🇪🇪 Estonia vs 🇬🇷 Greece: Digital Nomad Visa Compared
Estonia offers Digital Nomad Visa (Type C short-stay / Type D long-stay). Greece offers Digital Nomad Visa (Type D) + Residence Permit (Type I.8) - Law 5038/2023, amended by Law 5275/2026. Every figure below comes from each country's own sourced, dated fiche - compare income, duration, tax, family rules, fees and processing time before you decide.
- Minimum income
- 4,500 EUR / month
- 3,500 EUR / month
- Visa duration
- 12 months
- 12 months, renewable
- Tax regime
- Staying more than 183 days makes you an Estonian tax resident (flat personal income tax, ~20-22%), taxed on worldwide income. Under 183 days, Estonia generally does not tax your foreign income.
- New tax residents may access a 50% income-tax exemption for up to 7 years (Art. 5C), but it is NOT automatic and generally does NOT apply to pure foreign-source remote income. Staying >183 days makes you a Greek tax resident, taxed on worldwide income at standard rates.
- Family (spouse / children)
- Application fees
- 120 EUR
- 75 EUR
- Health insurance
The official page states EUR 4,500 NET per month; several secondary guides state EUR 4,500 GROSS over the preceding 6 months. Confirm net-vs-gross with the PPA before relying on it. Income must come from an employer/clients registered OUTSIDE Estonia. RE-CHECKED 2026-08-23: Estonia's own Ministry of Foreign Affairs embassy sub-pages (mfa.ee - Washington, Tokyo, New Delhi, Canberra, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Kyiv, Tbilisi) are consistently search-indexed as stating the figure GROSS, strengthening that reading considerably - but every mfa.ee page tried was itself unreachable to direct fetch this pass, so this is not yet a confirmed page read. Applicants should budget for GROSS EUR 4,500 as the safer assumption pending direct confirmation.
source · verified 2026-07-08
Attributed to the official mfa.gr page (403 on direct fetch) and corroborated by multiple specialist sources, though at least one 2026 secondary guide states this figure as GROSS rather than NET - the net/gross distinction could not be independently re-confirmed on the official page this pass and should be treated as unresolved. Family uplift: +20% spouse, +15% per child. RE-VERIFIED 2026-09-05: multiple independent 2026 guides (remoteworkeurope.eu, globalcitizensolutions.com, lexidy.com, nomadsembassy.com) state the required bank-statement history proving this income rose from 3 to 6 consecutive months, effective 27 January 2026 - corroborated across 4 independent secondary sources but no primary decree/circular citation found, so this is added as a documentation-requirement detail, not a change to the EUR 3,500 figure itself.
source · verified 2026-09-05
Up to 1 year (official). The DNV is not a standard long-term renewable residence route; plan an exit or a different permit for a longer stay.
source · verified 2026-07-08
Type D visa: up to 12 months. Then Type I.8 residence permit: 2 years, renewable for successive 2-year periods. LAW 5275/2026 (~5 Feb 2026): the in-country conversion route was ABOLISHED - you must now obtain the Type D visa at a Greek consulate abroad BEFORE entering. RE-CHECKED 2026-07-31: the same reform also closed a second loophole - applicants who entered on a Type C (Schengen) visa or a visa-waiver could previously obtain the Type I.8 permit by showing a housing lease or property-purchase contract instead of the full consulate-first D-visa route; two independent legal-advisory sources (Bernitsas Law, siopi-law.gr) now describe this route as closed, consistent with the same law's abolition of in-country conversion. Reported/corroborated via search-indexed content, not a fetched primary source (mfa.gr/migration.gov.gr still 403).
source · verified 2026-07-05
General 183-day rule; confirm your position with the Estonian Tax and Customs Board.
source · verified 2026-07-08
Art. 5C (AADE) requires 5-of-6-years prior non-residence AND historically Greek-source income; specialist tax sources flag that a nomad working purely for foreign clients may not qualify. Do NOT present the 50% cut as an automatic benefit.
source · verified 2026-07-05
State fee reported at EUR 120 for the long-stay (Type D) visa; EUR 80 for the short-stay (Type C).
source · verified 2026-07-08
This EUR 75 is the Type D VISA fee (+ EUR 150 per accompanying family member). SEPARATE and much larger: the Type I.8 RESIDENCE PERMIT fee, ~EUR 1,000 (+ EUR 150/family member) pre-2026 - re-verify post-Law 5275/2026 with migration.gov.gr. Guides routinely conflate the two stages.
source · verified 2026-07-05
Frequently asked questions
Which requires less income, the Estonia or Greece digital nomad visa?
Greece has the lower minimum income requirement: 3,500 EUR/month, versus 4,500 EUR/month for Estonia.
Which has the cheaper application fee, Estonia or Greece?
Greece's application fee is lower: 75 EUR versus 120 EUR for Estonia.
How long does it take to process a digital nomad visa for Estonia vs Greece?
Estonia's stated processing time is Up to 30 days from application at an embassy/consulate; Greece's is ~10 days consular decision target (2-6 weeks in practice; longer since the 2026 consulate-only route), per each country's own sourced fiche. Actual processing time varies by consulate and caseload.
Related comparisons
Figures marked TBD are not yet verified and are never shown as facts. Last full review: Estonia 2026-09-05, Greece 2026-09-05.