Seychelles Digital Nomad Visa

There is no capital threshold, and the reason runs deeper than a blank figure: this route is not investment-based, because its legal vehicle is a visitor's permit.

The authority describes that permit as one issued on arrival to people travelling for purposes such as holiday, pleasure, business, or visiting friends and family — the same document a tourist receives, rather than a distinct residence class for remote workers.

The only financial condition stated is financial support, and the authority writes exactly one sentence on it: sufficient funds to cover the duration of the stay must be demonstrated.

There is no floor, no daily rate and no monthly income requirement: the page states no sum in US dollars.

The four remaining conditions say nothing about money but block just as firmly, and two of them are routinely overlooked: the applicant must not fall within the category of a prohibited immigrant.

The applicant must not already hold a valid permit entitling them to reside in Seychelles — so the route excludes precisely those who already have residence status.

A valid return or onward ticket must be presented for the duration of the visit; and confirmed accommodation arrangements must be provided.

The only sum the authority names is not a threshold but a fee, and it arises only later: the first three months are issued free of charge, while each further three-month extension period, or part of one, costs SCR 5,000.

The permit catalogue of the Immigration and Civil Status authority currently comprises only the Visitor's Permit, the Gainful Occupation Permit, the Residence Permit and Permanent Residence — there is no separate permit for remote work.

The Visitor's Permit is issued for three months on arrival, free of charge, and extended in three-month periods up to a maximum of twelve months at a fee of 5,000 rupees per period.

To receive a Visitor's Permit, the traveller must not be a prohibited immigrant, must not hold another residence permit, must present a return or onward ticket, confirmed accommodation, and sufficient funds for the whole stay. The same criteria apply at each extension.

All visitors need an Electronic Travel Authorisation before departing. Extensions are applied for online with card payment, or in person at the office in Victoria, Mahé.

The Visitor's Permit does not allow work in Seychelles. The authority states that every expatriate who works, full time or part time, paid or unpaid, needs a Gainful Occupation Permit.

The programme this record is named for is no longer in the permit catalogue of the Immigration and Civil Status Department: the Permits menu lists exactly seven items and none of them is Workcation, and the page does not mention "Workcation" or "remote" anywhere.

The route that does exist for someone wanting to stay and work remotely is the visitors permit, and it runs on a two-stage clock: it is granted initially for a stay of up to three months, then extended for successive periods of up to three months each, to a maximum total of twelve months.

Each extension requires the original criteria to be met again rather than following automatically. Extensions are filed online at permits.ics.gov.sc or in person at Independence House, Victoria, Mahe

The conditions of the route that does exist — the visitors permit, since Workcation is no longer in the catalogue — come in five limbs, and the second is the one worth reading closely: no one who already holds a valid permit that entitles them to reside in Seychelles may apply.

The other four: not falling within the category of prohibited immigrant; a valid return or onward ticket covering the duration of the visit; confirmed accommodation arrangements; and sufficient funds demonstrated for the whole stay.

A separate rule, outside that list but governing every foreign national: all expatriate workers in Seychelles require a Gainful Occupation Permit, and without one a non-Seychellois may not work full time or part time, paid or unpaid. The authority does not say whether remote work for an entity abroad falls within that rule

The catalogue does contain a route called the Dependents Permit, but it is not available to a remote worker: in the words of the page itself, it is a Seychelles citizen who may apply for a dependant permit for a spouse and minor children who are not Seychelles citizens.

The route excludes two further groups: a prohibited immigrant, and anyone already holding a Residence Permit or a Gainful Occupation Permit.

The fee is SCR 1,000 to process the application and SCR 1,000 a year for the permit; the permit does not allow its holder to work in Seychelles, and anyone wishing to work must apply for a Gainful Occupation Permit.

The permit ceases to be valid if the holder fails to enter Seychelles within twelve months of issue, or is absent from Seychelles for more than twelve months. Which means that in the current catalogue the family of a foreign remote worker has no route of their own

The status this programme grants, whether a visa or a residence permit, does not replace the holder's passport. The holder still travels on the passport of their own country, so the figure below belongs to the Seychelles passport and becomes the holder's only once they are issued a Seychelles passport.

According to the Passport Index of Prosperous Intelligence, on data dated 30 September 2026, the Seychelles passport reaches 168 destinations without applying for a consular visa in advance. The figure combines three forms of entry and does not count an e-Visa that must be obtained beforehand:

It is therefore a measure of how easily the holder travels, not a count of visa-free countries in the narrow sense.

For comparison, on the same source and the same method of counting, the Vietnamese passport reaches 44 destinations. The two lists of destinations do not nest inside one another, so the difference is an indication rather than a list of places newly opened.

Prosperous Intelligence dates its data and advises checking with the destination’s official authorities before travelling.

The programme carries one levy that bears the name of a tax, but it is a tourist environmental levy rather than an income tax regime.

The electronic border platform states that from 25 April 2023 all international visitors to Seychelles are levied an environment tax of EUR 6.00 per visitor per night stayed. The charge was previously levied by the hotel or accommodation provider, and has been shifted to the travel authorisation platform to reduce paperwork.

Two sets of figures must be hung side by side rather than merged, because two authorities describe the same levy differently.

The Revenue Commission calls it the Tourism Environmental Sustainability Levy, effective 1 August 2023, collected by the accommodation provider from the guest and payable by the 21st of the following month.

The rates are SCR 25 for medium establishments of 24 to 50 rooms, and SCR 75 and SCR 100 for large establishments of 51 rooms or more together with yachts and island resorts.

Seychellois citizens, resident persons, flight crew, ships crew and children aged 12 and under are exempt. Under Statutory Instrument No. 90 of 2025, from 1 January 2026 small establishments of 1 to 24 rooms cease to collect it.

The two descriptions differ in currency and in point of collection alike, so each must be attributed to its own source.

On income tax, the Seychelles collection machinery excludes this category by its structure:

The Income and Non-Monetary Benefits Tax, introduced in December 2010, is a tax levied on the personal emoluments of an individual payable by employees or their employer, and is usually withheld at source by the employer and remitted to the Revenue Commission monthly on the Business Activity Statement.

The duty falls on the employer: tax withheld must be remitted within 21 days of the following month, and an employer who fails to withhold under section 5 of the Act is personally liable for the amount.

The emoluments scale effective 1 June 2018 shows a distinction drawn by nationality rather than residence: A non-citizen pays 15% from the first band, that is from SCR 0 to 8,555.50; the third band is SCR 1,500 plus 20% of the excess over SCR 10,000; the fourth is SCR 16,166.60 plus 30% of the excess over SCR 83,333.

And here is the most significant finding in this record: the Revenue Commission income tax page does not mention residence at all — it distinguishes only between citizens and non-citizens, and it operates only through an employment relationship in Seychelles.

A holder of this permit works for an employer abroad and so presents no local employment relationship for that machinery to attach to, and the Revenue Commission does not say whether income paid by a foreign employer is taxable.

The programme structure confirms the separation. In the border system list of entry purposes, workcation carries two codes of its own, distinct from the short-term and long-term employment codes.

The immigration authority home page states the Gainful Occupation Permit requirement for expatriate workers, as quoted in the residence cell of this page.

The programme parameters: the permit is the Seychelles Workcation Visitor Permit, assessed by a special team.

The stay runs up to one year, and it is open to the self-employed, business owners, freelancers or salaried employees of a company.

The file comprises a passport valid six months, an employment letter or proof of business ownership stating the nature of the occupation, and proof of financial means. It also needs valid health and travel insurance, a provisional return ticket or flight itinerary, and accommodation booking evidence.

Two duties to produce tax data: the platform accepts a tax declaration as evidence of financial means, and requires the applicant to state their country of residence, defined on the form as the country where you live and pay taxes.

Read this cell within its scope: the programme sources cover documents, duration and border charges and say nothing about the income tax position of a permit holder.

The revenue sources cover the income tax machinery and the tourism levies, never mention this programme, do not define tax residence for individuals, and do not say whether income paid by a foreign employer is taxable.

The official eligibility page of the programme is currently inaccessible.

The cost of the route that does exist falls into two clearly separated stages. The first three months of the visitors permit are issued free of charge. From the fourth month on, each three-month extension — or any part of such a period — costs SCR 5,000.

The phrase "or part thereof" is worth noting: staying into a fifth month still costs a whole period. Online applications must be paid by card. The fee page of the same authority offers only three downloads — Security Bond, Other Fees and the new GOP List Of Fees — and carries no separate schedule for any remote-work route