority. “I can tell you that we live on air arrivals. In July, our airlift capacity — the number of commercial airline seats flying to the island — was just 10 percent of what it was last July. August will be just 20 percent.”
Within days of announcing its residential certificate program, Bermuda received 69 applications from around the world.
Unlike Barbados, Bermuda does not require a minimum monthly income for extended stay remote workers.
Estonia’s new digital nomad visa, which began Aug. 1 and is an extension of its e-Residency program, will allow visitors to stay in the country legally and work remotely for their employer for up to 12 months. The application fee is $125, and applicants need to demonstrate proof of a base salary of at least $4,150 per month. But Americans will need to be patient as they are currently not allowed to enter Estonia, which follows European Union regulations, for its digital nomad visa program.
The Coronavirus Outbreak ›
Frequently Asked Questions
Updated August 17, 2020
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Why does standing six feet away from others help?
- The coronavirus spreads primarily through droplets from your mouth and nose, especially when you cough or sneeze. The C.D.C., one of the organizations using that measure, bases its recommendation of six feet on the idea that most large droplets that people expel when they cough or sneeze will fall to the ground within six feet. But six feet has never been a magic number that guarantees complete protection. Sneezes, for instance, can launch droplets a lot farther than six feet, according to a recent study. It's a rule of thumb: You should be safest standing six feet apart outside, especially when it's windy. But keep a mask on at all times, even when you think you’re far enough apart.
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I have antibodies. Am I now immune?
- As of right now, that seems likely, for at least several months. There have been frightening accounts of people suffering what seems to be a second bout of Covid-19. But experts say these patients may have a drawn-out course of infection, with the virus taking a slow toll weeks to months after initial exposure. People infected with the coronavirus typically produce immune molecules called antibodies, which are protective proteins made in response to an infection. These antibodies may last in the body only two to three months, which may seem worrisome, but that’s perfectly normal after an acute infection subsides, said Dr. Michael Mina, an immunologist at Harvard University. It may be possible to get the coronavirus again, but it’s highly unlikely that it would be possible in a short window of time from initial infection or make people sicker the second time.
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I’m a small-business owner. Can I get relief?
- The stimulus bills enacted in March offer help for the millions of American small businesses. Those eligible for aid are businesses and nonprofit organizations with fewer than 500 workers, including sole proprietorships, independent contractors and freelancers. Some larger companies in some industries are also eligible. The help being offered, which is being managed by the Small Business Administration, includes the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. But lots of folks have not yet seen payouts. Even those who have received help are confused: The rules are draconian, and some are stuck sitting on money they don’t know how to use. Many small-business owners are getting less than they expected or not hearing anything at all.
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What are my rights if I am worried about going back to work?
- Employers have to provide a safe workplace with policies that protect everyone equally. And if one of your co-workers tests positive for the coronavirus, the C.D.C. has said that employers should tell their employees -- without giving you the sick employee’s name -- that they may have been exposed to the virus.
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What is school going to look like in September?
- It is unlikely that many schools will return to a normal schedule this fall, requiring the grind of online learning, makeshift child care and stunted workdays to continue. California’s two largest public school districts — Los Angeles and San Diego — said on July 13, that instruction will be remote-only in the fall, citing concerns that surging coronavirus infections in their areas pose too dire a risk for students and teachers. Together, the two districts enroll some 825,000 students. They are the largest in the country so far to abandon plans for even a partial physical return to classrooms when they reopen in August. For other districts, the solution won’t be an all-or-nothing approach. Many systems, including the nation’s largest, New York City, are devising hybrid plans that involve spending some days in classrooms and other days online. There’s no national policy on this yet, so check with your municipal school system regularly to see what is happening in your community.
“If you see the countries offering remote worker visas, they are the ones highly dependent on tourism,” said Ott Vatter, the managing director of eResidency in Estonia. “While Estonia is not that dependent on the tourism sector, people are realizing the potential and the need for this type of offering; after Covid, the need accelerated.”
Tourism accounted for around 8 percent of the national G.D.P. for Estonia in 2019; and the Ministry of Internal Affairs expects at least a 50 percent reduction in tourism revenue in 2020 compared to 2019.
Georgia’s program, called “Remotely from Georgia,” allows workers to stay and work there for up to six months. Like Bermuda, Georgia currently does not require that applying workers show a monthly minimum income; applicants however need to make the case that they have sufficient means to support their lifestyles.
Diana Zhgenti, the Consul General of Georgia in New York, says that while there are no such financial restrictions for remote workers, the program is only available to citizens of 95 countries that are allowed to travel there visa-free. Long-term business workers will be required to quarantine for a period of 14 days upon arrival at their expense.
It may not be for everyone
Neville Mehra, hailing from Washington, D.C., left his last corporate job in 2017 and has since done remote digital strategy work through his company, Nampora. He currently lives and works in Valencia, Spain, though he has worked in more than 50 countries, including Georgia, and plans to return there with the new “Remotely from Georgia” program.
“Over time, freelance digital nomads have started to ask what’s the best quality of life, instead of ‘where are the jobs’?” he said. “This is not about moving to a country and taking a job away from a local, but about spending locally at a higher level with a stronger currency.”
But while working remotely may be attractive to those who are able do their work with a laptop and a zippy internet connection, it may not be as easy for all professionals.
Mr. Cassar also notes that living and working remotely in another country will carry some risks. “If I’m traveling across the country, even as a company employee, workers’ comp may not cover me,” he said. “If I am classified as an independent worker in the U.S., having that freelancer status of ‘LLC’ may not be recognized in other countries.”
Language can also be a barrier. Ketevan Buadze, who co-founded the BSH law firm in Georgia that works with immigrants and remote workers, says that the country is extremely friendly to noncitizens, but noted that more “young people speak English, not so much the older folks.”
Those with children could have additional headaches. Families who plan on schooling their children from another country remotely may experience issues with time-zone differences. Or those who would like to enroll their children in local schools may face limitations: Bermuda and Estonia have restrictions on what types of schools are open to enrollment of foreign children. “International families cannot access public schools, but the private school system,” said Mr. Burt, the Bermuda premier. Estonia offers a few schooling options for international students including the Tallinn European School and the International School of Estonia (there are tuition fees for each).
But in the end, the tipping point to temporarily relocate to a different country may just come down to safety.
Sadie Millard, a New York City resident who has been in Bermuda since the pandemic started, said she plans to apply for the remote worker visa since her broker dealer firm remains closed. “There have been about 100 cases here in total,” she said, “and although it is as expensive here as in New York City, I feel a lot safer. The only thing I’ve had to adjust to is driving on the other side of the road.”
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