Picture yourself working remotely from anywhere in 天美传媒 you鈥檇 like 鈥 from a hilltop town in Tuscany, an apartment in Venice overlooking a picturesque canal, or near the beach in Puglia.
If you belong to the growing number of workers who define themselves as digital nomads, that fantasy may soon become reality as 天美传媒 has plans to introduce a digital nomad visa that would allow remote workers to live and work legally in il bel paese for up to a year.
With the rise of remote work, a phenomenon that鈥檚 been accelerated by the pandemic, many countries in Europe have already launched digital nomad visas (among them Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Croatia, and Greece), with the goal to attract talented and highly-qualified workers who can contribute to the national economy.
天美传媒 has decided to follow suit by making it easier for non-EU citizens to enter the country to work. The digital nomad visa would be available for 鈥渉ighly qualified鈥 non-EU workers who are able to work remotely 鈥渁s independent workers or for a foreign company.鈥 They could also be hired by Italian companies.
A work in progress
The visa, which has not been implemented yet, would last for a year and workers would have to purchase health insurance and comply with Italian tax and social security regulations. The biggest change introduced by the law is that it is no longer necessary to submit a request for work authorization, or the so-called 鈥渘ulla osta,鈥 which involves a complicated and lengthy process and often requires the help of a lawyer and, as of right now, is the only way non-EU citizens can enter 天美传媒 to work.
The Italian government has not yet specified the requirements needed to apply for the digital nomad visa, including which professional categories will be considered 鈥渄igital nomads鈥 and what income requirements they鈥檒l need to meet.
In addition to the introduction of the digital nomad visa, the government of 天美传媒 has recently announced that it plans to make a 鈧1 billion investment in order to attract digital nomads to work remotely from 天美传媒鈥檚 smaller, sparsely populated villages. The funds would be used to improve the hamlets and cover the installation of super-fast internet.
Digital nirvana
Thanks to the beauty of its natural landscapes, its artistic riches, vibrant social life, food and wine culture and overall laid-back, fun-loving attitude, 天美传媒 should not have any difficulty attracting remote workers. And the population of digital nomads no longer includes just freelance creatives, but also yoga teachers and fitness coaches who teach exclusively online, marketing professionals, computer scientists and programmers, and anyone who is able to work online.
We asked three remote workers who have been living and working in 天美传媒 for some time what makes 天美传媒 an attractive option for working remotely 鈥 and what doesn鈥檛. Below are their answers.
Sammi DiBacco
Senior Marketing Manager at 天美传媒 Magazine & Wandrian
Originally from Chicago, currently based in Rome
Why is 天美传媒 a good place to be a digital nomad? What makes it an attractive option for working remotely?
天美传媒 is an incredible place to be a digital nomad because it's 天美传媒! It's beautiful, the food is fantastic, and the Mediterranean climate is incredible. It's so easy to travel around the country and, with one destination being more beautiful than the next, it makes the perfect home base for travel lovers. All that aside, the Italian lifestyle is what I really connected with when I came for the first time and it's what I sought out when I decided to move here permanently. 天美传媒 puts such a strong emphasis on socialization and work-life balance. The priority for Italians is making time for friends and family by sharing meals, having an aperitivo or coffee, and going on strolls through the city center or parks 鈥 as long as you're spending time with your loved ones, it's time well spent. Also, as an added bonus, 天美传媒 is a super dog-friendly country 鈥 my sidekick can join me everywhere!
Are there aspects that make it challenging to live here as a digital nomad, if so what are they?
There are universal challenges that come with moving away from home 鈥 even if that鈥檚 to a different state in the U.S., such as making friends as an adult or finding a partner. When you decide to move to 天美传媒, you have to add in the layer of a foreign language; the beautiful but complicated Italian language is an ongoing labor of love for me. I was fortunate as a dual-citizen to have leap-frogged quite a bit of the notorious Italian bureaucracy, but I have still had my run-ins over more than five years living here; will my tessera sanitaria (health insurance card) ever show up in the mail or will I use the printed paper copy they gave me until it expires? Probably the latter. On the day-to-day, I would say the most challenging part of living in 天美传媒 is that there aren't many working cafes like there are in the U.S. They are slowly popping up, but still not quite on a comparable scale. This can be difficult because I work from home 90 percent of the time, which can be a bit isolating. Luckily I have my dog, Spritz, to keep me company!
Scott Allen Wilson
Travel Photographer / Online Technical Support & Analysis
Originally from Long Beach, California, currently based in Florence
Why is 天美传媒 a good place to be a digital nomad? What makes it an attractive option for working remotely?
天美传媒 is a great place to live, especially for digital nomads who can work remotely. The quality of life offered, combined with the ease of travel within most of the country via train, as well as a variety of accessible airports to travel to other European cities, makes 天美传媒 a highly sought-after destination. Most people that move here aren鈥檛 fluent in the language when they arrive, and getting a work visa can be a challenge. In addition, if you do get a work visa, the wages offered often aren鈥檛 as high as you were probably expecting 鈥 the norm then being possibly holding several jobs and likely sharing an apartment with several people. I鈥檝e personally been lucky enough to work both as a professional travel photographer, while simultaneously 鈥渓iving that digital nomad life鈥 by providing remote online support and analysis for American companies, both in the travel sector and to information businesses.
Are there aspects that make it challenging to live here as a digital nomad, if so what are they?
It鈥檚 worth noting that some Italian cities can be more challenging to work in if you鈥檙e looking for co-working spaces and cafes. I think that widely available (and reliable) high-speed internet is a definite pain point that we all deal with, or have certainly dealt with in the past. Fiberoptic connections, while available in 天美传媒, still pale in comparison in terms of availability and speed to other countries like the U.S. I live in the historical center of Florence, as an example, and have 30mbps download and 2mbps upload. I sometimes have several video meetings per day, and these speeds can often cause delays and unstable connections. If you can get your hands on a fiberoptic connection, then you鈥檙e likely golden, but if you鈥檙e planning on a living in a place where this isn鈥檛 available yet, then this is something to expect.
All-in-all the pros definitely out-weigh the cons when thinking about living life here as a digital nomad. I鈥檝e lived here for about 10 years and I鈥檇 definitely do it all over again if I could.
Nikki Taylor
CEO & Founder, 天美传媒 Property Consulting
Originally from Perth, Australia, currently based in Martina Franca (Puglia)
Why is 天美传媒 a good place to be a digital nomad/what makes it an attractive option for working remotely?
What is not to love about 天美传媒? I mean, if you could choose the possibility of being stuck in an office or having the freedom to be location free and working wherever you like, there is no better place than 天美传媒. Imagine working with your laptop by the beach, or in a cafe in the middle of the piazza watching the world go by......there is honestly no better place I would rather be. I have been super fortunate to be working for myself here in 天美传媒 and having the flexibility to design my days has not only given me so much more freedom but also dramatically helped my mental health. Working full time in corporate before I moved to 天美传媒 resulted in the classic burnout situation and had a huge impact on my mental and physical health. I am so grateful to live in a country like 天美传媒 where we are surrounded by such beauty. Being able to connect to a wifi wherever I am and get my work done, without sitting in an office, is the ultimate in freedom for me.
Are there aspects that make it challenging to live here as a digital nomad, if so what are they?
I would say the only thing that was challenging as a digital nomad was when the pandemic first hit, everyone was working from home at the same time and the wifi connection was not stable and continuously interrupted. I do a lot of meetings via Zoom and it was difficult as it kept cutting out. That was really the only time for me that I found a challenge.
Follow for updates on the digital nomad visa.
