Digital Nomad Visa Income Requirements 2026: The Verified Country-by-Country Table

More than 50 countries offer a digital nomad visa in 2026, but the income bar decides where you actually qualify. This is the verified table — every figure traced to the law or official portal that sets it, plus what the comparison lists leave out. Kazakhstan’s test is monthly, not annual. Turkey counts 36 eligible nationalities. Spain’s bar appears as two different numbers because of how Spain pays its minimum wage.

The income test decides your nomad visa — the verified table

You qualify on two grounds: your work must be remote for an employer or client outside the host country, and your income must clear a threshold the government writes into law. The second test is where applications fail, because the threshold seldom lands on a round number and guides rarely print it the way the law does.

Most of these visas peg the bar to a local wage figure, so the number moves every year without any law changing. A guide that quotes a fixed euro amount goes stale the following January. This table gives the formula, the current figure, and the date each one resets.

Every figure above comes from the issuing government’s law, regulation, or official visa portal rather than a secondary blog. Seven second-ring countries (Cyprus, Japan, Italy, Thailand’s DTV, the UAE, Costa Rica, and Hungary) stay out of this table on purpose. Their thresholds work on different structures, and several state a savings balance rather than a monthly income. They belong in a follow-up.

Three of these visas accept money already in the bank instead of money earned from a contract. Portugal takes a savings balance of twelve times the minimum wage (€11,040), Brazil takes $18,000, and Albania takes a deposit certificate of 300,000 lek. In each case the balance has to sit in an account in the host country and the consulates want the statement history behind it, not a screenshot of a current balance. That route suits people between contracts or moving a pension, and it carries a different burden of proof than an employment contract.

Portugal: €3,680 now, €3,880 when the €970 wage lands

Portugal’s D8 visa sets its bar at four times the national minimum wage, the RMMG. The RMMG is €920 in 2026, so the current threshold is €3,680/month, averaged across the last three months of traceable contracts or invoices. You can qualify on savings instead, with a balance near €11,040 — about twelve times the minimum wage.

The number moves soon. The 2027 State Budget report (OE2027, delivered to Parliament on 8 October 2026) fixes the 2027 minimum wage at €970. When the decree-law lands, the D8 bar becomes €3,880/month and the savings proof rises to about €11,640. The government has not published the decree yet, so the honest phrasing is “when it lands”, not “from January”.

The Portugal card covers the country itself, and the Portugal residence guide walks through the application route for each permit type.

Spain: €2,442 or €2,849, and the payments-per-year trick

Spain’s digital nomad visa requires 200% of the interprofessional minimum wage, the SMI. Royal Decree 126/2026 set the 2026 SMI at €1,221/month in 14 payments, which is €17,094 for the year.

Here is where the two famous numbers come from. Multiply the published monthly figure by two and you get €2,442. Divide the annual figure by twelve and multiply by two and you get €2,849. Both calculations start from the same decree. The difference is whether you treat the SMI as twelve monthly payments or fourteen.

Spanish consulates state the requirement as 200% of the SMI, and the Madrid consulate writes it as €2,442 a month over 14 payments. Guides that publish €2,849 are dividing the annual figure across twelve months. That is a real calculation on a different basis, not a policy change, and nobody in the top search results explains where the split comes from. Check which figure your consulate quotes before you build a budget around it.

Family members add to the bar. The first accompanying family member requires an extra 75% of the SMI, and each additional one another 25%. The Spain residence guide has the document checklist, and the Spain country card covers the cost of living once you get there.

Greece: the bar is net, and that changes who qualifies

Greek law writes the requirement as €3,500 net per month. Article 68 of Law 5038/2023 counts salary, service income, and project fees after tax in the country where you do the work.

A salaried employee earning €3,500 gross does not qualify. Greek income tax and social contributions pull the net figure well below the threshold, so the same contract that looks sufficient on a payslip fails the visa test. It is the most expensive misunderstanding on the list, because it disqualifies people who have the money.

Law 5275/2026 took effect on 6 February 2026. Since then the first permit goes through a Greek consulate rather than an application filed from inside the country. A spouse or partner adds 20% (€700) and each child adds 15% (€525). A couple with two children therefore needs €5,250 a month. The Greece residence guide covers the permit after entry, and the Greece country card sets out what living there costs.

Kazakhstan: $3,000 a month, and the pilot everyone confuses

The Neo Nomad visa, category B12-1, has been live since 18 November 2024. The official instruction sheet published by Kazakhstan’s Otandastar Qory foundation requires a monthly income of at least $3,000, proven with six months of bank statements. Trade press keeps printing “annual”. The instruction sheet is unambiguous.

October 2026 brought a separate instrument. A joint order of 6 May 2026 gazetted a Digital Nomad Residency pilot for ICT specialists in Astana and Almaty, and it runs to 31 December 2026. Several outlets called it a second nomad visa with permanent residence attached. The B12-1 instruction sheet never mentions permanent residence, and the two are distinct. If you are planning around a Kazakhstan route, the Kazakhstan residence guide separates the visa from the pilot, and the Kazakhstan country card covers where to base yourself.

Turkey: $3,000, 36 nationalities, and a tax break that belongs to a different law

The official GoTürkiye platform lists 36 eligible nationalities: the 26 EU member states with Cyprus excluded, plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the United States, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Some guides print 37. The list on the platform is the one that counts.

The income requirement is $3,000 a month or $36,000 a year, and the platform requires a university degree and an age between 21 and 55. You also need a document proving your remote employment with a company outside Turkey, and an international health insurance policy.

Guides attach the 20-year exemption on foreign-source income to this visa, and it belongs to a separate statute. Law 7582 (Official Gazette, 4 June 2026, art. 20/D) exempts qualifying foreign income from Turkish personal income tax for 20 years. To qualify you must become a Turkish tax resident from 1 January 2026 and have had no Turkish tax liability in the three years before that. The visa does not grant it. If your plan for Turkey depends on that tax treatment, read the statute, not the visa page. The Turkey residence guide covers the permit itself, and the Turkey country card covers the tax side for residents.

The reset calendar: the January resets and the later ones

Thirteen of these visas write the threshold as a multiple of a local wage, and eleven of them reset in 2027 without any legislative change. Grouping them by effective date is the only way to plan them.

Bulgaria’s case shows why the formula matters more than the number. The statute says 50 times the monthly minimum wage, and the 2026 minimum wage is €620.20, which puts the current bar at €27,533 a year. From 1 January 2027 the minimum wage rises and the bar moves to €31,010 with no amendment to the law. Anyone who saved a screenshot of the old figure is working from a dead number. Brazil runs the opposite logic, with a flat $1,500 monthly figure or a savings route. Its e-visa flow has been live since 1 September 2026, which removes the consular appointment. The Brazil residence guide covers the two routes.

How to compare two countries without being fooled

The traps that make one country look cheaper than another

Two unit errors cause most of the damage. Greece is the one major visa with a net threshold written into law — everyone else tests gross income, so a €3,500 gross contract fails in Greece and clears the bar in Spain, Portugal, or Turkey. Kazakhstan’s own sheet says monthly while the press prints annual, and a $3,000 monthly requirement and a $36,000 annual requirement are the same bar. Spain publishes two numbers for one rule, because its SMI is counted in fourteen payments; the Spain section above shows both calculations. Convert everything to a single unit before you compare anything, or two guides will make one country look cheaper than the other.

Family uplift changes the ranking

The threshold applies to one applicant, and most countries add a percentage for each family member. Portugal adds 50% of the base for a spouse and 30% per dependent child, so a family of four needs about €7,728 a month. Spain adds 75% of the SMI for the first family member and 25% for each one after that. Greece adds 20% for a spouse and 15% per child. Build the family number before you compare countries, because the ranking changes when it includes two people instead of one.

What proof they ask for, and how far back it goes

The lookback period matters as much as the amount. Portugal averages the last three months of traceable income. Kazakhstan wants six months of bank statements, and Romania asks for proof of the threshold across each of the six months before you apply. Brazil’s consular guidance asks for three months of statements showing consistent deposits above the threshold. If your income started recently, or if one bad month sits inside the window, the fix happens before you book the appointment, not at the counter.

What these governments want to see is money you can trace from a third party. A large cash deposit the week before your appointment proves nothing and can work against you. So can a savings screenshot without a statement history behind it.

FAQ

Is the income requirement gross or net?
Almost all of them are gross. Greece is the exception: Law 5038/2023 writes the requirement as €3,500 net per month, so an employee on €3,500 gross does not qualify.

Do the thresholds change every year?
Yes, and most of them change without an amendment to the law. The wage-indexed visas reset on the dates in the calendar above. January brings new bars for Bulgaria, Andorra, Colombia, and Ecuador. Croatia follows in early 2027, Latvia around March, and the Czech Republic on 1 May.

What counts as proof of stable income?
Three to six months of bank statements showing traceable contracts or invoices, and prior-year tax returns. Several countries also ask for an apostilled criminal record and international health insurance. The exact set varies, and the table above lists the usual combination.

Can I combine income from several clients?
Portugal averages the last three months of traceable income, so several client contracts can add up to the threshold. For the other countries, the rules assume one clear employment or service relationship, and you should confirm with the consulate before you build a case around multiple small clients.

Which country has the lowest bar?
Montenegro’s €1,800 and Albania’s 32,000 lek sit at the bottom of this table. Both come with a narrow set of eligible professions and a permit with conditions attached, so compare the whole package rather than the headline number.

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Sources: Portugal, OE2027 report and 2026 minimum wage, vistos.mne.gov.pt; Spain, RD 126/2026 (BOE-A-2026-3815), consular guidance; Greece, Law 5038/2023 art. 68, Law 5275/2026 (Government Gazette 17, 6 Feb 2026); Turkey, digitalnomads.goturkiye.com, tga.gov.tr, Law 7582 (4 Jun 2026); Kazakhstan, gov.kz “Instructions for Obtaining Neo Nomad Visa” (Otandastar Qory), oq.gov.kz; Bulgaria, Law on Foreigners art. 24s, 2026 minimum wage €620.20; Croatia, Uredba o načinu izračuna (Narodne novine 14/21, 3/26) and DZS 2025 average net salary €1,449; Latvia, PMLP remote-work visa requirements (likumi.lv, vid 235770) and Central Statistical Bureau; Slovenia, ZTuj-2I art. 51.a and Official Gazette 1470/2026; Czech Republic, MPO Program digitální nomád; Romania, IGI digital nomad route; Colombia, 3× minimum wage; Ecuador, 3 SBU (gob.ec/mremh); Montenegro, rulebook under art. 60a, Law on Foreigners; Albania, art. 68, Law 79/2021 as amended; Brazil, MRE VITEM XIV consular requirements.