Roman Ivanov
Taking into account their number, as well as their level of remuneration, many countries around the world have developed legislation that allows them to stay on their territory, pay for rent, purchase goods and services, etc. with the minimum formalities for obtaining the so-called “digital nomad visa”.
Recently, similar changes have been made in the Moldovan migration legislation. It is in principle quite restrictive, and the relevant state authorities strictly monitor its implementation. But Moldova is located on the border of the European Union and the Schengen zone, which obliges our country to fulfill a number of obligations and procedures designed to protect against illegal migration and the influx of migrants.
Until recently, the law did not allow foreign citizens to stay in Moldova for more than 90 days without being “tied” to a local employer, educational institution, their business, etc. “A few years ago Moldova set a goal to implement the concept of digital nomads, which would allow it to become in line with more than 100 other countries in the world with similar legislation,” says Roman Ivanov, a partner at the international law firm Vernon David. – Despite the fact that the process of approving the relevant amendments took a long time and the initial version of the law differs from the one approved by the Parliament in June 2025, we can say that Moldova has opened its doors to digital nomads”.
From a legal point of view, a digital nomad is a natural person who works for a foreign company, or owns and operates a foreign company, in both cases in the field of information technology, who intends to live and carry out his/her activity on the territory of Moldova. In other words, a digital nomad is a person who has no “attachment” to a local employer or business, but who wants to live and spend his/her money in Moldova. To obtain the right to temporary stay in the country, in addition to the standard documents, he/she must submit a certified copy of his/her employment contract and/or an extract from the foreign register of legal entities in the name of the company he/she owns, as well as a confirmation that he/she earns an amount of at least 3 average salaries per month from his/her activities abroad. In terms of taxation, digital nomads do not have the obligation to pay social contributions as well as compulsory health insurance contributions.
Tax experts note that the original idea was to develop a more favorable regime for them and a separate chapter in the Tax Code. But in the end this was abandoned, because the World Bank experts do not welcome the introduction of additional preferential treatment. They will be as physical persons, under Article 15 of the TC to pay tax on taxable income at the rate of 12%.
“At the stage of discussion of the draft law and its adoption, there were doubts whether Moldova would become attractive for digital nomads and be able to compete with other countries providing similar benefits,” Ivanov notes. – Moldova is quite optimistic in this sense. According to the analysis and calculations of the relevant ministry, it is assumed that in the first year after the launch of the program Moldova will be able to accept up to 1000 digital nomads, which will bring at least 100 million lei to the budget as direct and indirect taxes. It remains to be seen how this approach will work in Moldova, as well as how Moldovan government agencies will promote it among IT companies. Given the development of this sector, the initial calculations may turn out to be correct.
