Estonia has a tremendous PR when it comes to the "digital state" concept. It was the first (and the only, as far as I know) country to launch an e-Residency program. It also has a very streamlined governance process, almost everything happening digitally (identity, taxes, etc).
My personal experience with the e-Residency program is not fabulous, though. I mean, you get the chip-enhanced e-Residency card on time, if you tweak your browser it eventually works, but you can't open a crypto-based business in Estonia now. The accounting companies with which I talked about that told me the legal framework is still uncertain in the country and they don't want to be part of such a company.
But let's be patient here and try to focus on the positive side of stuff.
Following the above steps, Estonia recently announced they intend to launch a "digital nomad visa". Since the e-Residency program doesn't give you full residence, you still have no way to access services like health care, for instance. The "digital nomad visa" targets freelancers, people who are spending t least half of the year traveling and who can perform work from everywhere (usually as designers, programmers, project managers, etc).
The announcement was made a few days ago by Estonia Ministry of the Interior, according to this news published on Quartz. As far as I understand this, it's going to be a public-private partnership between the Ministry and a freelance-oriented company called Jobbatical. The CEO of Jobbatical, Klaus Hindricks, estimated that the visa may be launched as early as the spring of 2019.
And how this will work? Well, according to the same source:
Nomads who obtain the visa will be able to legally reside in Estonia for 365 days, and will also be entitled to a Schengen visa which allows them to visit member countries for up to 90 days. Hindriks says the idea is not necessarily to require nomad residents to pay tax, but to verify that they are a registered tax payer in their country of origin or permanent residence. Later on, the nation may explore “packages” nomads can buy, which will entitle them to public services like healthcare during their stay.
This approach balances a bit the overwhelming "wall" approach to work, from Brexit to US Mexico border. It's nice to see this happening.
image credit: Pixabay.
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
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actually that's not strictly true as it's moved on a bit, recently they put this together and you can pay around $600/700 for the formation part and banking if you have an office like leapin to work with. i'll be blogging about this soon because they have this super rad thing i found with invoicing and ecommerce all bolted in. more soon!
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Really curious about that, man. Give me a nudge when you post it!
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you bet. will try and get it done tomorrow. it's something i'm applying too and i have a plan about how to intergrate it and use in waiting for the VISA next year. be good to get that started this year.
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I was in Estonia few weeks ago, proud CEO of "Blockchain Technologies" now :-) The law firm i am working with told me they are registering hundreds of crypto companies each day now, it is overwhelming. By law, crypto is recognised as a financial instrument.
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Care to share the name of that company? I worked with LeapIn and they told me they don't want to deal with crypto. I already have a functiona e-Residency card.
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Contact is Merle Paju, [email protected], their website is www.krm.ee, she is a young clever lady.
I think the biggest obstacle is the bank account, i had some issues myself and i am working with paysera now.
Now would you care telling me if the post i made yesterday after 2 months blog inactivity made any sense?
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Thanks a lot for the contact, I glimpsed through the post and I find it very intriguing. It's late now, but I will revise it thoroughly tomorrow and leave a comment.
Steem on!
Or, if you prefer: SMT on! ;)
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Estonia is really paving the way for revolutionizing the nation-state.
In my view, we are going to see the "countries" of the future be digital based. There is really no reason for things to be based upon geography going forward. The question is will be established via a country like Estonia or will STEEM be a nation where people work, shop, and play?
Time will tell but it is fascinating to watch some of this stuff evolve.
Patience is required but it is changing quickly.
We are going to see amazing developments on the blockchain over the next 5 years.
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you know i'm gonna be all over this for @eresidency account next year. i really should tell my story about my card so far.
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This would be great if the eCitizen program actually worked so anyone could open a business there. I do not see much hope of the e-Residency working as some countries tighten their controls. Fingers crossed.
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They give access to Schengen too, that is nice, even though the paper work may be too hard for the moment. Wasn't Estonia the country who officialy does not tax cryptocurrencies if I remember well? In future this may be a great step forward for their economy.
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I don't remember anything about Estonia not taxing crypto. Like I said, the PR seems better than the actual situation on the field.
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they are actively trying to push it that it's a great place to startup because of transferwise being such a big success, i think there is a huge disconnect with the actuality of this thou at ground level, i think they have had much feedback and the VISA is the way to go, from there you can layer up the e-estonia coin into the x-road, it's gonna be an interesting few years.
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I know one think that Atleast Romanian Govt is making progressing efforts towards digital economy. .
The pros and cons are the matter for another discussion. ..
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With all due respect, the Romanian government doesn't make progress in any direction at the moment, other than protecting the corrupt members of the ruling party.
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you sound like i feel about my own countries gov.. . ;)
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Well thats how politicians roll...its all the same every where
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This is great to know , thanks a lot.I wonder if this means that they will eventually be open to having more crypto backed business as well.
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Estonia este foarte tare din punctul asta de vedere!
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The services provided for obtaining a digital nomad visa are quite commendable and worth taking advantage of. This was very informative and compelling.
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I think its good its effort to grow digital economy Thanks for sharing this news
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https://discord.gg/u9Mzxz7 waiting for approve. thanks
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Very usefull and informative post, thanks for sharing to us, i like it and upvote and resteem your post to more than 1110 my follower, greeting friendship from me @abialfatih in aceh indonesia
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It's so amazing sir
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just like they launched the e residence recently
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