For the past 18 months, marketing expert Angela Wong has criss-crossed south-east Asia working from Airbnbs, hotels and beaches — so in theory, new digital nomad visas from a region famous for warm weather and cheap living costs should be a boon.
In May, Thailand extended visas for self-employed remote workers from 60 days to five years, with each stay limited to 180 days, also allowing visa holders to bring spouses and children. Indonesia has offered a one-year temporary residence permit for remote workers. The Philippines has promised to introduce a digital nomad visa this year.
But for those able to rock up on a tourist visa, formal applications were not worth the effort, Wong said. “Why go through an application process that requires forms, evidence of employment, bank statements that take time to complete and months to approve when I could be on my next flight to Bangkok tomorrow morning?” she said.
Wong’s experience highlights the difficulties faced by countries seeking to take advantage of the uptick in people wanting to work remotely. Digital nomads should boost local economies with their spending, but many stay for short periods of time. Governments are keen to entice skilled foreign workers to stay — and spend — for longer.
While Italy, Portugal, Estonia, Greece, Malta and Spain all offer digital nomad visas, south-east Asia, a popular tourist destination long attractive to budget travellers, has lagged behind, said Brittany Loeffler, co-founder of Nomads Embassy, an online organisation promoting and assisting aspiring digital nomads.
“The region has fairly challenging approval systems compared to countries in Europe,” she said. “South-east Asian governments have been picky, processing times are long and things like tax rules are unclear or change suddenly.” Precise data on the uptake of digital nomad schemes is scarce as governments do not consistently publish numbers, she added.
Indonesia’s E33G remote worker visa allows an individual to work for one year and bring family members. Under normal business or social visas, travellers could stay for up to six months in total, assuming they leave and re-enter every two months.
Bas de Jong, an Indonesia-based founding partner for law firm PNB, said most digital nomads interested in the popular holiday destination of Bali opted for a single-entry business or tourist visa, and then did a visa run every two months to reset the clock.
“We have had some requests, [but it is] not overwhelming. The main struggling point for most [with the E33G visa] is the annual salary requirement of $60,000.”
Thailand’s new relaxed rules are expected to be similar to the six-month, multiple-entry visa, whose requirements include $5,500 in a bank account and reserved accommodation.
Nikorndej Balankura, director-general of Thailand’s information department and foreign ministry spokesperson, said adapting the visas would facilitate economic development and promote tourism. The government added that other measures, such as an e-visa system and the establishment of a visa policy committee, would improve efficiency.
But Sutharm Valaisathien, a Bangkok-based senior partner at international law firm ILCT, said that they had not seen much demand. Thailand wants “to attract more foreign experts in tech, which Thailand is missing”, he added.
While Malaysia launched the Rantau Nomad Pass in 2022, the rules have been stringently applied. “The application has to be really strong and they specifically want people in IT and digital services,” said Sarah Huang, a partner at Peter Huang & Richard in Malaysia.
Malaysia Digital Economy Corp, a government agency, said it expanded the eligibility criteria in June from tech and digital professionals to include fields such as legal counsel, technical writers, business development managers, public relations professionals and accountants. The minimum income requirement for these non-digital talents is $60,000 per year.
MDEC said the Nomad Pass had received 3,218 applications, of which 1,506 were approved. The top five countries of origin were Russia, Pakistan, the UK, Japan and Australia.
“This move enhances the accessibility of the DE Rantau Nomad Pass to a broader range of professionals, putting Malaysia on par with other countries that offer digital nomad visas,” the agency said.
The governments of Indonesia and the Philippines did not respond to requests for comment.
Faustine Schricke, who has been living and working in Bali for 14 years, said Indonesia’s government had struggled to find a proper solution for people wanting to work remotely. “You still see a lot of visa runs as a lot of the rules are confusing,” she said. Many Russians arrived in the wake of the Ukraine invasion, most on tourist visas.
Ee Ming Toh, a 32-year-old Singaporean freelancer, became a digital nomad after facing high rental prices in the city-state. While Singapore is her base, she has worked in Malaysia and Vietnam this year and intends to head to Cambodia, Thailand, Japan and Nepal in the next few months.
“This arrangement works best for me,” she said, complaining of the hassle of “more complicated visas”.
Wong, the marketing expert, holds a similar view. “What digital nomads really want is a visa that is valid for six to 12 months and is effectively a long-term tourist visa. They are happy to pay a [reasonable] fee . . . and complete a simple application form.
“The minute you have to start providing proof of income, background checks and the like — forget it.”