Digital Nomad Visa Cost: Application Fees Compared by Country (2026)

Why fee comparisons are usually misleading, and how this one isn't

Most "cheapest digital nomad visa" roundups quietly convert every fee into one currency using whatever exchange rate the writer looked up that day - a rate this site has no sourced, dated citation for, so it is never invented here. Instead, fees are compared directly only where the currency actually matches (the euro-zone countries below), and listed separately, in their own currency, everywhere else. It is a smaller claim, but every number in it is one you can check against the linked source.

It is also worth knowing what a headline application fee does and does not include: most countries charge a separate fee later, for the residence card or permit issued after arrival, which is not folded into the figures below unless a country's own fiche tracks it as one combined number. Open the country page for the full breakdown before budgeting.

Euro-zone fees, compared directly

Seven of the euro-denominated countries on this site publish an application fee, so - unlike the cross-currency figures further down - these can be ranked directly without any conversion: Greece is the lowest at EUR 75, followed by France at EUR 99, Germany at EUR 100, Portugal at EUR 110, Italy at EUR 116, and Estonia at EUR 120.

The gap between the lowest and highest is only EUR 45, which makes the application fee a minor factor among euro-zone options compared to the income requirement or processing time - but it is not nothing, especially for a family applying together, since most countries charge the fee per applicant.

Fees outside the euro zone

The United Kingdom's Standard Visitor visa route costs GBP 135 (for visa-national applicants only - many nationalities are visa-exempt but now pay a separate GBP 20 Electronic Travel Authorisation instead, detailed on the UK page). The UAE's federal ICP channel totals AED 300. Thailand's Destination Thailand Visa carries a THB 10,000 government fee. Japan's visa costs JPY 15,000. None of these are converted into euros here, because this site does not track a sourced, dated exchange rate to convert them accurately - check each figure against current rates yourself, or compare it directly against the local cost of living where you would actually pay it.

Not every fee is published yet

Spain and South Korea are marked TBD for this field, not because the fee is free or negligible, but because reporting was inconsistent enough across sources that this site has not been able to confirm a single figure with confidence - South Korea's reported range alone spans roughly USD 45 to USD 100 depending on nationality and fee type, which is exactly the kind of spread that stays TBD here instead of being averaged into a guess. Check the official consulate for the current fee before applying to either country.

The fee is rarely the deciding factor

Every fee on this page is small next to the cost of relocating, and none of them come close to deciding which country is realistic for you - the income requirement, tax regime and processing time usually matter far more. Use the compare pages to see a fee next to everything else for a specific pair of countries, or run the eligibility checker to see which countries your income actually clears before the fee becomes relevant at all.