The coronavirus pandemic has brought many changes in everyday life, but also in the economy. Due to the changed conditions, a state of emergency has been introduced in almost all countries of the world, and many companies have enabled their employees not to come to work but to work from home.
It was similar in Serbia, and although the state of emergency is long behind us, many still work from home.
Precisely these changes, that is, the organization of work from home – teleworking, which were accepted by many employers in Serbia, contributed to the fact that in our country the idea of attracting digital nomads was born after the decree. In order to attract digital nomads to live and work in Serbia, the Ministry of Labor and Employment will propose a change in two laws so that, provided they have had a gross salary of more than 3,500 euros for half a year, they can be granted a one-year work visa.
State Secretary Bojana Stanic told Tanjug that it is certain that there are digital nomads, foreigners who live here and work remotely for foreign companies, in Serbia even now, but they are invisible to the system. According to her, Estonia is taking the initial steps in changing the regulations and attracting nomads in Europe so far, and the island of Bali is an example in the world.
– It is estimated that there are 50,000 digital nomads in Bali at this moment – said Bojana Stanic. – If they spend 1,300 euros a month, the state and the island collect 65 million euros a month. It is an opportunity for Serbia to attract digital nomads because we have all the potentials, we can promote our country and enable those people to work here.
Amendments to the Law on Employment of Foreigners and the Law on Foreigners, it is estimated, could happen by the end of this year.
– We would probably be the first country in Europe to fully implement the visa project for digital nomads. The only condition for a visa would be that in the past six months, when the employer works remotely, they have a gross monthly salary of 3,500, that they do not have Serbian citizenship or residence on our territory.
The director of the Vojvodina ICT cluster, Milan Solaja, points out that the adjustment of the domestic legal regulations, which would contribute to the digital nomads coming to our country, is a good step that the state plans to take.
– New technologies have made it possible to do work regardless of where the person who works lives – says Solaja. – It is good that the state is thinking in that direction, but I do not expect that it will have a significant effect on the state’s income. Also, I do not expect that the change of appropriate legislation will bring a lot of digital nomads to Serbia because they already have and do their job, but it is certain that providing conditions for attracting or arriving digital nomads could have a positive effect on the entire image of Serbia.
Changes in the law this year would enable Serbia to be presented as a country that attracts digital nomads in 2021.
– We think that this is a chance for American companies, since their citizens cannot work through tourist visas. We believe that this is an opportunity that should be used now – said Bojana Stanic, Dnevnik reports.
