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Your passport

The rules change with your passport. Pick yours.

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US · United States

22 programmes

European digital nomad visas for US citizens

US citizens can enter the Schengen area visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180, but staying longer requires a visa issued by the destination's consulate before travel. The recurring quirks for Americans: FBI background checks (typically ~3 weeks via the channeller route), and US-specific tax interactions. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and totalisation agreements both matter and vary by destination country.

16–28 weeks (4–7 months) door-to-doorSchengen-free for short stays (90 in 180)FBI police checks · US Sec. of State apostille

Open the American profile →

UK · United Kingdom

22 programmes

European digital nomad visas for UK citizens

Post-Brexit, UK citizens lost EU freedom of movement but retained Schengen visa-free access for short stays (90 in 180). Long-term moves now go through the destination's normal third-country visa route. The recurring quirks for Britons: the ACRO certificate (faster than the US FBI process, usually ~10 business days), and UK tax residence governed by the Statutory Residence Test rather than anything FEIE-shaped.

12–22 weeks (3–6 months) door-to-doorPost-Brexit third-country statusACRO police checks · FCDO Legalisation Office apostille

Open the British profile →

ZA · South Africa

22 programmes

European digital nomad visas for South African citizens

South African passport holders need a Schengen visa for any entry to the area, including the short visits where most applicants would otherwise consider applying. That means residence visas must be issued in South Africa before travel, never on arrival. The document workhorses are SAPS police clearance and DIRCO apostille; both have real backlogs and need to be started early. Few European countries have totalisation agreements with South Africa, adding social-security friction. This page is built for South Africans because no other aggregator does it well.

20–36 weeks (5–9 months) door-to-doorSchengen visa required for entrySAPS police checks · DIRCO apostille (backlogs)

Open the South African profile →

CA · Canada

22 programmes

European digital nomad visas for Canadian citizens

Canadians enter the Schengen area visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180, but a longer stay needs a residence visa issued by the destination's consulate before you travel. Two things shape the Canadian paperwork: the RCMP fingerprint-based criminal record check, and, since Canada joined the Hague Apostille Convention in January 2024, documents that are now apostilled rather than run through the old consular-legalisation chain, which is a genuine time saving. Canadian tax is residence-based, so the planning question is about ceasing residency cleanly, not annual citizenship filing.

14–24 weeks (3.5–6 months) door-to-doorSchengen-free for short stays (90 in 180)RCMP police checks · apostille since Jan 2024

Open the Canadian profile →

AU · Australia

22 programmes

European digital nomad visas for Australian citizens

Australians get Schengen visa-free entry for 90 days in any 180, but anything longer is a residence visa issued by the destination's consulate before you fly. The Australian paperwork hinges on the AFP National Police Check and DFAT apostilles. Australia is a long-standing Apostille Convention member, so legalisation is straightforward. Tax is the part worth planning early: Australia taxes on residency, and the residency tests plus capital-gains rules on departure can bite if you don't structure the move.

14–24 weeks (3.5–6 months) door-to-doorSchengen-free for short stays (90 in 180)AFP police checks · DFAT apostille

Open the Australian profile →

CN · China

22 programmes

European digital nomad visas for Chinese citizens

The European side is more routine than most guides suggest. Schengen refusal rates for Chinese applicants are among the lowest in the world, and since November 2023 one apostille has replaced the old consular legalisation chain. The hard part is at the other end. Your hukou, your family and your economic ties can keep you a Chinese tax resident on worldwide income long after you have moved, and the annual foreign-exchange quota decides how much of your money can legally follow you.

16–28 weeks (4–7 months) door-to-doorSchengen visa required for every entryNotarial certificate + MFA or provincial FAO apostille

Open the Chinese profile →

IN · India

22 programmes

European digital nomad visas for Indian citizens

India is a visa-required nationality for Schengen, so there is no visit-first-decide-later route: the national visa has to be in the passport before you board. India joined the Apostille Convention in 2005, so documents get an MEA apostille rather than a legalisation chain. The friction is elsewhere: jurisdiction-locked VFS and BLS appointments, euro-denominated income thresholds that ignore what you earn in rupees, and a tax year ending 31 March while Europe's ends 31 December.

18–32 weeks (4.5–8 months) door-to-doorSchengen visa required for every entry (Annex I)MEA apostille, via an outsourced agency only

Open the Indian profile →

BR · Brazil

22 programmes

European digital nomad visas for Brazilian citizens

Brazilian passport holders enter the Schengen area visa-free for 90 days in any 180, which puts them closer to the American position than the South African one and opens in-country routes that visa-required applicants cannot use. The paperwork is the easy part: the federal police certificate is free and instant, and cartórios apostille documents over the counter. The hard part is money. Portugal's D9 wants roughly R$21,300 a month, around five to six times the average Brazilian income.

12–22 weeks (3–6 months) door-to-doorSchengen-free for short stays (90 in 180)Free instant PF certificate, same-day cartório apostille

Open the Brazilian profile →

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