Typologizing Digital Nomad Visas: Comparing Policy Rationales from Tourism to Wealth Accumulation to Immigration

Abstract

This article presents a comparative case study of the “Digital Nomad Visas” (DNVs) of Croatia, Thailand and Spain. Analysing common themes for these visas, the article identifies varying policy rationales that have guided their development, naming these the tourism, wealth accumulation and immigration rationales. The article then introduces a two-scale typology of DNVs centred around the dimensions of civic attachment and temporality. The findings illustrate the evolving nature of DNVs from ad hoc pandemic responses to strategic tools for socio-economic development and draw attention to the visas’ role in the broader context of global mobilities and labour market transformations.