Belize Digital Nomad Visa | An Incomplete Guide

What is digital nomad visa?

“Digital nomads” represent a lifestyle trend that has gained prominence in the 21st century. With the advancement of information technology, an increasing number of professionals—such as IT workers, media personnel, language teachers, and freelancers—have broken free from traditional office settings. They now have the ability to work remotely from any location worldwide with internet access. This concept of remote work gained significant traction, especially before and during the pandemic.

Once liberated from office constraints, some remote workers choose to embrace a unique lifestyle: they carry their bags and travel to various destinations while continuing to work remotely. These individuals, known as “digital nomads,” experience a blend of exploring new cultures and working from different corners of the world.

To attract digital nomads and promote tourism and emerging industries, governments in at least 65 countries and regions worldwide have introduced specialized digital nomad visas. These visas typically have the following characteristics:

1. Applicants must be remote workers with stable monthly income and cannot be employed locally.

2. Digital nomad visas are essentially extended travel visas, often valid for one year and allowing residence for up to two to four years in the destination country without the option for permanent immigration.

However, in some Latin American and Southern European countries—such as Portugal, Spain, Uruguay, and Ecuador—digital nomads can eventually obtain local permanent residency or even naturalization after accumulating a certain length of stay.

For more information on digital nomad visa programs, explore the details in our “Global Digital Nomad Visas | An Incomplete Handbook” on this websites.

Belize Digital Nomad Visa:

In February 2021, the Belize Tourism Board launched a digital nomad visa program called “Work Where You Vacation,” which allows remote workers with an annual income of over $75,000 USD to live and work remotely in Belize.

If you are applying for the visa with your family, the annual income must be at least $100,000 USD.

In addition to the financial requirements, applicants for this program must also meet basic conditions such as being in good health, having no criminal record, and purchasing health insurance that covers the local area.

Similar to most Latin American countries, the Belize digital nomad visa is a non-immigrant visa. It is valid for only six months and cannot be converted into permanent residency or citizenship, but it can be renewed indefinitely under the same conditions.

Application Process:

As an emerging digital nomad visa program, the Belize digital nomad visa application process can be completed entirely online. You simply need to register an account on the official website of the Work Where You Vacation Program, fill out the application form, upload the required documents, and then submit your visa application.

You can also mail your application to visas@immigration.gov.bz or secretary@immigration.gov.bz.

Required documents for this program include:

• Applicant Identification Documents: This includes passports for all primary and secondary applicants, passport-sized photos, birth certificates, marriage certificates, and other documents proving the relationship between primary and secondary applicants.

• Proof of Remote Work: You need to provide an employment contract or detailed self-employment information to prove that you are engaged in remote work.

• Proof of Income: You need to prove that your remote work generates an annual income of over $75,000 USD; if there are secondary applicants accompanying you, you need to prove an annual income of over $100,000 USD.

• Proof of Health Insurance: You must purchase health insurance for all primary and secondary applicants with a coverage amount of at least $50,000 USD per person per year, covering Belize.

• Criminal Record Certificate: All adult primary and secondary applicants must provide a criminal record certificate issued within the past six months from their current place of residence.

All documents from outside Belize must be notarized, and non-English documents must be translated into English.

The visa fee for the Belize digital nomad visa program is $250 USD per adult and $100 USD per secondary applicant under 18 years old. The processing time for the visa is not fixed but usually takes just a few weeks.

Dependents:

For the Belize digital nomad visa, the primary applicant can include their spouse and children under 18 in the visa application.

Useful Links:

Belize digit nomad visa: https://www.travelbelize.org/work-where-you-vacation/