United States Visas, Taxes and Money for Digital Nomads

Citizens of 42 Visa Waiver Program countries, including the UK, Ireland, most EU countries, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Chile and Israel, can visit without a visa if they hold an approved ESTA.

• Length: up to 90 days per entry, for tourism or business visits. It can’t be extended, and you can’t switch to another status from inside the US.
• Fee: $40.27 in 2026. The fee rose from $21 to $40 in September 2025 and is now adjusted for inflation each January.
• Validity: two years, or until your passport expires, for any number of trips. You need an e-passport.
• Apply on the official ESTA website or CBP’s ESTA app, ideally before you book flights. Approval usually comes within minutes but can take up to 72 hours. Unofficial sites charge far more.
• New requirements: applications now ask for a live selfie photo. In December 2025, CBP proposed making five years of social media identifiers, plus past phone numbers and email addresses, mandatory on the form. At the time of writing that change hadn’t taken effect, but it may by the time you apply.

Trips to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean islands during a VWP stay don’t reset the 90 days: if you return to the US from there, you’re usually readmitted only for the balance of your original 90 days. People who try to live in the US through back-to-back ESTA visits, with short trips out, are often questioned or refused at the border.

You can’t use the VWP if you’ve been to Cuba since January 2021, or to Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen since March 2011 (with narrow exceptions), or if you hold citizenship of some of these countries. You then need a visa.

Citizens of non-VWP countries, and VWP citizens who want longer than 90 days, apply for a B-1/B-2 visitor visa at a US embassy or consulate. B-1 covers business visits and B-2 tourism; most people get a combined visa.

• Fee: $185 for the application. A further $250 “visa integrity fee” was written into law in 2025, but at last check collection hadn’t started. Some nationalities also pay a reciprocity fee when the visa is issued.
• Interview: almost all applicants now need an in-person interview, and you’re generally expected to apply in your country of nationality or residence. Waits for an appointment can be many months in some countries.
• Length of stay: the visa can be valid for years, but each stay is set by the border officer and recorded on your electronic I-94, usually for up to six months. Check your I-94 on the CBP I-94 website after every entry.
• Extensions: you can ask USCIS for an extension by filing Form I-539 before your I-94 expires. Approval isn’t guaranteed and processing is slow.
• Bonds and bans: since 2025, citizens of some countries may be asked for a visa bond of $5,000 to $15,000, and citizens of a number of countries face full or partial suspensions on visas. Check the US embassy in your country.

Canadians don’t need a visa or ESTA to visit and are usually admitted for up to six months. Chinese citizens with a 10-year B visa must enrol in EVUS, an online update system, before travelling.

This is the question every nomad asks, and US law doesn’t give a clear answer.

• What’s clearly not allowed: working for a US employer, being paid by US clients for work you do in the US, or doing productive work for a US company, even unpaid. That needs a work visa.
• What’s generally treated as fine: keeping up with your job at home during a genuine trip, such as answering emails or joining calls. Business visitors may also attend meetings, conferences and negotiations.
• The grey area: spending weeks or months in the US working full time for a foreign employer or your own foreign business. No statute, regulation or official guidance directly permits it, and immigration lawyers disagree on how far it goes. Visitor status assumes your main purpose is a visit, not living and working in the US.

In practice, the risk is at the border. If an officer believes your real purpose is to live and work in the US, they can refuse entry or cancel your ESTA, and that refusal follows you on future applications. Answer questions honestly; say you’re visiting, and describe any remote work truthfully if asked. Don’t carry documents or show social media that suggest you’re moving to the US for work.

Overstaying is treated seriously:

• Any overstay on an ESTA ends your eligibility for the Visa Waiver Program, so you’ll need a visa for future trips.
• Overstaying a B visa cancels it automatically.
• More than 180 days of overstay brings a three-year ban on returning, and more than a year brings a ten-year ban.

There’s no simple way for a foreign remote worker to live in the US long term. The main routes are:

• E-2 treaty investor visa: for citizens of treaty countries who invest a substantial amount in a US business they run. It doesn’t cover remote work for foreign employers.
• O-1 visa: for people with extraordinary ability in their field, sponsored by a US employer or agent.
• H-1B and other work visas: need a US employer. Since September 2025, new H-1B petitions for workers outside the US carry a $100,000 fee.
• F-1 student and J-1 exchange visas: for full-time study or approved exchange programmes, with limited work rights.
• Green cards: through family, employment, investment or the diversity lottery, usually taking years.

Most foreign nomads treat the US as a series of shorter visits rather than a base. A US immigration lawyer can tell you which route, if any, fits.

US citizens can live and work anywhere in the country. If you move states, you generally become a resident of your new state once you establish a home there: a lease, driving licence, voter registration and car registration all count. Some high-tax states, such as California and New York, can keep treating you as a resident if you keep strong ties there, and many states treat anyone who spends more than about 183 days there with a home available as a resident.

This is a general guide, not tax advice.

Foreigners become US tax residents under the substantial presence test if they are in the US for at least 31 days in the current year and 183 days over three years, counting every day this year, one third of the days last year and one sixth of the days the year before. Visitors on an ESTA or B visa aren’t exempt, so averaging more than about 121 days a year over three years makes you a resident for tax.

• US tax residents are taxed on worldwide income at federal rates from 10% to 37%, plus state income tax where they live.
• Closer connection exception: if you’re in the US for fewer than 183 days in the current year and have a tax home and closer connection to another country, you can file Form 8840 to stay a non-resident.
• Tax treaties: if you’re resident in a treaty country, its tie-breaker rules may make you a non-resident for treaty purposes.
• Non-residents are taxed only on US-source income. Remote work performed while physically in the US can count as US-source income, even if a foreign employer pays you, though treaties often exempt short stays.

States set their own income tax. Florida, Texas, Washington, Nevada, Tennessee, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska and New Hampshire have no tax on wages, while California’s top rate is over 13%.

US citizens are taxed on their worldwide income wherever they live and must file every year. Our taxes for digital nomads guide explains the general principles.

The US uses the US dollar. Cards and contactless payments, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, are accepted almost everywhere, and some cafes and shops in big cities don’t take cash at all. ATMs often charge foreign cards $3 to $5 on top of your own bank’s fees; always decline the machine’s conversion and pay in dollars.

Prices are shown before sales tax, which is added at the till and ranges from 0% in a few states to about 10% in some cities. Tipping is expected: about 18% to 22% at sit-down restaurants, a dollar or two per drink at bars, and 15% to 20% for taxis, ride-hailing and haircuts.

Opening a US bank account is hard for non-residents. Most banks want a Social Security number or ITIN, a US address and sometimes an in-person visit; a few large banks open accounts for visitors in branch with a passport and a second ID. Most foreign nomads simply use Wise, Revolut or a home card with no foreign fees. Paying rent may need a US-style transfer, which Wise can make. Americans moving states can keep their existing bank.