Expat Options: Golden Visas Vs. Digital Nomad Visas

19.09.2023 - 16:47 / forbes.com

I’m usually skeptical of stories about “a friend of a friend.” But in this case, I know that it’s a true story.

A friend of a friend was staying in Bali, Indonesia’s paradise island that’s popular with partygoers and backpackers.

My “friend of a friend” bought a van to use for transportation. The Balinese authorities arrived at his home and accused him of operating a shuttle bus service without the proper authorization. He was permanently deported from Bali.

I won’t get into whether the guy in this story was on the right or the wrong side of the regulations… that isn’t really the point.

The point is that Bali is becoming stricter about who it wants within its borders and who it doesn’t.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who saw the stories earlier this year about travelers with tiny tears in their passports being denied entry to Bali.

You can’t really blame the Balinese. “Tourists behaving badly in Bali” is almost its own genre of travel story.

Earlier this year, the island announced a ban on foreign tourists driving motorcycles without a proper license, due to a rise in accidents, even though this is the most popular form of transport on the island. Tourists would be encouraged to use cars provided by travel agents, even though traffic congestion is also a big problem.

Balinese officials have created a task force to crack down on vacationers misbehaving. Locals are reportedly exasperated at tourists flashing their genitals on motorbikes and stripping naked at sacred religious sites.

Bali may want to keep out poor backpackers, reckless drivers, and drunk nudists… but it has become very interested in attracting wealthy investors, especially from the tech sector.

Indonesia recently announced the launch of its new “Golden Visa”—granting a five-year residence permit in exchange for a $350,000 individual investment in public shares or government bonds. For double the investment, you can get a 10-year permit.

Currently, you can also purchase a property for at least $220,000 if you also have at least $130,000 in the bank, and get a five-year residency.

The first person to receive the new Golden Visa (a week after it was launched) was OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, which should give you an idea of the kind of people Indonesia hopes to attract.

As always, it’s not just the numbers of people but the type of people a country can attract that matters to its government, when it comes to its visa system.

Some countries in Europe are canceling their Golden Visas (or considering doing so). Multiple European countries launched Golden Visas in the wake of the financial crisis, in order to attract foreign capital. But these days European governments express concern at the number of wealthy Chinese the visas have