RelocateRadar
What changed: the requirement log
All countries last re-checked: 29 September 2026 · Most recent change logged: September 2026
Visa requirements don't sit still: income floors track minimum wages, formulas get recalculated, and procedures change with new laws. Most guides on the internet are written once and never touched again, which is how people show up at consulates with figures that are a year out of date. This page is the opposite: a dated log of every change we've verified, newest first.
🇪🇺 Schengen area: The EES grace period expired on 6 September, and nine countries still aren't checking everyone
Effective September 2026
The Entry/Exit System has been formally fully operational since 10 April 2026, but member states were allowed to suspend biometric registration temporarily when border queues got bad. That safeguard ran out on 6 September 2026. Nine countries went past it without full biometric checks in place: France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Switzerland. The Commission has not published a new legal act extending the suspension, and reporting since the deadline suggests it is not enforcing against them either, so the law says one thing and the border may do another, depending on where you cross.
What it means for you: Don't read inconsistent checks as a reprieve. Your 90/180 count is being kept centrally whether or not the booth takes your fingerprints today, and a country that isn't checking this month can start next month. The exemption that actually protects you is holding a long-stay visa or residence permit, which keeps you out of EES entirely.
🇵🇹 Portugal: Portugal's 2027 wage is being negotiated right now, and the D8 bar is heading to €3,880 or €4,000
Effective September 2026
The D8 income requirement is four times the national minimum wage, so it moves every January without anyone announcing a visa change. The 2024 tripartite agreement schedules €970 for 2027, which would put the bar at €3,880/month with €11,640 in savings. In September 2026 the government signalled it may go further and legislate €1,000 a year early, in the 2027 State Budget, which would mean €4,000/month and €12,000 in savings. The union confederation CGTP is asking for €1,050. Three Standing Committee for Social Dialogue meetings are scheduled before the end of the year to settle it.
What it means for you: This matters more than it looks, because AIMA applies the minimum wage in force on the date of your appointment, not the date you filed, and AIMA appointments are currently running 6-9 months out. If yours lands in 2027, budget against €4,000/month rather than today's €3,680.
🇮🇹 Italy: Correction: Italy's income bar is €25,500 a year, not the €28,000 everyone quotes
Effective September 2026
Italy never published a figure for this visa. The rule is a formula, annual income of at least three times the minimum level for exemption from healthcare cost-sharing, and Italian consular checklists do the arithmetic for you in writing: €8,500 × 3 = €25,500 a year, about €2,125 a month. We had €28,000 on this site, like almost everyone else, and described it as the formula's output, which it isn't. The same consular documents settle two other points that circulate wrongly: the prior-experience requirement is six months, not a year, and no minimum insurance sum is published for this visa at all.
What it means for you: Use €25,500 as the rule and apply with a margin above it: €28,000 is the level consulates are visibly comfortable with, not the threshold. If you were told you don't qualify on income for Italy, check again: the real bar may be €5,600 a year below what you were quoted.
🇪🇪 Estonia: Estonia's €4,500 may be a net figure, and its own government portal says so
Effective September 2026
Estonia has the highest income bar in this comparison, and it turns out the most basic question about it is unsettled: gross or net. Estonia's official e-Residency portal states the threshold as “€4,500 net/monthly”. Most commercial guides, and our own page until now, call it gross. For anyone earning in a high-tax country those two readings are over a thousand euros of real income apart, which is the difference between applying and not bothering.
What it means for you: We now hold Estonia to the net reading, because that is the one that cannot get you refused, and our income checker flags it accordingly. Before you plan around either number, email the Police and Border Guard Board ([email protected]) and get it in writing.
🇬🇷 Greece: Greece has two insurance bars, and the permit-stage one caps your co-payment at 20%
Effective September 2026
Everyone quotes €30,000 of Schengen-wide cover for Greece, and at the consulate stage that is right. But the residence permit you file for afterwards (category I.8) is judged against a different instrument: ΚΥΑ 133692/2024, published in ΦΕΚ Β' 2724 of 10 May 2024, which sets the risks and benefits a private policy must cover for third-country nationals. Instead of one headline number it sets itemised annual minimums, reported as €10,000 for hospital care, €1,500 for medical and pharmacy costs and €15,000 for permanent disability after an accident, each with a co-payment no higher than 20%. A cheap policy with a big deductible can clear €30,000 on its cover page and still fail that test.
What it means for you: If you plan to stay past the visa, buy for the permit stage rather than the consulate stage: itemised outpatient cover and a co-payment under 20%, in a policy that says it covers you while living in Greece. We verified the decision's number, date and purpose in the Government Gazette; the three amounts come from Greek insurers citing it, so ask your insurer to confirm the itemisation in writing.
🏥 Bulgaria, Malta & Cyprus: SafetyWing has two products with the same name, and it changes the answer for three countries
Effective September 2026
We went back to correct something in our own reasoning. SafetyWing's standard Nomad Insurance ('Essential' tier) is travel-medical cover, and it doesn't qualify for Bulgaria, Malta or Cyprus, all of which require genuine health insurance. But SafetyWing also sells a 'Complete' tier: a real 12-month health plan with a $5,000/year outpatient allowance, dental, and maternity cover, payable upfront for the full year. On the numbers, Complete gets close to what these three countries ask for. The catch: Residency Malta's own guidance states plainly that travel insurance is not accepted, and SafetyWing sells every tier, Complete included, under its 'Nomad Insurance' travel brand. That is a rejection risk based on how the certificate reads, separate from whether the benefit levels clear the bar.
What it means for you: Don't assume Complete solves Bulgaria, Malta or Cyprus just because the coverage numbers look right; a dedicated health insurer's certificate remains the safer document. We've updated the three country insurance pages with this nuance.
🇧🇬 Bulgaria: New EU nomad route opens at €31,000/year, the second-lowest bar in the bloc
Effective August 2026
Bulgaria launched a digital nomad residence permit in 2026, set by formula at 50× the monthly minimum wage: €620.20 × 50 = €31,010 per year, about €2,584/month. The timing matters: Bulgaria completed Schengen entry in 2025 and adopted the euro on 1 January 2026, so the permit now comes with free movement and a euro economy attached, on top of the EU's lowest flat income tax at 10%. We added full Bulgaria pages to the site with this update.
What it means for you: If Portugal or Estonia priced you out, this is the cheapest serious EU option, but check the insurance rule first: travel-grade policies are explicitly not accepted.
🇪🇺 Schengen area: ETIAS slips again: no longer expected in 2026
Effective July 2026
The EU removed its 'Q4 2026' target for ETIAS, the €20 travel authorisation for visa-free visitors, in mid-July 2026 after reports that a 2026 start is no longer feasible. 2027 is now the likely launch, with mandatory enforcement following a grace period after that. Plenty of guides still tell readers to prepare for ETIAS 'from late 2026', and that date is dead.
What it means for you: Don't build travel plans around ETIAS this year. The system that is already live and already affects you is EES, not ETIAS.
🇭🇷 Croatia: Income requirement jumps to ~€3,622/month; permit now runs 18 months
Effective July 2026
Croatia's threshold is set by formula at 2.5× the average national net salary, published in Narodne novine 3/26. With salary growth, the 2026 figure landed at €3,622.50/month, up from under €3,000 in earlier years. The lump-sum alternative is about €43,470 for 12 months or €65,205 for the full 18. Separately, the maximum permit length is now 18 months instead of 12. It still cannot be renewed back-to-back: you leave for at least 6 months before reapplying.
What it means for you: If you planned around older guides quoting €2,300-2,900, re-check your budget before applying.
🇪🇺 Schengen area: Entry/Exit System fully operational, and nomad visa holders are exempt from it
Effective April 2026
Since 10 April 2026 the EU's Entry/Exit System has been running at every external Schengen border crossing. Passport stamps are replaced by a facial image and four fingerprints, and the 90/180 allowance is now counted automatically and in real time across all 29 countries. The European Commission confirmed the exemption list on 27 July 2026, and it contains the fact that matters most here: holders of national long-stay (type D) visas and residence permits are not registered in EES at all. A digital nomad visa doesn't just extend your stay; it takes you out of the counter entirely.
What it means for you: If you have been living in Europe on rolling 90/180 stays, the informal version of that is over. Price out a nomad visa before your next entry.
🇪🇸 Spain: New minimum wage lifts the income bar to €2,849/month
Effective February 2026
Royal Decree 126/2026 (February 2026) raised the Spanish minimum wage (SMI) by 3.1% to €1,221/month over 14 payments. The nomad visa requires 200% of the SMI, so the bar moved from €2,763 to €2,849/month for a single applicant. The new figure applies to applications and renewals processed after the decree entered into force.
What it means for you: Applications filed from February 2026 onwards are assessed against the new figure, including renewals.
🇬🇷 Greece: In-country applications abolished: consulate only
Effective February 2026
Under Law 5275/2026 (February 2026), Greece no longer accepts in-country applications for the digital nomad residence permit. You must now apply at a Greek consulate before travelling. The income requirement itself is unchanged at €3,500/month net.
What it means for you: Do not fly to Greece planning to sort the permit there; start at your nearest Greek consulate.
🇵🇹 Portugal: Minimum wage rise pushes the D8 bar to €3,680/month
Effective January 2026
Portugal's D8 income requirement is 4× the national minimum wage, and the minimum wage rose to €920/month in 2026. That puts the D8 bar at €3,680/month, with the savings requirement (12× minimum wage) now about €11,040. Many older guides still quote €3,040, and that figure is from 2023 and is now €640 too low. AIMA applies the wage in force on your appointment date, not your filing date.
What it means for you: Budget for €3,680/month income plus ~€11,040 in savings; ignore guides quoting anything near €3,000.
🇨🇾 Cyprus: Correction: the permit cap was not doubled, it is still 500
Effective December 2025
A widely repeated claim says Cyprus doubled its digital nomad quota to 1,000 permits. The Migration Department's own page, posted 31 December 2025, says the opposite in plain words: the maximum number of permits that can be granted remains at 500. The ceiling went from 100 to 500 by Council of Ministers decision in March 2022 and has not moved since. We could find no official source for the 1,000 figure.
What it means for you: Treat Cyprus as a capped scheme. If it is your plan A, apply early in the year rather than assuming headroom that isn't there.
How this log works
We re-check the official sources for every country on the site on a monthly cycle, and after any known rule change. When a figure or rule moves, it lands here with the month it took effect, and the country pages are updated at the same time. Entries also cover Schengen-wide changes that affect every route, and corrections where the widely-repeated number turns out to be wrong. If a change isn't listed, either it didn't happen or we haven't verified it yet, so check the "last checked" date on the country page. More on how we check things →
Compare all visas side by side →
Check if your income clears the new bars →