Vietnamese passports do not qualify for Japan or Colombia nomad visas

As of 9 October 2026, a Vietnamese passport does not qualify for Japan’s or Colombia’s digital nomad visa. Japan admits only nationals of listed countries, and Colombia only passports from countries exempt from its short-stay visa; Vietnam is not among them.

Spain, Portugal, Italy, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia set no nationality bar on Vietnamese applicants, with tests from THB 500,000 in funds in Thailand to USD 60,000 a year in income in Indonesia and, for non-tech roles, Malaysia.

Six visas open to a Vietnamese passport

Japan and Colombia: not open to a Vietnamese passport

Japan’s “Designated Activities (Digital Nomad)” status is open only to nationals of countries covered both by Japan’s visa exemption for temporary visitors and by a Japanese tax convention, as listed in a chart linked from the Immigration Services Agency’s page. The chart is undated; the file was last modified in July 2025.

Vietnam is not on it, either for applicants or for accompanying spouses and children; Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore are. For listed nationals the status requires annual income of ¥10 million and lasts six months, with no extension and no residence card. Japan’s business manager status is covered in a separate article.

Colombia’s Digital Nomad visa requires a passport issued by a country exempt from its short-stay visa. The foreign ministry’s May 2026 list puts Vietnam among countries whose nationals need a visa, exempting only those who hold a United States or Schengen visa valid for more than 180 days at the time of entry.

The texts consulted do not say whether that individual exemption meets the nomad visa’s passport test.

For eligible nationals, the visa requires income of three times the monthly minimum wage, shown on bank statements for the last three months. It is a visitor visa, which gives no resident status; only time on migrant visas counts towards a resident visa.

Spain: €2,442 a month, filed in Hanoi

Spain’s international telework residence, added to Law 14/2013 by an amendment in force since 23 December 2022, is open to any non-EU national with a degree or three years’ professional experience. The Embassy of Spain in Hanoi publishes its own checklist, written with Vietnamese citizens as the default applicants.

Employees may work only for companies outside Spain that have no Spanish subsidiary; the self-employed may take up to 20% of their work from Spanish companies. The working relationship must be at least three months old, and the foreign company must have been active for at least a year.

The income benchmark is 200% of Spain’s gross minimum wage, which Royal Decree 126/2026 set at €1,221 a month for 2026: €2,442 a month, as the embassy’s own table shows. The first family member adds €915.75 and each further one €305.25, so a couple with one child needs €3,663 a month.

Spouses or partners, minor or dependent adult children, and dependent parents or grandparents may apply with the holder or later, and the government’s guidance says their permits allow them to work.

The visa lasts up to one year; in Spain, the holder can then apply for a residence authorisation of up to three years, renewable for two years at a time. Applicants need a foreigner identity number (NIE) before applying.

Because Vietnam has no social security agreement with Spain, an employee’s foreign employer must show that it has registered, or applied to register, with Spanish social security, and has done the same for the employee. The self-employed must register, or apply to register, in Spain’s scheme for the self-employed.

Portugal: €3,680 a month, filed in Bangkok

Portugal’s Foreigners Act offers a residence visa for remote work to employees and freelancers working for people or companies outside Portugal, and a temporary-stay visa of under a year for the same work.

Residence-visa applicants must show average monthly income over the last three months of at least four times the minimum wage, which is €920 in 2026, or €3,680, and a document showing where they are tax resident. For Vietnam, the visa portal sends long-term visa applications to the Embassy of Portugal in Bangkok.

In Portugal, the migration agency AIMA issues a residence permit valid for two years, renewable for three years at a time.

For procedures started after Law 61/2025 took effect on 23 October 2025, a holder must normally have held a residence permit for two years before family reunification, or 15 months for a spouse who lived with the holder for 18 months before arrival. The wait does not apply to dependent minors or incapacitated relatives, or to a spouse who is the other parent of such a child.

A family member may accompany a holder of the temporary-stay visa.

Italy: no official euro figure

Italy’s 2024 decree covers non-EU nationals doing highly qualified work remotely, meaning they meet the qualification requirements of Italy’s EU Blue Card article, either self-employed or for a company that need not be based in Italy. Applicants need six months’ experience in that work, health insurance and documented accommodation.

The income test is three times the minimum level set for exemption from health-care co-payments; the decree gives no euro amount. An information sheet from the Italian consulate in Moscow, uploaded in July 2026, puts the resulting threshold at about €27,000 a year. No official source was found for the €28,000 figure also quoted for this visa.

The Italian embassy takes national visa applications through an outside visa centre in Hanoi, by appointment. Within eight working days of arrival the holder applies to the police for the permit, which lasts up to one year and is renewable each year while the conditions are met.

The decree allows reunification only for the family members listed in points (a) and (b) of the reunification article of Italy’s Immigration Act, on permits of the same length. Self-employed nomads must also obtain an Italian VAT number.

Thailand: THB 500,000 and a five-year visa

Thailand’s Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) covers remote work by freelancers, digital nomads and remote workers. There is no income test: applicants show funds of at least THB 500,000 and an employment contract or certificate from an employer outside Thailand or, if not employed, a professional portfolio.

Since 31 August 2026, the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City has asked Vietnamese citizens for proof of long-term residence in Vietnam, namely their identity card and a confirmation of immigration information, and for a criminal record certificate No. 2.

Applications are made online and the fee is USD 340. These requirements are the consulate-general’s; the Thai embassy in Hanoi’s website could not be reached.

The visa is valid for five years. Each stay lasts up to 180 days and can be extended once by 180 days, after which the holder must leave and may re-enter on the same visa.

Spouses and children under 20 can apply as dependants. An earlier article covers the tax rules of Thailand’s Long-Term Resident visa, a separate category.

Malaysia and Indonesia: USD 24,000 to USD 60,000

Malaysia’s DE Rantau Nomad Pass, run by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), is open to all nationalities except Israelis. It requires annual income of USD 24,000 for technology and digital roles, including freelancers, and USD 60,000 for other roles, a list that includes chief executives and founders.

A remote employee’s employer must not be registered in Malaysia. Under MDEC’s August 2026 FAQ, the pass lasts three to 12 months and can be renewed once for 12 months, for 24 months in all; its landing page still says up to 12 months.

Spouses, children under 18, disabled children and parents may come as dependants, and applicants need not be in Malaysia to apply.

Indonesia’s e-Visa portal offers Vietnamese passport holders visa E33G, listed under “Remote Worker” rather than as a digital nomad visa. It is for employees with a contract from a company established outside Indonesia, annual income of at least USD 60,000 and a balance of at least USD 2,000 over the last three months.

The stay is up to one year, at a cost shown as 7,000,000 without a currency. Holders may bring a spouse, children and parents, but may not be paid by anyone in Indonesia or sell goods or services.

Residence and tax

None of the texts consulted for the six open countries says that time on these visas leads to permanent residence. Spain grants long-term residence after five years of legal, continuous residence, and Portugal permanent residence after five years on a temporary residence permit.

No provision was found that excludes years on Spain’s telework authorisation or on Portugal’s remote-work residence permit from the five years each country requires. This indicates that such years count towards them, but no text says so expressly. Portugal’s temporary-stay visa issues no residence permit.

Italy’s five-year EU long-term permit excludes short-term permits without naming the nomad permit, and it could not be established whether the nomad permit counts. An earlier article looked at how these visas relate to settlement.

Spain treats a person as tax resident after more than 183 days in a calendar year, among other tests. Its special regime for people moving there, under article 93 of the income tax law, expressly covers employees holding the telework visa, for the year of the move and the next five, subject to other conditions. No equivalent wording was found for the self-employed.

Portugal’s tests include more than 183 days in any 12-month period beginning or ending in the year. Italy treats as resident those whose residence, domicile or presence covers most of the tax year, under an article repealed from 1 January 2027.

Thailand treats more than 180 days in a calendar year as residence and taxes residents on foreign income brought into the country. In Malaysia, one test is 182 days or more in the year.

Vietnam has no remote-work visa

Vietnam offers foreigners no equivalent. Article 8 of the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam (Law 47/2014/QH13) lists the visa types; the nearest are LĐ, for people entering to work, and DL, for tourism.

Amendments in 2019 and 2023 added work-visa sub-types and an electronic visa, and allowed tourist and electronic visas of up to 90 days, but created no remote-work or nomad category. No official draft or policy statement proposing one was found, though the search was not completed.

What this article has not established

The Italian reunification article was not read, so it is not stated here which family members points (a) and (b) cover. The rule replacing Italy’s tax-residence article from 2027 was not checked.

Colombia’s 2026 minimum wage was not established. Japan’s foreign ministry list of visa-exempt countries returned an access error, so Vietnam’s exclusion rests on the immigration agency’s chart.

It was not established how Indonesia taxes E33G holders or how Malaysia taxes foreign income, or whether the Thai, Malaysian or Indonesian visas lead to longer residence.