Programmes That Ended or Never Opened

The tracker

What each programme offered, and what is left

Iceland

Iceland's long-term visa for remote workers, introduced in 2020, let people employed or self-employed abroad stay beyond the Schengen short-stay limit. Its legal basis was the provision on long-term visas in the Foreign Nationals Act. The Directorate of Immigration's announcement of 13 May 2026 is short and unambiguous: visa services moved to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs under the new Visa Act, the long-term visa provision was repealed and a new short-term residence permit took its place. Anyone who read about the Iceland nomad visa before May 2026 should treat that information as history.

Bermuda

The Work From Bermuda Certificate was one of the first pandemic-era programmes and one of the best known. The Government's own FAQ now opens with the notice that the initiative concluded on 28 February 2025, that holders had 90 days from the expiry of their certificate to settle their affairs and leave, and that those wishing to stay could apply for Permission to Reside on an Annual Basis, filing one to two months before their certificate expired.

Cayman Islands

The Global Citizen Concierge Programme was launched in October 2020 for high earners working remotely for employers outside the islands. It never had a permanent legal basis: it rested on time-limited exemption regulations, which were extended and, under the 2021 amendment, ran to 30 November 2024. The programme is not open today, and Cayman Enterprise City's company-based offering is a different product with different requirements.

Antigua and Barbuda

The Nomad Digital Residence offered a two-year special-residence authorisation to remote workers with an expected income of at least US$50,000 a year, for fees of US$1,500 for an individual, US$2,000 for a couple and US$3,000 for a family. The official portal carried a banner saying the programme had ended; some third-party guides still describe it as open.

The Bahamas

BEATS was an annual residence permit for remote professionals and students, renewable for up to three years. The programme's own FAQ still lists the published terms: a US$25 application fee per applicant and per dependant, and a permit fee of US$1,000 per applicant plus US$500 for each dependant, with applications through the Department of Immigration's portal. Those pages were never updated to explain the suspension, which is why BEATS keeps appearing in lists of open programmes.

Peru

When Legislative Decree 1582 created the "digital nomad" migratory category, the Superintendencia Nacional de Migraciones announced (on 20 November 2023) a stay of 365 days, extendable, for foreigners working remotely for companies outside Peru, and said it would start to be granted once the category was regulated. Until the procedure, requirements and fees are published, there is nothing to apply for.

Philippines

Executive Order No. 86 directs the Department of Foreign Affairs to issue a Digital Nomad Visa to people aged 18 or over who work remotely with digital technologies, earn sufficient income from outside the Philippines, hold health insurance for the stay and have no criminal record, and who come from countries that offer a comparable visa to Filipinos. Reciprocity is the key limit: without an official list of qualifying countries, no applicant can be sure of being eligible. Check with the embassy before planning around it.

If you already hold a permit from a programme that closed

A programme closing to new applicants does not usually cancel permits already issued, but the transitional rules are set country by country. Bermuda's approach is one example: existing certificates ran to their expiry date, followed by a fixed period to leave or switch to another category. If your programme has closed, read the official notice for three things: whether your current permit stays valid, whether it can be renewed, and which category you can switch to without leaving the country.

Places with no nomad visa at all

Some countries appear in nomad-visa lists without ever having created one. The atlas keeps them because the question comes up constantly:

• Georgia relies on long visa-free stays for many nationalities rather than a nomad visa; its pandemic-era "Remotely from Georgia" scheme is no longer the route. Read the country page for the work-permit rules in force since 1 March 2026.
• Norway has no permit for remote work for foreign clients. The self-employed permit sometimes marketed as a nomad visa requires a Norwegian business and Norwegian clients.

How to spot a dead programme

• The official page is gone or has no application link. Government sites rarely announce the end of a programme loudly; pages simply stop working, as happened with Cayman's programme pages.
• Only tourism or marketing sites mention it. A programme is real when an immigration authority publishes its requirements and an application route, not when a tourism board or an agency describes it.
• The law exists but the procedure doesn't. In several countries a nomad category was created on paper and never received the regulations, forms or fees needed to use it.
• Figures never change. If every article quotes the same income and fee from years ago, check the date of the rule they rely on.

Programmes that changed rather than closed

Many programmes are alive but no longer match what older guides say. Income thresholds rise with average wages, fees are indexed and eligibility lists change. Among the programmes in the atlas, Malta raised its income requirement in 2024, Romania, Latvia and the Czech Republic tie their thresholds to national average wages that are updated every year, and Japan's visa fee changed on 1 July 2026. Each country page shows the date it was last verified.

Related guides

• Schengen 90/180, EES and ETIAS
• Nomad visa or freelance permit?
• From a nomad visa to permanent residence
• Proof of income

Official sources