Estonia Immigration News: The long awaited “Digital Nomad Visa” of Estonia will be available for foreigners from August 2020. The parliament of Estonia voted in early June to amend immigration laws and launch a new digital nomad visa. Finally, the government of Estonia has officially announced the launch of new visa, it would be open for application from next month. As Estonia is a member of Schengen zone so Digital Nomad visa holders can go to other schengen countries without need of any visa.
Nearly 1800 foreigners would be able to enter Estonia with the new visa every year. The visa holders can work either for a foreign employer or freelancer. The target group of new digital nomad is e-residency holders who currently need to obtain a tourist visa or other type of visa when they want to enter Estonia to manage their remote business. The new digital nomad visa would allow e-residents to enter Estonia and work to support their remote business. Besides e-residency holders, other people can also apply for digital nomad visa without obtaining e-residency. [Read about: Estonia e-residency]
Length of Digital Nomad visa:
Foreigners can get digital nomad visa for a short period of maximum up to 90 days and also for long period maximum up to 1 year.
Eligible countries:
Due to current pandemic, the new digital nomad visa is available for applicants who are currently living in Schengen countries, European union countries and United Kingdom. Later, it will be open for other countries as well. Applicants are allowed to submit application from abroad as well as inside Estonia. Tourist can enter Estonia and then apply for digital nomad visa without exit.
Eligibility:
Applicants must be under their home country employment contract, hold shares in or provide services primarily to foreign companies or hold shares in a company registered in Estonia to qualify for this visa. Freelancers must have mostly foreign-based clients to qualify for this visa, though the bill does not expound on this requirement.
Local sponsorship:
The application must be sponsored by an authorized intermediary or undergo an ‘alternative assessment’. Estonian authorities have not yet published a list of authorized intermediaries, instructions on how to obtain authorized status, nor practical instructions on alternative assessment (e.g., for freelancers). The intermediary must fulfill typical immigration sponsorship obligations such as guaranteeing the visa holder’s accommodation, bearing costs of stay, departure and/or deportation