Living base: the right to stay, the right to work and where you are taxed

What this flag means

The living base flag covers where you physically live and the legal permission to do so. That permission comes in layers: a visa to enter, a residence permit to stay longer, permanent residence in some countries, and separate or attached permission to work. Each layer is granted by an immigration authority under its own conditions. Tax residence is decided by a different authority under different tests, which may count days, look at your home and ties, or in some countries use immigration status as one test among several.

Ask five separate questions, not one

People often say "I live in Portugal" or "I have a visa for Spain" as if that settles everything. It answers one question at most. Keep the questions apart and write down which document or rule answers each one.

Know whether you hold a visa or a residence permit

A visa usually lets you enter and stay for a set period. A residence permit usually lets you remain after arrival and is often issued inside the country. Many long-stay routes use both: a visa from a consulate abroad, then a permit from the immigration authority.

Portugal's official visa portal, for example, lists separate temporary stay visas and residence visas, and both families include a route for professional activity done remotely, labeled "digital nomads". The portal's general information page says a residence visa is valid for two entries and four months, during which the holder must apply to AIMA, the migration agency, for a residence permit. Temporary stay visas cover periods of up to one year.

Check the dates on every document. A visa can expire before a permit is issued, and a permit has its own renewal rules.

Treat permanent residence as an immigration status that can carry tax effects

Permanent residence lets you live in a country without a fixed end date, under that country's conditions. It is still an immigration status. It does not make you a citizen. See the citizenship hub for that flag.

Some tax systems use immigration status as one of their tests. USCIS describes a Green Card, officially a Permanent Resident Card, as allowing the holder to live and work in the United States permanently. The IRS green card test treats a lawful permanent resident at any time during the calendar year as a US resident for federal tax purposes, and that status continues until it is ended in one of the ways the IRS lists.

So a status can matter for tax even after you have moved away. Ask a qualified adviser how your status interacts with each country's tax tests.

Check work permission separately from the right to live there

The right to live somewhere and the right to work there are not always the same. Some permits allow any work. Some allow only work for one employer. Some allow only remote work for clients or employers abroad. Some allow no work at all.

Spain's international teleworking residence visa, for example, was created under Law 14/2013 as amended by Law 28/2022 for people working remotely for companies outside Spain. Its conditions on work for Spanish clients are set by the law and official instructions, not by the visa's informal name.

Read the conditions printed on, or attached to, your document. If they are unclear, ask the issuing authority or a qualified immigration lawyer before you take on work.

Read digital nomad visas as a family of routes, not a single product

Several countries now have a visa or permit for people who work remotely for employers or clients abroad. Names, lengths, income conditions and documents differ, and they change. The examples below are listed alphabetically. They are not ranked or compared, and FlagSage does not say which suits anyone.

Income figures and fees are not shown here because official pages give different or changing amounts. Check the current official page or consulate before relying on any number.

Never treat a visa as proof of tax residence

A visa or permit shows that an immigration authority let you stay. It does not show that a tax authority treats you as resident, and it does not show that another country has stopped treating you as resident.

Estonia shows the gap clearly. Its Tax and Customs Board says a person is resident if their place of residence is in Estonia or if they stay in Estonia for at least 183 days within 12 consecutive calendar months. The tests it states are about where you live and how many days you are there, not which visa you hold. The Digital Nomad Visa FAQ separately warns that a holder who stays more than 183 days in a consecutive 12-month period will be considered tax resident.

The reverse also matters. A permit in a new country does not end tax residence in the old one. The old country applies its own tests, which may look at your home, family, work and days there. The United Kingdom's Statutory Residence Test is one example. Read the tax residency hub and keep a record of your days in the day ledger.

Count Schengen short stays under the 90/180 rule, which is an immigration rule

For short stays in the Schengen area, Article 6(1) of the Schengen Borders Code (Regulation (EU) 2016/399) sets a limit of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period. The 180 days are counted back from each day of stay, so the window rolls forward every day.

The European Commission's short-stay calculator page says holders of an EU residence permit or a long-stay visa are not subject to the 90/180-day rule for those stays, and that such periods should not be entered into the calculator.

The 90/180 rule is about entry and stay. It says nothing about tax. A person can stay within the Schengen limit and still meet a country's tax residence test, for example through a home or other ties. Count the two separately, because the counting rules differ.

Fictional example, written on 8 November 2026. Theo holds a passport that allows visa-free short stays in Schengen. He spends time in Spain, Portugal and Germany during 2026 without a residence permit. His Schengen count adds all three countries together. Each country's tax test, by contrast, looks only at its own rules and days. He takes both counts to a qualified adviser.

Write down the lifestyle questions the paperwork does not answer

A permit can be valid and the place can still be wrong for you. These questions are personal and have no official answer, but writing them down keeps them from being lost behind the legal ones.

• Healthcare: how would I access care, and what would cover the cost?
• Language: can I handle official letters, contracts and medical visits?
• Family: what status would a partner or children have, and could they work or study?
• Housing: will a landlord or registry need documents I do not yet have?
• Time zones and connectivity for remote work
• How often I expect to travel, and how that affects both immigration and tax day counts

Common misconceptions

Questions to take to a professional

1. Which visa or permit route matches my actual work and family situation, and what conditions does it set on work?
2. When does my visa end, when must I apply for a permit, and what happens if the permit is delayed?
3. Does the permit allow me to work for local clients or employers, or only for those abroad?
4. Will holding this status make me tax resident, or create a presumption, under the new country's tax tests?
5. What would my current country of tax residence need to see before it stops treating me as resident?
6. Does any tax treaty between the countries involved decide where I am resident if both claim me?
7. How do my days in the Schengen area count for immigration, and how do the same days count for tax in each country?
8. What status would my partner and children have, and does it allow them to work or study?

Questions people ask

Where this guide stops

Sources

• Regulation (EU) 2016/399 on a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code)Primary law
• Short-stay calculator - Migration and Home Affairs - European CommissionOfficial guidance
• Type of Visa - General Information - National Visas (Portugal, Ministry of Foreign Affairs)Official guidance
• General Information - National Visas (Portugal, Ministry of Foreign Affairs)Official guidance
• Digital Nomad Visa (Consulate General of Spain in Mumbai)Official guidance
• Digital Nomad Visa vs e-ResidencyOfficial guidance
• FAQs about Estonia's Digital Nomad VisaOfficial guidance
• Dos and don'ts of e-ResidencyOfficial guidance
• Determining residency (Estonian Tax and Customs Board)Official guidance
• Green Card | USCISOfficial guidance
• Alien residency - green card test (IRS)Official guidance
• Determining an individual's tax residency status (IRS)Official guidance
• RDR3 Statutory Residence Test - GOV.UKOfficial guidance