Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis’ remarks in the 1st Digital Mobilities Conference: Nomads and Remote Workers (08.11.2021)
“The Digital Nomads Visa that we introduced at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the ‘Blue Carpet Policy’ offers a simple, functional, accessible and secure framework, so that Greece becomes a place of attraction for digital nomads”, stressed Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, addressing today the 1st Online Digital Mobilities Conference: Nomads and Remote Workers, organized in Athens by the Digital Nomads Observatory.
In particular, the Alternate Minister pointed out that at a time when the form of labor is changing and states are competing to win over those who provide services at a distance, Greece is a country that can attract digital nomads for many reasons, such as the good quality of life it offers, the exceptional weather conditions, the cheap cost of living, the increased capabilities of its human resources, the administrative efficiency of the state, but also the competitive tax framework that has been introduced especially for these workers.
In this respect, as the Alternate Minister explained, Greece, following the good practices of other countries, such as Estonia, Croatia and the Czech Republic, has formulated an integrated policy to attract workers from third countries, the so-called “Blue Carpet Policy”. More specifically, following the introduction Business Visa and Student Visa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proceeded with the establishment of Digital Nomads Visa, in order to attract employees with a fairly high income (over € 3,500 per month) and guaranteed living expenses. Thus, he added, Greece not only created a simple electronic process to attract them, but also left no room for circumvention of the new legal framework against efforts to legalize cases of illegal immigration.
Finally, Mr. Varvitsiotis, underlined the growing interest that has been demonstrated in attracting specific teleworkers in Greece and especially in specific areas of the Greek periphery, where clusters tend to be created, and he announced that the efforts to improve and rationalize visa issuance system will continue, placing special emphasis on the introduction of a new form of visa for medical tourism (Medical Visa) and the upgrade and redesigning of the relevant website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.