Digital Nomad visa
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Hi there,
I am a UK passport holder and have had a property in Cyprus for 10+ years. My UK employer will allow me to work overseas for 20 days per year but only if I have the right to work somewhere.
My question is: Do i have the right to work in Cyprus? If no, has anyone heard of/applied for the digital nomad visa?
Any guidance much appreciated.
Regards
George
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I don't believe you have a right to work in Cyprus... You would need to apply for a work.permit...sadly now the UK is no longer in the EU then you may be at a disadvantage...
Am guessing that it may be down to the type of work you may do ... Even if it's a online work type physically done in Cyprus you would be classed as working. In Cyprus so I think a call to the immigration and labour departments in Cyprus would be the best action to take
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This may help ..
NATIONALS > DIGITAL NOMADS
Migration Section
DIGITAL NOMADS
With its Decision of October 15, 2021, the Council of Ministers approved the introduction of the Digital Nomad Visa Scheme in Cyprus, with a ceiling of 100 residence permits to be issued. On March 3 2022, the Council of Ministers increased the ceiling to 500 residence permits.
What is the "Cyprus digital nomad visa"
The "Cyprus Digital Nomad Visa" Scheme allows nationals from non-EU and non-EEA countries, who can perform their work location-independently using telecommunications technology, to reside temporarily in Cyprus and work for an employer registered abroad or perform work through telecommunications technology for companies or clients located abroad.
The Scheme’s goal is to strengthen Cyprus as a center for the provision of electronic services, where in combination with the other advantages offered by Cyprus, the attraction of digital nomads will contribute to the development of the business ecosystem and consequently to the economic development of the country. The introduction of the "Cyprus Digital Nomad Visa Scheme" is included in the Strategy for Attracting Businesses for Activities or/and Expansion of their Activities in Cyprus.
Who can benefit
Non-EU or non-EEA nationals who:
Can perform work remotely through telecommunications technology;
Are employed in a company registered abroad, for which they can work location-independently, or are self-employed offering services remotely for clients located abroad;
Can prove that they have stable and sufficient monthly net income of at least €3500 (after the deduction of contributions and taxes).
What are the benefits
Individuals that are granted with a Digital Nomad residence permit will benefit from the following:
Right of residence for a year in Cyprus, with a possibility of renewal for further two years.
Right of residence for family members, for the same period as the Digital Nomad, without the right to be employed of perform economic activity in Cyprus.
If they reside in the Republic for one of more periods that in total exceed 183 days within the same tax year, then they are considered tax residents of Cyprus, provided they are not tax residents in any other country.
Family members
Digital Nomad’s family members can reside in Cyprus for the same period as the Digital Nomad, without the right to be employed of perform any economic activity in Cyprus.
Family members include the spouse/ partner in a civil union and underaged children.
Family members also need to obtain a temporary residence permit following the procedure below.
Procedure
Within 3 months of arrival, the applicant should submit the relevant application along with the required documents, as stated in the relevant document lists, at the Offices of the Department in Nicosia, after arranging an appointment through the online platform, to obtain a temporary residence permit. All documents accompanying application forms should be officially translated and duly certified/ ratified.
In case the applicant legally resides in Cyprus under a different status, he/she has the right to submit the relevant application to be granted a temporary residence permit as a Digital Nomad, at the Civil Registry and Migration Department in Nicosia.
Applications can be submitted personally or through an authorised representative.
Applications that are not accompanied by all the required documents will not be accepted for consideration.
Any change in the applicant's data during the examination of the application should be notified immediately to the Department.
For the application submission, the amount for applicable fees shall be paid as stated below.
For the issuance of the temporary residence permit capturing of biometric data (photo and fingerprints) and signature of the third country national is necessary, which is done with the presentation of the application submission receipt and a valid travel document. The biometric data can be captured at the same time or after the application submission, at the offices of the Department in Nicosia or at the district unit of the Aliens and Immigration Service of the Police of the district of residence of the third country national. From persons who have not reached the age of six years at the time of submitting the application only the photo is captured. This data is also captured for the renewal of the temporary residence permit.
Applications for renewal should be submitted to the Civil Registry and Migration Department in Nicosia along with the necessary accompanying documents, at least one month before the temporary residence permit’s expiration date. For the application submission, the amount for applicable fees shall be paid as stated below.
In case the application is approved, the applicant will receive a letter notifying them on how to receive their temporary residence permit.
In case the application is rejected, the applicant will receive a letter informing them for the rejection reasons.
Fees
Issuance or renewal of a temporary residence permit: €70
Registration to the Aliens’ Registry (only in cases of initial registration): €70
Examination time
The time of examination is between 5 – 7 weeks.
Duration of temporary residence permit
A first temporary residence permit is issued with a validity of one year.
In case of renewal, the temporary residence permit is issued with a validity of maximum two years.
Application form and accompanying documents
The application form (MVIS4) and the lists with the documents that must accompany the application of the digital nomad and his/ her family members can be found on the link above .
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There appears to be no benefit at all from applying for this type of residency and you do not seem to in anyway meet the criteria for the digital worker in cyprus. Perhaps I am missing something, but to be able to work 20 days a year only from your Cyprus property there is no way the scheme is the right thing for you and it involves unnecessary expense and time.
Your employer seems to have a very odd stipulation to require you to have the right to work in a country where you only want to work for 20 days! I doubt there is any country in the world that gives a damn about a visitor working for such a tiny amount of time. The tax office in Cyprus will laugh at you if you were to ask the question I think!
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To be fair and with respect it's still the law and if his employer demands it as a condition of doing so then that is what he must do .. irrespective of what anyone else thinks
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I just came back from a trip to Cyprus where I successfully got a residence permit under the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement (I was very surprised that they are still honouring it). I had an expired (and lost) yellow slip, so that was probably quite helpful. But officially it's not necessary. So if you just had a property, that's not enough... but if you kept a Cyprus bank account, and kept paying various utility bills (water, electricity, property tax, etc.) then you could provide evidence of your life in Cyprus pre-Brexit.
Apart from this, I would suggest you discuss with your employer. 20 days is very little, so this below the 90 days visa-free allowance that Brits have in any EU country, including Cyprus. You don't become tax resident in Cyprus in 20 days, and you're paying tax in the UK anyway. In short, it's pretty silly to demand that you have work rights overseas for a measly 20 days! :-)
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But as a tourist you have no right to work. Legally You are not allowed to work.. you do need a work permit/visa or the digital nomad visa.
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"Legally"? That's a pretty strong/definitive position to take! Digital nomading is a very grey area, and many/most digital nomads do exactly what I suggested, which is to travel with a visa (or the visa-free allowance), and work remotely.
In most countries you don't acquire tax residence for 183 days (the "substantial presence test")... and if you're paying tax on your nomading income in the country of your employer you have extra defence, should there ever be any questions about your activities.
I do agree that tourist visa conditions typically make it clear that you can't "work". But the legal definition of what "work" means is typically formal employment by (and payment from) an employer in the country. And it's not necessarily what we think is the common-sense meaning of "work".
So I'm with @pete21 on this one.
I'm so confident, I think you can even try it when you enter Cyprus. When the immigration officer asks "what's the reason for your visit to Cyprus today?"... it's obviously a lie to reply "tourism". But equally, if you say "I'm here to work" that would be just asking for trouble!
However, if, instead, you gave the laborious, but strictly truthful reply: "I'm employed in the UK, and I want to have a month's holiday relaxing at my house in Paphos. But while I'm here I will have to do a little work for my UK employer remotely, and they continue to pay me in the UK, and deduct UK income tax. Is that OK?" He/she will say "sure, have a nice holiday!". :-)
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1The rise of the digital nomad visa is not so much because digital nomading on a tourist visa is "illegal", but rather because countries realized that they were missing out on special visa fees. And they were losing out to other countries because economically valuable nomads tend to feel that countries with such visas are more welcoming of them. And, of course, it's often more convenient to have a visa that lets you stay 6 months or a year, rather than keep having to move on every couple of months.
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I know that the USA is one of the strictest countries in the world in relation to illegal immigrants and working without authorization. So it's not Cyprus, but I think it's a useful proxy as it's probably more restrictive than Cyprus.
We all agree that travellers to the USA holding a formal tourist visa, or using the visa-waiver program, are not allowed to "work". But as per my posts above, we need the formal definition of "work".
This is what Dr. Google found for me:
Tourists must not "engage in gainful hands-on employment in the U.S". And this means that they cannot (a) "Manage and/or operate a business in the U.S" or (b) "Be paid by a U.S. entity for activities performed in the U.S. for benefit of U.S. entity." Clearly, a nomad's activities fall outside this definition (as long as your employer is a UK or other non-USA entity).
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@Toon
Thank you for the link for the new (October 15, 2021) Cyprus "Digital Nomad Visa Scheme". It's interesting reading, and it's a positive development.
It seems quite inexpensive, and quite straightforward (as long as you earn more than 3,500 euros per month, which is more than many nomads), so it should be very appealing. And it could be especially useful if you want to stay more than 90 days (the visa-free allowance), or you want to have legal status for your family members.
But for @g24stannard who wants 20 days, it seems like overkill.
If it provided Brits with a route to residence after Brexit (as the NLV, no lucrativa visa, does in Spain), it would be especially useful. But from my quick read it seems to be for 1 year, with a potential 2 years renewal. That's too short, as you need to be able to get to the 5 years in the EU.
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1We will agree to disagree... It is my understanding that if you carry out work here then you must be taxed here... Massive can of worms...
Back to the o.p his employer is making it very clear that he must work legally and I suppose they will want to see that evidence
You may well be right in that they may take a blind eye though
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5
Hello,
I don't know if this is helpful but this website shares very valuable info and also you can have a consultation for them free:
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I think as a digital nomad you receive your pension benefits in Cyprus
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