Corona Daily 347: Work from Paradise

For the past five months, many of my friends are working from their homes in New York, London, Bombay or other corona red zones. Some of them are top executives, earning handsomely, working even more than usual, but under house arrest. Their spouses work online, children attend schools virtually, and this situation is not expected to change anytime soon. From this month, they get an opportunity to “work from paradise”.

Since the advent of internet and wifi, a new tribe called “Digital nomads” came into existence. In 2019, USA had 41 million independent workers, including freelancers, consultants and temporary contract workers. That group included 7.3 million self-declared digital nomads. They were location-independent, technology-enabled. They could move to places with lower cost of living, better weather and quality of life, and still work for their American employer.

2020 Pandemic is likely to push this figure further. The added benefit is relocating to virus-safe places to enjoy weekends and evenings. This month, four countries have started giving you a legal 12-month residence. Barbados, Bermuda, Georgia and Estonia. You can migrate there, and continue to do the same online work you are doing now.

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Barbados, in fact, calls its program “work from paradise”. It gives an applicant a 12-month Barbados welcome stamp. Tourism was Barbados’s lifeline. International tourists were more than twice the number of locals. Between April and June this year, not a single tourist flew in. The work from paradise initiative attempts to attract foreigners back. Barbados’s population is less than 300,000, infection cases 164 and corona deaths 7. It is in the same time zone as New York. Driving is on the left side of the road, though.

The Barbados program requires an annual income of $50000, but appears to be more flexible in practice. Anyone in the world can come there, as long as you have the means to sustain your stay. In the first week itself, Barbados received more than 1000 applications, mainly from the USA, Canada and Britain.

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Bermuda offers a “work from Bermuda” certificate. The entire process is online and takes only five working days. Bermuda’s population is 62,000, with 168 cases, and 9 deaths. One hour ahead of New York, Bermuda also drives on the left. You can bring not only your families, but also the domestic staff. Bermuda allows only one car per household. Application fee is $263 per person. In the first week, it received 69 applications.

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Georgia, the former Soviet republic, now an independent country, offers long term visas. A nation of 4 million people, it has had 1436 cases, and 19 deaths. Two bedroom apartments in Tbilisi, the capital, cost $500 a month, utilities $50 a month, and wifi is fast and reliable. I have been to Georgia. Its cuisine, wines and bathhouses are outstanding.

A great offer for nomads. Unfortunately, it is restricted to 95 countries, and India is not among them.

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Estonia, part of Soviet Union in the past, but now part of the European Union, offers high quality of life and safety. With a population of 1.33 million, it has had 2311 cases and 64 deaths. It requires 3500 Euros as your monthly income. Its visa is called the “digital nomad visa”.

I can vouch for the beauty of Tallinn and its center. People, like in neighbouring Finland, are phlegmatic and the Estonian language is unintelligible. But it is a civilized European place. Estonia has prescribed a threshold (infection rate in your country) based on which they will accept applications. Currently, neither Americans nor Indians qualify for obvious reasons.

Ravi