A digital nomad visa for Americans mostly comes down to one number: monthly income. As of October 2026, the floors on this page run from about $1,645 a month in Colombia to $4,510 at Mexico’s San Diego consulate. Spain sits at €2,442 (about $2,730). Portugal’s D8 asks €3,680 (about $4,115).
Clearing the number is the easy part. The harder conversations are with your employer, who has to sign letters, and with the IRS, which still expects a return every April.
This page covers all three: the visas, the US tax side, and the employer problem. Thresholds change, often every January, so each one links to the official page it came from. Check before applying.
Digital nomad visa for Americans: six income floors, October 2026
Dollar figures use the European Central Bank’s reference rate for October 12, 2026 (€1 = $1.1181, and 37.585 baht to the euro) and Colombia’s official rate of 3,194.44 pesos to the dollar.
| Country | Route | What you have to show | About in dollars | Insurance the file asks for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colombia | Digital nomad visa, up to 2 years | Income of 3× the minimum wage, COP 5,252,715 a month, on bank statements for the last 3 months | $1,645 a month | Health policy covering Colombia: accident, illness, hospitalization, repatriation |
| Spain | International telework visa | 200% of the minimum wage: €2,442 a month, plus €916 for the first family member | $2,730 a month | Insurer authorized in Spain, no copays, no coverage limits |
| Costa Rica | Remote worker stay (Law 10008) | Stable net income of at least $3,000 a month; more for families | $3,000 a month | At least $50,000 of coverage for the whole stay |
| Portugal | D8 residence visa for remote work | Average income over the last 3 months of 4× the minimum wage: €3,680 a month | $4,115 a month | Travel insurance covering urgent care and repatriation |
| Mexico | Temporary residency (no separate nomad visa) | $4,510 a month over the last 6 months, or a $75,950 average balance over 12 months | $4,510 a month | Not on the San Diego sheet |
| Thailand | Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) | A balance of at least 500,000 baht for the last 3 months, plus 6 months of income records | About $14,875 in the bank | Not on the checklist |
Mexico’s figures are the San Diego consulate’s; other Mexican consulates publish their own. Thailand’s checklist comes from its embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and an American applies through the embassy or consulate that serves them, so check that one’s list.
A few details that the headline number hides:
- Spain also wants a university degree or at least three years of professional experience. From September 1, 2026, applications at the Washington consulate go in person, by appointment, at the BLS visa center.
- Costa Rica’s tourism board says digital nomads under the program are exempt from Costa Rican income tax. The stay runs one year, with one renewal.
- Portugal asks for a tax residence certificate, apostilled, along with the work contract or service contracts.
- Thailand wants a foreign employment contract or company registration, authenticated, and a portfolio showing you work remotely.
The full country files are on Spain’s visas, Portugal’s visas, Mexico’s visas and Costa Rica’s visas.
The floors move, and sometimes a lot
Most of these numbers are pegged to a minimum wage. Colombia’s minimum wage for 2026 rose 23%, from COP 1,423,500 to COP 1,750,905, by decree. So its nomad visa floor rose 23% on January 1 too. Same visa, new number. Someone who qualified comfortably in 2025 had a different test in 2026.
Spain and Portugal work the same way, through their own minimum wages. Exchange rates add a second layer for anyone paid in dollars: a floor set in euros or pesos gets more expensive whenever the dollar weakens.
Plan to clear the number by a margin. Not by a hair.
The employer problem
Here’s what surprises people. You need permission. Most of these visas can’t be done quietly, because the file needs your employer’s signature.
Spain asks for a company certificate showing you’ve worked there at least three months, and proof the company has been operating for at least a year. For US employees, it asks for a Certificate of Coverage from US Social Security under the US–Spain agreement.
Mexico’s San Diego consulate asks for a letter from your supervisor, on company letterhead, with your salary and the company’s “explicit agreement” with your plan to live in Mexico and work remotely.
Portugal wants the employment contract or an employer declaration, apostilled.
So the question isn’t whether HR will find out. It’s whether HR will say yes.
Why employers hesitate:
Permanent establishment. Under tax treaties, a company that has a fixed place of business in another country can owe corporate tax there. The OECD’s 2025 update to its model treaty commentary, approved on November 18, 2025, set out when an employee’s home can count as a “place of business” of the company they work for. It’s guidance, not law, and each treaty and country applies it its own way. To a company’s tax team, one employee in Lisbon can still look like a question they’d rather not answer.
Payroll and social security. Working in a country can bring local payroll, withholding and social contributions. That’s what Spain’s certificate requirement is about.
Employment law. Local rules on contracts, leave and termination may start to apply.
That isn’t a no. It means ask early, in writing, with the visa requirements attached. And if you’re self-employed, the employer problem becomes your own paperwork: contracts with foreign clients, invoices, and proof of income.
US tax on remote income: the exclusion and the 330 days
The US taxes citizens on worldwide income wherever they live, so moving doesn’t end the 1040. What can change is how much of your salary is taxed.
The foreign earned income exclusion. For 2026 you can exclude up to $132,900 of foreign earned income per person, up from $130,000 for 2025. A married couple who both work abroad and both qualify can each claim it. It’s claimed on Form 2555 with your return. It covers earned income only: wages and self-employment, not investment income or pensions.
To qualify, your tax home has to be abroad, and you have to pass one of two tests:
- Bona fide residence: a resident of a foreign country for an uninterrupted period that includes a full tax year.
- Physical presence: 330 full days in a foreign country or countries during any 12 consecutive months. A full day runs midnight to midnight. Time over international waters doesn’t count. The 12 months don’t have to match the calendar year.
The physical presence test is unforgiving about trips home. It leaves about 35 days a year outside foreign countries, and travel days usually eat into that because they aren’t full days abroad. Three weeks home for the holidays and a two-week summer visit can be enough to fail it.
Run a simple case. Someone earning $150,000 in 2026 who qualifies excludes $132,900. The other $17,100 stays taxable on the US return. Still a return, then.
Self-employed? The exclusion doesn’t touch self-employment tax. The IRS says you count all your self-employment income for that tax, even the part you excluded. You owe it once net earnings reach $400. A Certificate of Coverage under a US social security agreement can mean you pay into only one country’s system.
The new country may tax you too. Become a tax resident there and it may claim your salary, and the treaty and foreign tax credits decide who goes first. Costa Rica’s exemption for program nomads is the exception, not the rule. The details by country are on taxes when you retire abroad, and most of them apply to workers too.
Your home state may also want you to keep filing if you don’t clearly cut ties. That’s worth one hour with an expat tax preparer before you go.
Health insurance
For most people of working age, Medicare isn’t in the picture, and the visa file sets the minimum instead. Read the table above as a floor, not a recommendation. A travel policy that satisfies Portugal’s visa checklist would not satisfy Spain’s, which bans copays and coverage limits. They aren’t interchangeable.
Ask your employer whether its US health plan covers care outside the US, and for how long. Then price a local or international policy for your age. The expat health insurance age limits page covers what happens as that age goes up.
What goes wrong
The job ends, the visa wobbles. Most of these routes are built on one employer or a set of clients. Lose the income and the renewal test gets hard. Plan for that.
The 330 days slip. One extra trip home and the exclusion is gone for that 12-month window. It happens fast.
Both countries want the same year. The first year abroad is when residency rules overlap most. Pay for advice that year.
The floor rose while you weren’t looking. Colombia’s 23% is the reminder.
Where to go next
- Money when you move abroad: visa floors as a budget, currency risk, banks and transfers.
- Visas: residence routes beyond remote work.
- Taxes when you retire abroad: what the US keeps taxing, and the forms that follow you.
- First-year abroad deadlines: residence cards, registrations and dates.