The visa is the cheap part.
We measured what it costs, earns, and takes to move abroad across 303 long-stay visa routes in 43 countries. The filing is rarely the wall. The money and the months around it are.
Four findings you can quote
Every number here is computed from the underlying dataset, which you can download in full below. Deep-link any finding, or copy a ready-to-attribute citation.
The cheapest long-stay visa you can file costs $55. The move around it runs $5,000 to $25,000.
Country choice is a 27.3x lever on filing cost, from $55 to $1,500.
12 of 44 United States corridors have neither a tax treaty nor a totalization agreement.
Speed is a policy choice. The fastest route clears in 1 week; Portugal's median route takes 30 weeks.
The affordability index
The government filing fee is the smallest number in a move. Here are the cheapest long-stay routes on Earth by everything you actually file. The spread from cheapest to dearest is 27.3 times, so where you go moves the price more than how you go.
- ThailandRetirement Visa (Non-Immigrant O)$55
- FranceStudent Visa (Visa Étudiant, VLS…$55
- MexicoResidente Temporal por Inversión…$56
- ItalyStudent Visa (Visto per Studio)$57
- ColombiaVisa M-11 Religioso (Religious A…$65
- IrelandStamp 2 - Student$65
- HungaryStudent Residence Permit (Tanulm…$66
- SpainStudent Visa (Visado de Estudios)$66
- NetherlandsWorking Holiday Programme (Worki…$83
- GermanyResearcher Visa (Aufenthaltserla…$86
- ArgentinaVisa por Reunificación Familiar …$100
- BrazilMercosur Residency Visa$100
- ChileVisa de Residencia Temporal: Sta…$100
- Czech RepublicFamily Reunification (Povolení k…$115
Income floors tell the same story from the other side: they run from $525/mo (Italy) to $9,200/mo, and only 31% of routes state an income requirement at all.
The patience map
Processing time is a policy choice, not a queue you are stuck in. The fastest route in the dataset clears in 1 week. These are the countries where the median route makes you wait the longest.
- Portugal30 weeks
- Uruguay26 weeks
- Panama16 weeks
- Italy12 weeks
- Greece12 weeks
- Turkiye12 weeks
- Dominican Republic12 weeks
- Czech Republic12 weeks
- Costa Rica12 weeks
- Belize12 weeks
- Chile12 weeks
- Germany11 weeks
| Vietnam | 1 week | 2 weeks | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Arab Emirates | 2 weeks | 3 weeks | 8 |
| Mexico | 2 weeks | 3 weeks | 5 |
| United Kingdom | 3 weeks | 3 weeks | 8 |
| South Korea | 3 weeks | 3.5 weeks | 10 |
| Thailand | 3 weeks | 4 weeks | 5 |
| Singapore | 3 weeks | 4 weeks | 10 |
| Spain | 3 weeks | 4 weeks | 8 |
| Australia | 4 weeks | 4 weeks | 3 |
| Colombia | 4 weeks | 4 weeks | 8 |
| Georgia | 4 weeks | 4 weeks | 4 |
| Morocco | 4 weeks | 4 weeks | 1 |
| New Zealand | 2 weeks | 4.5 weeks | 4 |
| Malaysia | 5 weeks | 5.5 weeks | 2 |
| Israel | 1 week | 6 weeks | 2 |
| Taiwan | 2 weeks | 6 weeks | 8 |
| Indonesia (Bali) | 3 weeks | 6 weeks | 9 |
| Croatia | 4 weeks | 6 weeks | 7 |
| France | 4 weeks | 6 weeks | 11 |
| Japan | 4 weeks | 6 weeks | 8 |
| Canada | 1 week | 8 weeks | 5 |
| Brazil | 4 weeks | 8 weeks | 6 |
| Cyprus | 4 weeks | 8 weeks | 6 |
| Hungary | 4 weeks | 8 weeks | 7 |
| Netherlands | 4 weeks | 8 weeks | 9 |
| South Africa | 8 weeks | 8 weeks | 6 |
| Argentina | 4 weeks | 9 weeks | 8 |
| Malta | 1 week | 10 weeks | 6 |
| Ireland | 6 weeks | 10 weeks | 7 |
| Estonia | 2 weeks | 11 weeks | 8 |
| Germany | 8 weeks | 11 weeks | 10 |
| Belize | 4 weeks | 12 weeks | 7 |
| Costa Rica | 4 weeks | 12 weeks | 4 |
| Turkiye | 4 weeks | 12 weeks | 5 |
| Greece | 4 weeks | 12 weeks | 11 |
| Italy | 4 weeks | 12 weeks | 8 |
| Chile | 6 weeks | 12 weeks | 9 |
| Czech Republic | 8 weeks | 12 weeks | 6 |
| Dominican Republic | 8 weeks | 12 weeks | 4 |
| Panama | 4 weeks | 16 weeks | 7 |
| Uruguay | 26 weeks | 26 weeks | 2 |
| Portugal | 8 weeks | 30 weeks | 6 |
The paperwork burden
Almost every route lists its documents (99.7% of them), so this is the most complete metric in the study. The gap between the lightest and the heaviest is a whole afternoon of apostilles.
Leaving the United States
The move looks different depending on the passport in the drawer. For the one corridor we have mapped end to end, the United States, the tax picture is the part people underestimate. A treaty and a totalization agreement are what keep you from paying twice.
| Georgia | $1,500 | $6,000 | Unknown | No | Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peru | $1,500 | $12,000 | No | No | Medium |
| Morocco | $2,000 | $12,000 | Yes | No | Low |
| Belize | $3,000 | $15,000 | No | No | Low |
| Dominican Republic | $3,000 | $15,000 | No | No | Low |
| South Africa | $3,000 | $15,000 | Yes | No | Low |
| Vietnam | $3,000 | $15,000 | No | No | High |
| Argentina | $3,000 | $15,000 | No | No | High |
| Malaysia | $3,000 | $18,000 | Yes | No | Low |
| Israel | $3,000 | $25,000 | Yes | No | Medium |
| Turkiye | $3,000 | $430,000 | Yes | No | Low |
| Brazil | $3,500 | $18,000 | No | Yes | Medium |
| Chile | $4,000 | $18,000 | Yes | No | Low |
| Colombia | $4,000 | $18,000 | No | No | High |
| Croatia | $4,000 | $18,000 | Yes | No | Medium |
| Hungary | $4,000 | $18,000 | No | No | High |
| Canada | $4,000 | $25,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| Indonesia (Bali) | $4,000 | $50,000 | Yes | No | Medium |
| Estonia | $4,500 | $20,000 | Yes | No | Low |
| Czech Republic | $5,000 | $18,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| Cyprus | $5,000 | $20,000 | Yes | No | Medium |
| Taiwan | $5,000 | $20,000 | No | No | High |
| Panama | $5,000 | $25,000 | No | No | Low |
| Thailand | $5,000 | $35,000 | Yes | No | Medium |
| Puerto Rico | $5,000 | $75,000 | Unknown | Unknown | Low |
| Mexico | $6,000 | $20,000 | Yes | No | Medium |
| New Zealand | $6,000 | $25,000 | Yes | No | Low |
| Uruguay | $6,000 | $25,000 | No | Yes | Low |
| South Korea | $6,000 | $28,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| Ireland | $7,000 | $25,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| Germany | $7,000 | $25,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| Costa Rica | $8,000 | $25,000 | No | No | Medium |
| France | $8,000 | $28,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| Italy | $8,000 | $28,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| Netherlands | $8,000 | $30,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| United Kingdom | $8,000 | $30,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| Greece | $8,000 | $30,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| Australia | $8,000 | $40,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| United Arab Emirates | $8,000 | $40,000 | No | No | Low |
| Spain | $9,000 | $28,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| Portugal | $10,000 | $30,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| Japan | $10,000 | $40,000 | Yes | Yes | Low |
| Malta | $12,000 | $45,000 | Yes | No | Low |
| Singapore | $15,000 | $80,000 | No | No | High |
Explore the full dataset
One row per country, every metric joined. Sort it, or take the whole thing. Reuse it anywhere with attribution; it is published under a Creative Commons license.
| Argentina | $100 | $2,000/mo | 4 weeks | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | $600 | $4,200/mo | 4 weeks | 2 |
| Belize | $150 | $2,000/mo | 4 weeks | 9 |
| Brazil | $100 | $1,500/mo | 4 weeks | 6 |
| Canada | $300 | n/a | 1 week | 3 |
| Chile | $100 | $1,000/mo | 6 weeks | 6 |
| Colombia | $65 | $1,400/mo | 4 weeks | 4 |
| Costa Rica | $800 | $1,000/mo | 4 weeks | 8 |
| Croatia | $300 | $3,900/mo | 4 weeks | 7 |
| Cyprus | n/a | $2,700/mo | 4 weeks | 9 |
| Czech Republic | $115 | n/a | 8 weeks | 8 |
| Dominican Republic | $800 | $1,500/mo | 8 weeks | 9 |
| Estonia | $300 | $950/mo | 2 weeks | 3 |
| France | $55 | $677/mo | 4 weeks | 10 |
| Georgia | $200 | $2,083/mo | 4 weeks | 2 |
| Germany | $86 | $1,180/mo | 8 weeks | 9 |
| Greece | $500 | $800/mo | 4 weeks | 7 |
| Hungary | $66 | $3,270/mo | 4 weeks | 9 |
| Indonesia (Bali) | $1,500 | $1,500/mo | 3 weeks | 6 |
| Ireland | $65 | $3,660/mo | 6 weeks | 6 |
| Israel | $500 | $9,200/mo | 1 week | 3 |
| Italy | $57 | $525/mo | 4 weeks | 11 |
| Japan | n/a | $2,200/mo | 4 weeks | 5 |
| Malaysia | $1,060 | $1,100/mo | 5 weeks | 2 |
| Malta | n/a | $3,780/mo | 1 week | 9 |
| Mexico | $56 | $4,400/mo | 2 weeks | 6 |
| Morocco | $200 | n/a | 4 weeks | 4 |
| Netherlands | $83 | $1,245/mo | 4 weeks | 8 |
| New Zealand | $520 | n/a | 2 weeks | 3 |
| Panama | $250 | $3,000/mo | 4 weeks | 10 |
| Peru | n/a | n/a | n/a | 2 |
| Portugal | $1,500 | $580/mo | 8 weeks | 4 |
| Puerto Rico | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Singapore | n/a | n/a | 3 weeks | 3 |
| South Africa | $400 | $2,050/mo | 8 weeks | 4 |
| South Korea | $200 | $1,900/mo | 3 weeks | 3 |
| Spain | $66 | $660/mo | 3 weeks | 10 |
| Taiwan | $200 | $1,500/mo | 2 weeks | 7 |
| Thailand | $55 | $1,800/mo | 3 weeks | 6 |
| Turkiye | $300 | $3,000/mo | 4 weeks | 3 |
| United Arab Emirates | $1,100 | $3,500/mo | 2 weeks | 9 |
| United Kingdom | $404 | $3,061/mo | 3 weeks | 4 |
| Uruguay | $300 | n/a | 26 weeks | 4 |
| Vietnam | $200 | n/a | 1 week | 5 |
How we counted
The trust in a number is the method behind it. Here is exactly what is in and out, so you can check our work.
We started with 522 visa records across 44 countries and kept the 303 that are genuine long-stay routes: an initial stay of six months or more. We excluded tourist entries, citizenship grants, refugee and asylum routes, closed programs, and settlement statuses that require prior in-country residence.
A zero in any fee or income column is treated as missing data, never as free. A metric that covers fewer than 30% of eligible routes is flagged as anecdotal and is not published as a ranking. That is why the rejection-rate data, which we hold for only 15.5% of routes, appears nowhere in the findings above.
- All-in filing cost81.5% (247 routes)
- Processing time91.4% (277 routes)
- Documents required99.7% (302 routes)
- Income floor31% (94 routes)
- Rejection rate (anecdotal)15.5% (47 routes)
Every figure traces to an official source in the Nomad knowledge graph and is re-checked as sources shift. This is not tax or legal advice. Confirm any requirement with the issuing authority before you file.
These are averages. Get your numbers.
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