Best Digital Nomad Visas for Tech Workers in Europe
If you want a tech career in Europe as a non-EU national, this newsletter is for you
This month I have 2 Indian customers in my coaching program.
The nr.1 limiting factor to their success in Europe?
Work and residency permits.
You can be physically in Europe, working with a valid visa... But if that is tied to your employer, compared to someone with a valid Permanent Residency (PR), you’re playing on hard mode.
Your highest priority — to be balanced out with other important priorities, of course — should be: being on a path to PR while you’re living in Europe.
There’s many ways to get there, and I’ll expand on those in the future. But a simple and effective way is:
⭐️ Remote Job + Digital Nomad Visa ⭐️
Land a remote job that allows you to work in Europe
Apply for a Digital Nomad (DN) Visa
Start your path to PR
IMPORTANT: not all DN Visas lead to PR. Which is why you should strongly prioritise getting a DN Visa in a country which does.
The best 4 countries I’ve identified for this purpose:
🔥 Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece 🔥
My favorite is Greece 🇬🇷 — it has the lowest taxes among these 4, while still offering a comparable lifestyle to the other 3 (better or worse depending on your taste).
That said: easiness of access and bureaucracy also matter. It might be worth applying to all 4 countries to maximise your chances.
Countries I don’t recommend:
Am I missing something?
This is my ranked top 4:
🇬🇷 Greece
🇪🇸 Spain
🇵🇹 Portugal
🇮🇹 Italy
We factor in easiness of permanent residency (discussed above), and also:
Bureaucracy and delays in the process
Tax rates
Portugal loses a few points on bureaucracy. Italy stays in the game, but I wouldn’t recommend it to the majority of tech workers — especially those aiming at 6-figure jobs (taxes get rough).
Spain has: a consolidated DN Visa process, no big delays, good weather, solid infrastructure, the Beckham Law for lower taxes in the first few years, a growing tech market once you reach PR, and is generally foreigner-friendly.
But... it’s Greece 🇬🇷 that takes the top spot — for someone committed to remote work and entering Europe via a DN Visa.
Here’s why:
Effective DN Visa application and examination process
Great weather, cost of living, and lifestyle
Best taxes among these 4 countries (see article linked in first comment)
Learning Greek ROI
Because once you get PR or citizenship:
→ Move to Cyprus for an even more international and tax-friendly environment
→ Or stay in Greece, if you loved your time there
→ Or after citizenship, move wherever you like in Europe
Sorted. ✅
This article is brought to you by:
Euro Top Tech - The #1 SaaS for top-paying tech careers in Europe:
2000+ top paying tech jobs in Europe from big tech companies, HFT firms and high-paying scale-ups.
1000+ jobs from 100+ fully-remote companies paying $100-600k per year.
Private guides - like this one - to help you land these jobs.
Remote GOATs - The operating system for high-earning remote workers:
Curated job board with thousands of six-figure remote tech roles (Europe-remote, global-remote, NA, LATAM, APAC).
Career Lab: practical guides + AI tools to land and negotiate top remote roles.
AI Relocation Software: decide where to live using data, not vibes.
Real-world data from remote workers on income, taxes, cost of living, and overall life satisfaction.
Private network of location-independent operators building borderless lives.Full access to paid content, deep dives, and the Remote GOATs community.
Six Figure Euro Engineer - Maxx your pay and lifestyle as a tech worker in Europe:
Work 1:1 with me (Nicola Amadio, author of this newsletter), and join the other engineers who were able to 2x/3x they pay and freedom in the past few months!
