Options to relocate to Europe for "digital nomads"

[squirtalot]

I will rate these options from Cheap to Not-so-Cheap.

But firstly let me tell you about how wonderful life is in Europe:
access to so many beautiful countries just a drive/train ride/plane away
quality of life
environment that promotes work life balance. Europeans know how to enjoy their lives, understanding that all work and no play is not a great way to live life
art & oh so much culture!
sophistication - I hadn't an ounce of sophistication when I arrived in Europe, but slowly, by integrating with the locals, I found my feet, my place and heaps of sophistication. I learnt about food, wine, the "bads" pronounced "baads", local festivities and traditions and oh so many things that have opened my eyes to the world

Now let's talk about the countries that make it easy for us to relocate there as freelancers:
1) Estonia
The first country to set up a digital nomad visa targeted at people who are independent of location and are earning from a country outside of estonia

2) Spain
Spain has a freelance visa option as well as a student option for those who want to learn spanish in spain. The low cost of living is not terribly high so the minimum threshold earnings is not unachievable

3) Portugal
Portugal has what is known as a passive income visa - again this can be used by freelancers. Again, low cost of living.

4) France
Aah France. France has a visa called "passeport talent - profession artistique et culturelle" which is a visa for freelance "artists". The most important thing they look for is that you earn 70% of the minimum wage. This visa/permit may be easier to obtain if you are already in France ON A LONG TERM VISA.

5) DEUTSCHLAND!!!!
My beloved Germany. God there is so much conflicting information about this on the internet. Different rules apply to different nationalities. If you are american, canadian, australian, kiwi and some other 1st world national its even simpler. The visa/permit is called Freiberuflich or Freelancer. The germans being german are very thorough so you will need to show a rock solid business plan with a revenue forecast.
For those who are already earning, its great because you can show previous earnings. The main thing with Germany, France, Holland and Switzerland is to show the authorities that there is a "regional economic interest" in your service i.e. local clients. And this requires letters of intent from said local clients despite however much you may make.

6) Holland
Similar process to Germany

7) Switzerland
On the face of it Switzerland doesn't seem to have any interest in foreign freelancers, but if you poke around on the internet you will find various blogs and stories about people who managed to become
freelancers in Switzerland

All of this if off of the top of my head. If you know of other EU countries that are easy to relocate to as freelancers then please share

 

[GoddessV]

Wow! Very cool. I dream about moving back to Europe and working as a camgirl. Do any of these countries have "decency" laws about camming/making porn?

 

[squirtalot]

Wow! Very cool. I dream about moving back to Europe and working as a camgirl. Do any of these countries have "decency" laws about camming/making porn?

Not to my knowledge. I would venture to say that the Germanic countries wouldn't (prostitution is totally legal in Germany so they wouldn't make a problem about porn) though I think it's more advisable to put it across as a more humanitarian business, for e.g., connecting with people who are lonely/isolated, helping with mental health, and the positive socio-economic benefits of what we do.

 

[GoddessV]

Not to my knowledge. I would venture to say that the Germanic countries wouldn't (prostitution is totally legal in Germany so they wouldn't make a problem about porn) though I think it's more advisable to put it across as a more humanitarian business, for e.g., connecting with people who are lonely/isolated, helping with mental health, and the positive socio-economic benefits of what we do.

Thanks for the insight, that makes sense. I worked as a fashion model and when travelling to shoot in conservative countries, my agent always put different titles as my occupation. I did mission work for years in South America and we could not put that on our visas either.

Makes sense to not proudly go through customs as a porn star or camgirl lol.

Am I understanding that you are currently a digital nomad? This is very cool

 

[squirtalot]

Makes sense to not proudly go through customs as a porn star or camgirl lol.

Hahaha though in fairness I think the customs guys would ask for your number lol. However I doubt that the authorities would put that on your visa anyway.

Am I understanding that you are currently a digital nomad? This is very cool

Well I'm in the process of doing it which is why I've been doing all this research.

 

[GoddessV]

Good luck in your quest! What country have you decided on?
My friend just spent 2 years in Germany and I have fallen in love with her stories about it. Another friend spent several years in Spain and it seems heavenly.
I have lived in Paris and London and visited many EU countries. I will have a hard time picking as so many smaller countries have an enticing lifestyle and interesting culture.

 

[squirtalot]

Good luck in your quest! What country have you decided on?
My friend just spent 2 years in Germany and I have fallen in love with her stories about it. Another friend spent several years in Spain and it seems heavenly.
I have lived in Paris and London and visited many EU countries. I will have a hard time picking as so many smaller countries have an enticing lifestyle and interesting culture.

Oh its Germany. After living there I've developed the rather unfortunate habit of setting Germany as the bar to which all things are compared and I often find myself saying "Well, in Germany,...."

I have lived in Paris and London and visited many EU countries. I will have a hard time picking as so many smaller countries have an enticing lifestyle and interesting culture.

Well its easier once you're there - you can base yourself in one location and then poke around and see what suits you

 

[Diana_Devil]

for switzerland you have wrong infos. i live here . They have a simple rule : You are welcome if you make 6000 -7000 swiss francs per month ( aka around 10 000 dollars) . You do not need declare yourself as a freelancer , you only have to tell cam model ( webcam girl ) in the imigration office and give an 6 months report of your income that shows up that you do more than 7000 CHF per month .
the only problem is to find accomodation because nobody want to rent you a home and without a home and health insurance in the Swiss you can not apply for stay here.

Portugal its more easy to achive because portuguese people are more expats friendly. As for the legal proces yes you can get an permanent residence but also you hava to show that you are already have an legal bussiness in your country that produce you enough money allow you to stay in Portugal

 

[squirtalot]

for switzerland you have wrong infos. i live here . They have a simple rule : You are welcome if you make 6000 -7000 swiss francs per month ( aka around 10 000 dollars) . You do not need declare yourself as a freelancer , you only have to tell cam model ( webcam girl ) in the imigration office and give an 6 months report of your income that shows up that you do more than 7000 CHF per month .
the only problem is to find accomodation because nobody want to rent you a home and without a home and health insurance in the Swiss you can not apply for stay here.

You certainly make valid points.
For Switzerland I've gone by what I've read by other expats on the internet especially this blog https://gigigriffis.com/how-i-got-swiss-residency/ (for whatever reason the page isn't available but I'll summarise what was written):

She said that she's an American who travelled to switzerland, stayed with a friend (so she had proof of accommodation) and she was writing a book about switzerland (which proved why the location was important). She visited her local government office and they told her that she needed to prove earnings of $100/day which she did and she got her residence permit 3 months later. She went on to say that this is probably reviewed on a case-by-case basis which is why she got her permit in the first place. She ended the blog by saying that after living in switzerland for a year, she went to renew her permit and it was done within a week's time.

So, yes, its tricky - for Switzerland

 

[Diana_Devil]

You certainly make valid points.
For Switzerland I've gone by what I've read by other expats on the internet especially this blog https://gigigriffis.com/how-i-got-swiss-residency/ (for whatever reason the page isn't available but I'll summarise what was written):

She said that she's an American who travelled to switzerland, stayed with a friend (so she had proof of accommodation) and she was writing a book about switzerland (which proved why the location was important). She visited her local government office and they told her that she needed to prove earnings of $100/day which she did and she got her residence permit 3 months later. She went on to say that this is probably reviewed on a case-by-case basis which is why she got her permit in the first place. She ended the blog by saying that after living in switzerland for a year, she went to renew her permit and it was done within a week's time.

So, yes, its tricky - for Switzerland

yes i know its tricky i live here for 5 years by now . She said 100 dollars but its wrong . You must make 100 dollars netto income plus another 50 at least for taxes . Living here and going in all necesary paper work i tell you you need at least 200 dollars per day . And yes is by case of case basis . But first you need residence permanently one, then you need to submit for the health insurance and then go to the City Hall and apply for Arbaitbewillingung where you have to show up you have the necesary money to live here. After that in about 2 weeks -3 months depend of the case you recive your lets say Visa ( i recive it in 6 months for 2 years ) . Visa its of many types L ( for 3, 6 or 1 year ) and B ( for 2, 3 or 5 years ) . after your visa expires then you have to reapply with the same documents as first ( accomodation , health insurance and income) .
The health insurance its very easy to make , the main problem its the accomodation ( because they ask for Visa when you rent and paper from the Debts office and work contact , and the 99 % will not rent without this ) Then the income to show to the authorities.
Anyway Swiss i will not recomand it as a permanent location because its bad ass expensive. You can live much better in Portugal with way less money.

As for Germany i lived there also 5 years , but i got fisrt an 3 months Visa for working in PUF ( local borthels ) and after 1 month i did all possible to rent something after that i declared i do nails from home and i went by giving my money from the sex work in the nail job as income to be taxable so i stayed like this 5 years in germany even after i quited the sex work 6 months later , and done only webcam work but declared the money as income from my home based nail studio. ( around 1800 euros per month)

When i will move to Portugal and stablish there and see how all law works i will make an post here to help you girls to come live there legally and in peace. Hopefully the next year i will succed This is one of my goal in the next years to help as many cam workers as possible to live safely and legally and peacfully. We are all human and we deserve better.

 

[mutantdonut]

Not a model, just a regular guy, but i've dreamt about being a digital nomad in Europe as i would love to experience the idea. I've been thinking about some sort of online site where i can generate income of some sort albeit the many challenges there are - especially now.

I understand much of EU has closed off their borders to Americans right now - with me being from the USA - due to the COVID pandemic. I don't know if that's changed as i haven't kept up with that. I also wonder what are the challenges/roadblocks to receive a visa in specific countries, generally speaking.

Anyhow, thanks for this insight!

 

[squirtalot]

Not a model, just a regular guy, but i've dreamt about being a digital nomad in Europe as i would love to experience the idea. I've been thinking about some sort of online site where i can generate income of some sort albeit the many challenges there are - especially now.

I understand much of EU has closed off their borders to Americans right now - with me being from the USA - due to the COVID pandemic. I don't know if that's changed as i haven't kept up with that. I also wonder what are the challenges/roadblocks to receive a visa in specific countries, generally speaking.

Anyhow, thanks for this insight!

Yes unfortunately they are only processing limited long stay and exceptional short stay visas for now. I think the easiest way is to get a language course visa / job seeker visa (this is country specific), travel to your country of choice and work it out from there.

For certain countries they require you to prove regional interest and this can be done better if you're there and networking.

 

[CheeseMoon]

I don't know if this loophole of sort still exists, but it used to be you could apply for an Irish citizenship outright if one of your grandparents were/are an Irish citizen. I don't know any details other than this, and it's probably only relevant for US citizens anyway.

A peripheral friend of mine originally from the US became an Irish and by extension an EU/EEA citizen this way. It's probably common knowledge already, but if you're a citizen of an EU or EEA country you have freedom of movement within the EU/EEA area (fine print applies!).

 

[LydiaFrost]

Wow! Very cool. I dream about moving back to Europe and working as a camgirl. Do any of these countries have "decency" laws about camming/making porn?

No there aren't any here ! (I'm german and live in germany). The only thing is, that if you plan on doing full service work, you have to register and have mandatory health check ups etc and carry an ID card that labels you a full service worker when you are out and about working.
But as long as you only do camming, porn, amateur porn or even dominatrix work without sexual intercourse and meet physical clients, you are fine.

 

[Diana_Devil]

I don't know if this loophole of sort still exists, but it used to be you could apply for an Irish citizenship outright if one of your grandparents were/are an Irish citizen. I don't know any details other than this, and it's probably only relevant for US citizens anyway.

A peripheral friend of mine originally from the US became an Irish and by extension an EU/EEA citizen this way. It's probably common knowledge already, but if you're a citizen of an EU or EEA country you have freedom of movement within the EU/EEA area (fine print applies!).

yes this loophole its valid for any citizen in any country .
as for freedom of movement you have a total freedom of movement if you are an EU citizen only in thee EU space only. For all other countrys conditions apply , even for an EU citizen when want to travel in an Europe NON EU country.