Barbados wants you to work from its beaches during the pandemic

By Adam Taylor

July 16, 2020

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This has been the year a virus shut down our globalized lives. In the first half of 2020, governments around the world imposed entry restrictions or strict quarantine procedures; flight traffic fell to its lowest level in decades. Many are confined not just to their countries, but also to their homes, as offices were shut down along with travel.Follow the latest on Election 2020

But even as the pandemic continues to rage, the government of Barbados, a country in the eastern Caribbean, is sending a very different message: Come here, not just for a holiday, but for up to a year. Bring your laptop. Soak up the sun, the sea, the sand — and forget about the coronavirus.AD

“Covid-19 has placed a severe strain on people’s mental wellness,” Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley told Today’s WorldView in an interview. “The sunshine is powerful. The seawater is powerful. They’re both therapeutic in ways that are hard to explain. And we felt that, why not share it?”

Dubbed the “Barbados Welcome Stamp” and launching this week, the program will allow visitors to stay on the Caribbean island visa-free for up to one year. The aim is to attract remote workers, with a bill to be introduced in Parliament by the government that will remove the local income taxes that normally kick in after six months.

The program has unsurprisingly sparked global interest. Considered from a cramped apartment in London or New York, working remotely on a beach has an appeal even to those who know little about Barbados.AD

“And those who don’t know Barbados know Rihanna,” Mottley said, alluding to the fact that the international pop star was born on the island.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1282927110609403904&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fworld%2F2020%2F07%2F16%2Fbarbados-work-remote-coronavirus%2F&siteScreenName=WashingtonPost&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px

Barbados is not the only country trying to open up to laptop-toting foreigners. Estonia is to launch its own long-awaited “Digital Nomad” visa program in the coming months, and countries including Georgia, Germany and Costa Rica already have visa programs geared toward freelancers.

With email, video chatting and cloud computing, there may no longer be a reason for many workers to travel to a centralized office every day. There has also been a concurrent trend toward freelancing; polls say many freelancers have little interest in office-working life anymore.

Though the coronavirus has disrupted many aspects of our work lives, it may accelerate some trends. Gallup polling of Americans conducted this spring found that 62 percent said they had worked remotely at some point by April, an increase from 31 percent in mid-March.AD

“In the last six months, we all became digital, but I don’t know how much we are nomads,” said Armand Arton, founder of the consulting firm Arton Capital. “Yes, we can work from home, but we can’t really travel. What is home becomes the question.”

Arton Capital advises wealthy individuals on citizenship and residency programs around the world. Arton says there has been a surge in interest in such services since the pandemic, in part because the traditional freedom that comes with a Western citizenship, such as the once “almighty” U.S. passport, has been undermined.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1281160111264870401&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fworld%2F2020%2F07%2F16%2Fbarbados-work-remote-coronavirus%2F&siteScreenName=WashingtonPost&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px

The number of applications for Portugal’s “golden visa” program — which allows residency in return for a real estate investment of $570,000 — in May 2020 was almost triple what it was the year before, according to data compiled by Arton Capital.AD

Estonian officials have seen a surge in applications for “e-residency,” a plan that targets entrepreneurs who can set up businesses virtually in the country. “Clearly, once the borders open, highly mobile entrepreneurs and employees are likely to look for more work/business opportunities,” Katrin Vaga, head of publicity for the program, wrote in an email.

“Mobility will be the only way to get out from the economic recession,” Arton said.

Not all workers are mobile, of course. The ability to work remotely was limited to fewer than 1 in 10 civilian workers in the United States last year, most of them highly paid, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But if the choice to work remotely is one just for the wealthy elite, the decision to open borders to remote workers affects far more of the world. That a small, middle-income nation such as Barbados is seeking to attract remote workers is a reflection of the impact that the coronavirus has had.AD

Economic forecasts for Barbados this year are “rough, rough, rough,” Mottley said, with unemployment tripling since March, even though the country of more than 280,000 people has had fewer than 100 cases of the novel coronavirus and seven deaths — a fraction of the cases in the rest of the Americas or Europe.

“We’ve regrettably had more Barbadians die in New York, in the United States of America, then we’ve had here,” Mottley said.

Barbados’s status as a small island nation helped it avoid the worst of the pandemic. But it has felt the economic impact. The tourism industry, which may have indirectly accounted for 40 percent of gross domestic product, has been devastated.

Meanwhile, the country struggled to get access to coronavirus tests and ventilators early in the outbreak.

The island is welcoming tourists again, albeit with strict requirements on isolation and testing: The Canadian rapper Drake was spotted on the island this week, hanging around Rihanna’s childhood home. And the country has teamed up with other Caribbean nations to secure World Bank financing and personal protective equipment.AD

But Barbados is emphasizing longer-term stays over short-term tourism, aware that the former brings many of the same economic benefits with fewer pandemic risks.

For Barbados, the pandemic does not mean the end of globalization. Indeed, it may suggest the start of some deeper form of it.

Mottley hopes to attract more permanent immigration, pointing to Canada as an example of “a country that was severely underpopulated and [became] a place where others can find a home, but also add significant value to the country.”

Other Caribbean nations may well follow suit. “There is a trend here,” Arton said. “And the smaller the country, the faster they can turn around and take such a decision.”

Resource:Washington Post

Link: e-visa Portal

‘Remotely from Georgia’: new state programme to allow foreigners to travel to, work remotely from Georgia

August 27, 2020

Remotely from Georgia’, a new state programme that allows foreign citizens to travel to and work remotely from Georgia, has started today.

Foreigners from 95 countries will be allowed to apply for the programme if they intend to stay in Georgia for at least 180 days. 

What to know before applying the programme

‘Remotely from Georgia’ is designed for freelancers, full-time employees or business owners who are able to stay in Georgia for at least 360 days without a visa per their passport or other travel document. 

A citizen of a foreign country who seeks to enter Georgia long-term will have to fill out a mandatory application form available at www.stopcov.ge and obtain preliminary confirmation required for border crossing. 

While filling out the application, individuals will first select what type of application form he/she is filling out and choose from the list whether they are a freelancer, a full-time employee or an entrepreneur (business owner). Then an individual should provide personal information such as name, surname, passport number, nationality, country of residence, phone number, e-mail, date of birth, passport/residency copy, marital status and whether he/she is going to travel to Georgia alone or not.

Also, they must prove they have the financial ability to pay taxes while staying in Georgia and should have a minimum monthly salary of $2,000.

Link: e-visa Portal

After filling and sending in the application, if a foreigner is granted permission to travel and work from Georgia he/she must undergo mandatory 12-day hotel quarantine at his/her own expense. After quarantine he/she will undergo PCR testing, and if no signs of coronavirus are apparent, he/she will be able to remain in Georgia.

Also, a foreigner must have health insurance for the period of time that he/she is going to spend in Georgia.

The 95 countries are:

Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Albania, Androa, Antigua and Barbuda, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, New Zealand, Barbados, Bahrain, the Bahamas, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Territories of the Kingdom of Denmark – Faroe Islands and Greenland, the United Kingdom, the Overseas Territories of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Falkland Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ecuador, Spain, Estonia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Japan, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Ireland, Iceland, State of Israel, Italy, Canada, State of Qatar, Cyprus, Colombia, Korea, Costa Rica, Latvia, Lithuania, Lebanon, Principality of Liechtenstein, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Mauritius, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Territories of the Kingdom of the Netherlands – Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles, Kingdom of Norway, Sultanate of Oman, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian federation, Hellenic Republic, South Africa, San Marino, Kingdom of Saudi, Arabia, France, Territories of the French Republic – French Polynesia and New Caledonia, Seychelles, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Armenia, Kingdom of Thailand, Tajikistan, the United States, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Hungary, Finland, State of Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Kingdom of Sweden, Swiss Confederation, Czechia, Holy See, Croatia and Honduras. 

Resouce: Agenda

e-Estonia Digital Discussions

e-Estonia Digital Discussions is an online event series on diverse exciting topics in digitalisation. We will be hosting leading experts from the Estonian government and IT industry. Go more in-depth in our moderated breakout sessions and Q&A. If you want to stay ahead of the curve in your digitalisation plans, these are events not to miss

link: https://e-estonia.com/digital-discussions/

Ukraine starts issuing e-visas to nationals of three countries

As of now, there are 45 e-visa eligible countries.Three more countries became e-visa eligible

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to start issuing electronic visas (e-visa) to nationals of India, South Africa, and the Philippines from August 14, 2020.

“Ukrainian e-visas are issued for the following extended list of travel purposes: business; private; tourism; medical treatment; cultural/scientific/educational/sports activities; foreign mass media staff,” the ministry said on its website.

Read alsoZelensky lifts visa requirements for citizens of six countries

To apply for a Ukrainian e-visa, an applicant should register at the MFA web platform http://evisa.mfa.gov.ua and fill in online application form and upload scanned copies of required documents (photo, passport, document confirming the purpose of the visit etc.). Once an online fee is paid with a MasterCard/Visa card, an e-visa is sent to the applicant’s e-mail in pdf. format.

Prior to travel, all applicants should print out their e-visas and later present them (along with their valid passport) to Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service officers on entry to Ukraine.

According to the ministry, e-visa advantages are the following: application may be submitted remotely at any convenient time; e-visa can be obtained without visiting a consular post, e-visa application status can be tracked online; all e-visas are issued by the MFA of Ukraine; help & additional information are available at evisa@mfa.gov.ua.

Nationals of the mentioned states may still submit their regular visa applications via standard procedure to Ukraine’s foreign diplomatic missions, the ministry said.

So far, there are 45 e-visa eligible countries now: Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Bhutan, Cambodia, China (except for August 1, 2020 through January 31, 2021), Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Palau, Peru, Philippines, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Suriname, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.

Recent visa liberalization introduced by Ukraine

• President Volodymyr Zelensky approved a visa-free regime for entry into Ukraine for citizens of six countries from August 1, 2020. Citizens of Australia, New Zealand, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia do not need visas in Ukraine if their stay in Ukraine does not exceed 90 days during a 180-day period.
• President Zelensky signed a decree on a temporary visa-free regime for Chinese citizens who enter Ukraine for tourist purposes. The new regime will be in effect for the period from August 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021.

Resourse: unian

CIO of Estonia, Siim Sikkut, opens the country’s digital government up as a playground

October 2020

by Dea Paraskevopoulos

communication manager at the e-estonia briefing centre

Estonia’s second-ever governmental CIO, Siim Sikkut (37), has led the little Nordic country’s digital efforts during the last three years. And he, similarly to the digital nation itself, is showing no signs of slowing down. In its latest attempt to become more prominent than its size, Estonia now welcomes all tech firms and researchers, big and small, to come to build the digital future on top of Estonia’s digital government stack.

I meet Siim Sikkut at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, where he greets me, wearing a t-shirt and Converse Chucks – just like you’d expect from a startup chief. My arrival was announced to him via an ID-card login I just performed at the information desk – no pen or paper or secretary needed. We sit down at the ministry’s empty lunch cafeteria, it’s way past lunch hour, and during the next sixty minutes, I’ll get to peek into future plans of e-Estonia.

What is it that a country’s CIO does daily? 

Meets a lot of people and has a lot of conversations. But on a more serious note, my job is to lead and coordinate our digital state’s development. It’s being done through regulation, through investments and funding, by offering platforms along with Estonian Information System Authority – most notably our X-road. We also are going these days more hands-on and are driving new initiatives, like the current national AI strategy that seeks to boost the take-up of AI in both the private and public sectors. I’d also like to emphasize that it is not a one-man-show; in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, we have a Government CIO office. We are a team of about thirty people keeping the country’s digital innovation engine humming and cyber-safe.

How many years in the future does the CIO office live? I mean, you certainly do not discuss what’ll happen in 2021 but instead in…? 

We operate with multiple perspectives. On a strategic level, we have to envision a decade ahead in the long run because we are just now creating a new national digital agenda with a 10-year horizon. In reality, the technology changes so quickly that it doesn’t make sense to have a solid strategy for more than a couple of years ahead. I’ll give you an example. In 2013, when my predecessor Taavi Kotka served as the Government CIO and worked at the Government Office, we had a vivid discussion of whether AI will become a thing by 2020. Some of the world’s most prominent tech gurus were saying at the time – no way, it is only in the labs, no need to plan for it yet. Four years later, AI was on our phones and in the applications we use. Thus, the strategy has to be nimble to incorporate the fast changes around. Finally, our operational work plans are 3-6 months ahead. Again, that is the way to be agile enough.

We here in Estonia like to think that we have an outstanding reputation as a country – we’ve been even dubbed “the digital nation.” So do the Apples and Googles knocking on our door and offering their products and services – like Siri and Google Assistant – to be used in our digitalization? 

Well, we get too often offered what these companies want to sell today. But as a government and as a government CIO Office, we are most interested in a collaboration that builds a future. Often the things of the future haven’t been turned into business yet. But you are right; Estonia does have the luxury as a state to be approached by companies often enough with interest to try something out together. Remarkably, more and more, these are innovative startups and scaleups contacting us, also from inside our own country as we have a vibrant tech scene here. And this is part of my agenda, our plan as the Government CIO office – to open up our national digital government stack more so that companies can come and build things on top of it.

So kind of like Estonian e-state Linux. 

Something like that. We are putting more and more stuff out there for reuse: the open data field is growing firm, we are building up a public code repository for government solutions. Plus, we have created a unique legal framework to make the collaboration possible. We call it a “playground” arrangement. So you can be a tech giant, a startup, a researcher from uni, from anywhere in the world – if you have something you are building that could be a good complement to Estonian digital services and tech stack, we’d be happy to offer a testbed so that you can bring it to the world. As a government, we benefit from better solutions; you get a reference that the world notices.

Estonia and Finland are working closely together and even founded a non-profit association with the mission to ensure the development and strategic management of X-Road® and other cross-border components for e-government infrastructure. But what does that mean? 

It means that we have put the money together so that both Finland and Estonia would get more bang for the buck than investing in X-Road alone. The Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS) was created with a very logical principle – since we started developing a joint data exchange platform based on Estonia’s X-Road, why not continue developing the X-Road together, too. We get more and better core technology for possibly even less money we would spend alone.

And I would like to emphasize that the X-Road is a free and open-source data exchange platform solution open for anyone, not only Estonia and Finland. All the extra developments made by NIIS will also benefit others using X-Road – whether somewhere in Latin America, the Faroe Islands and Iceland, or wherever the next X-Road users will be. Speaking of NIIS, it is open for the next countries to join and have a say in X-Road core tech development solutions, too.

I’ve heard some discontented rumbles that the X-road is antiquated and shouldn’t be used anymore. 

Fundamentally I would say it is quite the opposite. The need for a highly secured data exchange is only increasing globally. And to do it cross-border, in a standardized and highly secure manner, in a scalable way, with any type of data – I do not see anything equal to the X-Road out there. Of course, there are about hundreds or thousands of ways it is being solved for the Internet of Things producers ecosystems, but it isn’t scalable since there are too many different ways. This is the magic of the X-Road – once you’re a part of it, you can collaborate with all other same ecosystem members easily. Plus, we have seen it scale in a way more significant ecosystems than Estonia – take Ukraine, for example. Naturally, I am always open to discuss how to make it even better. This is why we founded NIIS and continue to invest in it along with Finland, and hopefully, others. For example, X-Road version 7 should finally be out. We are constantly improving X-Road to meet changing needs, and any technology must develop continuously. But I have not seen anything better for secured data exchange anywhere in the world.

But coming back to the citizen’s view – why this is whom you work for in your digitalization efforts! – so now Estonians can use digital prescriptions in Finland and Portugal and vice-versa. What is the logic behind these cross-border projects, and why aren’t there more of these? 

It takes two to tango. It starts with each country’s technological and political readiness. Suppose with Finland we also have a real use-case. In that case, there’s a lot of travel to and from Finland (at least under normal aka non-COVID-19 times!) – than with Portugal, we wanted to show to the rest of Europe that it is possible to make cross-border digital solutions even between countries that are further apart! Sometimes these collaborations are to spark belief – it can be done; let’s not just talk but do it.

Now there’s talk of a European ID.

A lot of it is due because Estonia started talking about it – with our Prime Minister taking the proposal to the European Council, for example. It is still puzzling that people in several European states do not have a chance to get a secure, nationally recognized digital identity. The idea of the European ID would be to oblige all states to issue or select and nominate a secure identity. In our view, European ID doesn’t mean it has to be issued by Brussels; just all of the existing and future secure IDs should work together as a single European ID effectively.

Who does e-Estonia look up to? 

There is no one single country – even the law of comparative advantage says that nobody can be the best in the world in everything. We try to have a close friendship with nations with a consistent track record of doing exciting and useful things in digitalizing their states and doing so in a way that we can learn from. That is why we are a part of the Digital Nations group of some of the world’s most advanced digital governments. But there are others, too, like our friends in Singapore who always make great strides and fast in country-wide adoption of the latest technologies.

How tech are you in your everyday life? Are there gadgets or apps or e-solutions that you use daily? 

It’s a good question! As for any professional people, my work-life runs significantly on tech, and I would not be nearly as efficient without a smartphone these days. I do still prefer human-to-human interaction in many ways, too. Of course, I am an advanced user in tech, but it doesn’t dominate my thinking. And I’ve never wanted the latest gadgets for the sake of cool – I am very pragmatic, and I like my gadgets if they add practical value. As such, there is one thing I would so like to use – but it is still to be built, funny enough. A functioning virtual assistant that could manage my calendar without glitches. There are quite a few trials on the market, but they are still too basic to work well.

What was the last book you read and recommend? 

I have quite a few still half-way. But the last two I finished are these. First was the memoir of a former Estonian prime minister Mart Laar where he also described – albeit too briefly for my taste! – the early days of what we today know as e-Estonia. And the second one was Anne Applebaum’s “Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism,” which is a great attempt to try somehow to explain our current crazy political times.

If you would have time for only one newsfeed to follow on digital government and society developments and trends, what would you recommend?

Keep following e-Estonia. Whether via the monthly newsletter or our Twitter. You will know what we are up to next!

Resource: e-estonia

Estonia’s e-state conquering the world through the WHO

October 2020

by Peeter Vihma

Monday marks a historic moment for Estonia’s digital success story and quite possibly for the rest of the world, too. On this day, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Prime Minister of Estonia Jüri Ratas and Head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for developing distributed digital infrastructure providing health solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

“We are talking about potentially planetary data exchange and the legal framework around it that is based on X-Road, the cornerstone of the Estonian e-government,” said Marten Kaevats, Digital Adviser of the State Chancellery and the primary architect for this deal.

Today WHO, tomorrow the UN

Since Mr. Kaevats became a member of the WHO Digital Health Technology Advisory Group in 2019, the interoperability of systems has become the WHO strategy’s key word. A pilot project connecting databases of about 20 countries is underway. However, the ambition is to provide the organization with a comprehensive digital data management plan with appropriate tools and methods. As a logical follow-up, he sees that it could become part of global data governance through the United Nations in the future.

The first project where distributed architecture will be piloted is the so-called “digital certificate of vaccination,” planned in cooperation with Guardtime, a digital security company. The aim is to provide reliable proof of immunity against COVID-19 in the likely future where the vaccine certificates are not totally reliable.

A necessity for data integrity

“We can easily imagine a scenario when we cannot be sure of the data integrity between the actual vaccine shot, its certificate, and the person carrying it. For example, some countries’ vaccines are simply substituted for fakes or the document to prove your vaccination comes from nowhere. In this case, the data integrity delivered by digital solutions becomes paramount,” explains Ain Aaviksoo, Chief Medical Officer at Guardtime Health.

“X-Road enables safe and anonymous interaction. When we have a list of reliable laboratories hosted by the WHO and each person has a digital identifier – say a QRS code – you would be, first, able to make queries into the databases without sending any private information and second, for databases of different countries and organizations safely to connect,” elaborates Mr. Kaevats.

“In this way, Estonian X-Road is offering an alternative to the two main data handling principles: Big Brother approach where the government is controlling all information or the Big Bucks approach where private enterprises hold our data. I’m not satisfied with either of these, and we offer a third option. I like to name it Little Brother. This is a solution where people themselves own data, and the state is offering transparent and safe infrastructure standards,” says Mr. Kaevats.

This solution is being developed internationally by NIIS (Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions) that includes Estonia, Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. Mr. Kaevats stresses, though, that the benefit of X-Road is that the level of technological development of the country holds little importance. Countries as diverse as Singapore, Argentina, Chile, Cape Verde, and Rwanda are interested in the technology. Estonia’s cooperation with WHO is a significant step in exporting Estonian digital solutions and is likely to accelerate its demand and implementation.

Resource: e-estonia

Republic Of Georgia E-Visa: Digital Nomad Visa

The Republic of Georgia is quickly becoming a go-to country for digital nomads. Situated in the Caucasus region on the Eurasian crossroads between East and West, Georgia offers an exciting range of experiences to any adventurous and entrepreneurial expat. What’s more, it’s new e-Visa might just be the best way you can explore this little-known but highly appealing country.

Despite a somewhat turbulent history, there are lots of reasons to head to Georgia. Its climate offers both temperate and subtropical conditions, allowing you to ski amongst alpine mountains or relax on sandy beaches. Alternatively, there are many cultural sites of interest in Georgia, from the wonderful church at Mtkhtseta to the wine region of Imereti or Kakheti Wine Tours.

Make sure to read: Exploring Tbilisi And Georgia’s Unusual Sights for information on an e-visa or digital nomad visa for Georgia.

When you plan your trip to Georgia, make sure you read this great article: Planning Your Visit To Georgia

Since July 2020, Georgia has joined Barbados and Estonia in offering an e-Visa or digital nomad visas to foreign visitors. The goal of the program is to promote foreign investment in the small country of 3.7 million. Crucially, Georgia’s e-Visa or digital nomad visa offers an easy and affordable way to spend a short amount of time in the country and see if this is where you’d like to spend longer periods of time or conduct business.

Why A Georgia e-Visa or Digital Nomad Visa?

Georgia’s e-Visa is good news for the expat community for many reasons. Georgia’s capital city of Tbilisi offers low costs of living (5th in the world at the time of writing according to Expatistan!), with Airbnb prices highly affordable for shorter stays and new apartments in central Tbilisi going for as little as EU 15,000.  You’ll pay little tax once you’ve obtained Georgian residency and tax liability, and it’s very easy to do business and banking here even for foreigners.

Is skiing something that interests you? The opportunity to ski in Georgia is amazing, check out this great article: Skiing Georgia

Do I Even Need A Visa To Go To Georgia?

You don’t need a visa to go to Georgia if you are from one of the 98 countries listed below. This includes the US, EU countries, Canada and Russia. 

List of Countries whose Citizens may Enter Georgia without Visa for 1 (One) Full Year (Unless Otherwise Noted)

	EU States		Botswana		Holy See		Moldova		Seychelles
	Albania		Brazil		Honduras		Monaco		Singapore
	Andorra		British Dependent Territories		Iceland		Montenegro		South Africa
	Antigua and Barbuda		British Overseas Territories		Iran (45 days)		Netherlands Territories		South Korea
	Argentina		Brunei		Israel		New Zealand		Switzerland
	Armenia		Canada		Japan		Norway		Tajikistan
	Australia		Chile (90/180 days)		Kazakhstan		Oman		Thailand
	Azerbaijan		Colombia		Kuwait		Panama		Turkey
	Bahamas		Costa Rica		Kyrgyzstan		Qatar		Turkmenistan
	Bahrain		Denmark Territories		Lebanon		Russia		Ukraine
	Barbados		Dominican Republic		Liechtenstein		Saint Vincent and Grenadines		United Arab Emirates
	Belarus		Ecuador		Malaysia		San Marino		United States of America
	Belize		El Salvador		Mauritius		Saudi Arabia		Uruguay (90days)
	Bosnia and Herzegovina		French Republic Territories		Mexico		Serbia		Uzbekistan
	Jordan

If you are from one of these countries, then you don’t need a visa or residence permit at all for a stay of up to one year. If you’re looking to spend longer than a year in Georgia, then you will need a visa. To obtain this, you’ll either need to contact a Georgian embassy or consulate in your home country or visit the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. You can then renew your visa simply by leaving Georgian territory (before coming back again, obviously!). This essentially allows you to live in the country indefinitely but this isn’t the same thing as obtaining Georgian residency or citizenship. 

To obtain permanent residency, you’ll need to have stayed in Georgia for 6 years with a temporary residence permit. To obtain citizenship, you’ll need to have stayed in Georgia lawfully for ten consecutive years, take an official Georgian language test, take a test on Georgian history and the principles of Georgian law, and have a job or real estate in Georgia. You can find out more about the details of all this here.    

However, you do need a visa if you are from one of the 66 countries listed here. If this applies to you, the e-Visa is definitely worth considering because it is your easiest and cheapest option. It is ideal if you want to enter into and travel within Georgia for a limited period of time. 

There are two types of Georgia e-Visas, both of which allow multiple entries into Georgia. This is because there are two types of validity associated with Georgia’s e-Visa depending on your Country of Travel document or passport. 

• The e-Visa with a validity of 120 days after arrival lets you stay for up to 30 days per entry during this 120-day period. This applies to countries including India, China and Indonesia. 
• The e-Visa with a validity of 180 days after arrival lets you stay for up to 90 days per entry during this 180-day period. This applies to countries including Bolivia, Cuba, Peru and Paraguay.

Applying For Your e-Visa

The process of applying for a Georgia e-Visa is simple and can be done entirely online. You can apply either on the official government website, which charges a fee of just USD $20.50 or we suggest using iVisa.com which is much better,  which charges an additional handling fee of USD 20.00 for ease and peace of mind. iVisa might be useful if you want an official business to sort out the application process for you or if you are having trouble with the Georgian government site. For example, the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently not offering e-Visas due to the Covid-19 pandemic. You can either keep checking the government website to see when e-Visas become available again or go to iVisa.com instead.

If you’re going to submit an application for your Georgian e-Visa, you’ll need the following: 

• A copy of your passport personal details 
• Passport photograph 
• Accommodation details 
• Your travel dates 
• Credit/debit card or PayPal account

Once you’ve gone through the straightforward application process, you’ll receive your e-Visa by email within 5 working days. You’ll also receive a landing authorization that you will be required to present upon arrival. This makes the e-Visa the ideal choice if you are short on time, don’t want the hassle of visiting a Georgian embassy or consulate and don’t want to spend a lot of money on a normal visa.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to extend your e-Visa while in Georgia, so take this into account when planning your stay.

You’ll Have To Present The Following Upon Arrival In Georgia: 

• Document proving the purpose of travel and proof of a return ticket
• Proof of accommodation 
• Travel and health insurance 
• Document proving sufficient financial means while in Georgia (recent bank statement, reference from employer re your position and income, the document proving possession of real estate, a letter from a sponsor)

Conclusion

• The e-Visa is only necessary if you are from one of the 66 countries mentioned above
• The e-Visa will be valid for a total of either 120 or 180 days depending on which country you’re from
• The e-Visa is ideal if you want to spend a short amount of time in Georgia and don’t want the hassle of going to a Georgian embassy or consulate 
• The Georgian e-Visa is a convenient way to spend time in Georgia, allowing you the right to travel throughout Georgia and set up a Georgian bank account
• The e-Visa is not an easy path to residency or citizenship. However, it may be the way in which to begin pursuing this if you are serious about spending a large part of your life in Georgia
• You cannot extend your e-Visa while in Georgia

About The Author

Mikkel Thorup is the Director at EscapeArtist.com the oldest and largest offshore website in the world and hosts The Expat Money Show podcast. He is also the author of #1 Best-Selling book Expat Secrets on Amazon. Mikkel has spent over 20 years in continual travel around the world, visiting more than 100 countries including Colombia, North Korea, Zimbabwe, and Iran. His goal is to help people just like you to generate additional streams of income, legally eliminate your tax bill, and take advantage of offshore structures so you can travel the world freely and never have to worry about money again. Follow Mikkel Thorup on Twitter @ThorupMikkel

Resurce: escapeartist

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