The visa · North Macedonia
North Macedonia
North Macedonia has no visa or permit written for remote workers; a scheme floated in 2021 was never legislated. Nomads stay 90 days in 180 visa-free on most Western passports, and those who want longer go through the ordinary temporary-residence grounds of the Law on Foreigners, most often by registering as a sole trader or forming a company. The thing to know before applying is that the Law on Foreigners was amended with effect from 26 September 2025 and residence extensions must now be filed before the permit expires, never after.
- Nomad visa · September 2026None as suchRoutes5Bases0
- No city guide here yetthe bases
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Listings whose hiring region includes this country, newest first · apply on the board's own page
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The routes
Researched 6 September 2026 · rules as of September 2026 · as published, not legal advice
Temporary stay
Visa-free short stay (90 in 180)
Безвизен престој / Visa-free stay under the visa regime of the Republic of North Macedonia
Remote workers on EU, EEA, Swiss, British, American, Canadian, Australian, Japanese, Brazilian and similar passports who want a base for up to three months at a time.
- Income floor
- none published; border officers may ask for proof of means and travel medical insurance
- Duration
- 90 days in any 180-day period; no in-country extension route published for tourists
- Cost
- free
- Processing
- none; entry is stamped at the border
- Eligibility
- Nationals on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa-free list; EU and Schengen nationals may enter on a national identity card; Ukrainian and Georgian citizens need biometric passports; Argentine and Peruvian citizens are exempt for tourism only
- Work rights
- The published rules do not mention remote work for a foreign employer or foreign clients; working for a Macedonian employer or clients is not permitted on a visa-free stay
- Dependants
- Each family member enters on their own passport under the same rule
- Leads to
- no
- Apply
- No application; enter at any border crossing
Documents Passport valid for the stay (secondary sources cite at least three months beyond departure) · Travel medical insurance · Proof of accommodation and means if asked · Police or host registration after arrival
Freelance / self-employed
Temporary residence on self-employment (sole trader or own company)
Дозвола за привремен престој заради самовработување / Temporary residence permit for self-employment
Freelancers and founders who want to stay beyond 90 days and are willing to register a sole trader (trgovec poedinec) or a single-member company (DOOEL) in North Macedonia and pay local tax and contributions.
- Income floor
- No fixed figure is published; the application must show funds to conduct the activity and to support the applicant, plus a business plan with the expected investment and economic benefit
- Duration
- Usually issued for 1 year; secondary sources report up to 3 years depending on the business case; extensions are filed no earlier than 90 days and no later than 5 days before expiry, and a lapsed permit cannot be extended
- Cost
- No official fee schedule was verified; secondary sources quote roughly EUR 50 to 150 in administrative fees, and the D visa needed for entry costs EUR 70
- Processing
- Ministry of Interior decision within 30 working days when filed in-country, 60 working days when filed through a consulate, as reported by law firms; incomplete files get a 7-day cure period before rejection
- Eligibility
- Any nationality; a registered business activity; a criminal-record certificate from the country of residence for the last 12 months; health insurance and proof of means, which the 2025 amendment waived only for employment-based and family-of-citizen applicants; secondary sources say extension requires having lived in the country at least a quarter of the permit period
- Work rights
- Local self-employment and local clients through the registered entity; income from foreign clients is invoiced through the same entity and taxed locally
- Dependants
- Spouse and minor children may apply for temporary residence on family reunion once the principal holds a permit
- Leads to
- Permanent residence after 5 years of continuous temporary residence; the Ministry decides within 4 months, extendable by 3
- Apply
- Ministry of Interior (sector for foreigners) in-country, or a Macedonian consulate abroad; a D visa is normally required to enter for the purpose
Documents Passport · Business registration extract from the Central Registry · Business plan with evidence of funds and investment · Criminal-record certificate from the country of residence for the last 12 months · Proof of health insurance · Proof of accommodation · Photographs and completed Ministry of Interior form
Long stay
Temporary residence on employment
Дозвола за привремен престој заради вработување / Temporary residence permit for employment
Remote workers hired locally, including through an employer of record, and staff of Macedonian companies.
- Income floor
- none published for the applicant; the employer must guarantee costs
- Duration
- Typically 1 year, renewable; employment must be registered with the Employment Agency within 30 days of the permit being issued
- Cost
- No official fee verified; the D visa for entry is EUR 70 (EUR 35 for children aged 6 to 12)
- Processing
- 30 working days in-country or 60 working days via a consulate, as reported; 7-day cure for incomplete files
- Eligibility
- Any nationality; a Macedonian employer; since 26 September 2025 the employer files a notarised statement covering all costs of the stay including any forced removal, and applicants no longer need proof of funds or health insurance on this ground
- Work rights
- Local employment with the named employer
- Dependants
- Family reunion permits for spouse and minor children
- Leads to
- Permanent residence after 5 years of continuous temporary residence
- Apply
- Ministry of Interior in-country or a Macedonian consulate; employment registered with the Employment Agency
Documents Passport · Employment contract · Employer's notarised cost-guarantee statement · Criminal-record certificate from the country of residence for the last 12 months · Proof of accommodation
Long stay
Long-stay D visa
Виза за долг престој (виза Д) / Long-stay visa (visa D)
Visa-required nationals, and anyone who needs to enter for a stay above 90 days, once the Ministry of Interior has approved the residence ground.
- Income floor
- none published beyond the residence application's proof of means
- Duration
- Entry visa for a stay above 90 days, tied to the approved temporary residence permit
- Cost
- EUR 70; EUR 35 for children aged 6 to 12
- Processing
- Applications accepted from six months to 15 days before travel; no published decision time; refusals can be appealed within 8 days
- Eligibility
- Prior temporary-residence approval from the Ministry of Interior; valid passport; purpose documents
- Work rights
- As set by the underlying residence ground
- Dependants
- Each dependant applies for their own D visa on a family-reunion approval
- Leads to
- Counts through the temporary residence permit it supports
- Apply
- Macedonian diplomatic or consular mission abroad
Documents Passport · Ministry of Interior residence approval · Visa application form and photograph · Proof of accommodation and means
Residence
Temporary residence on property ownership
Привремен престој по основ на сопственост на недвижен имот / Temporary residence on the basis of real-estate ownership
Nomads who buy a flat in Skopje or Ohrid and want a residence ground without a local business or employer.
- Income floor
- No purchase minimum or income figure is published; proof of means to support the stay is required
- Duration
- Typically 1 year, renewable while the property is held
- Cost
- No official fee verified; D visa EUR 70 for entry
- Processing
- 30 working days in-country or 60 via a consulate, as reported
- Eligibility
- Registered ownership of residential property; health insurance; criminal-record certificate from the country of residence for the last 12 months
- Work rights
- No work rights are attached; local work needs a separate ground
- Dependants
- Family reunion for spouse and minor children
- Leads to
- Permanent residence after 5 years of continuous temporary residence
- Apply
- Ministry of Interior in-country or a Macedonian consulate
Documents Passport · Property title extract from the cadastre · Proof of means · Proof of health insurance · Criminal-record certificate
Without a visa, by passport
The stay you get on arrival, and whether working remotely on it is tolerated
- EU / EEA / Switzerland90 days in any 180; entry on a national ID card allowedRemote work for a foreign employer is not addressed in the published rules; local work is not permitted
- United Kingdom90 days in any 180Same: not addressed for foreign-sourced remote work, local work forbidden
- United States90 days in any 180Not addressed in published rules; local employment forbidden
- Canada90 days in any 180Not addressed; local work forbidden
- Australia90 days in any 180Not addressed; local work forbidden
- Japan90 days in any 180Not addressed; local work forbidden
- Brazil90 days in any 180Not addressed; local work forbidden
- Turkey90 days in any 180Not addressed; local work forbidden
- Indiavisa required (C visa EUR 60); 15 days per entry visa-free with a valid multiple-entry Schengen, US, UK or Canadian visa or a Schengen residence permit, up to 90 in 180The US, UK and Canada visa-holder concession runs 1 January to 31 December 2026 and the visa must be valid five days beyond the stay
- South Africavisa required; the same 15-day concession applies to holders of Schengen, US, UK or Canadian multiple-entry visasNot addressed for remote work
- Ukraine / Georgia90 days in any 180 on a biometric passportNot addressed; local work forbidden
- Argentina / Peru90 days in any 180, tourism onlyThe exemption is expressly for tourist purposes
Tax
When the country starts counting you as its taxpayer
- Residency trigger
- An individual is tax resident with a permanent residence in North Macedonia, or a temporary residence by being present 183 days or more, continuously or intermittently, in any 12-month period; where a treaty applies, its residence tie-breakers govern. Residents are taxed on worldwide income, non-residents on Macedonian-source income only.
- Special regime
- none. Personal income tax is a flat 10% on employment, self-employment, rental, capital and most other income since 1 January 2023, when the 10% and 18% progressive bands suspended in 2020 were dropped; gains on securities held over two years are taxed at 0%, games of chance at 15%. No newcomer or nomad regime exists.
- Social security
- Contributions on gross salary are 18.8% pension, 7.5% health, 1.2% employment insurance and 0.5% additional health, withheld by a Macedonian employer on a base between 50% of the average salary and 16 average salaries. A registered sole trader pays on a minimum base that a secondary source puts at 69,141 denars a month for 2026. Someone employed abroad who never registers locally has no Macedonian payroll to withhold; whether they owe contributions depends on their home scheme and any bilateral agreement, and no certificate-of-coverage guidance for remote workers was found on official pages.
- Treaties
- Around 48 to 49 double-taxation treaties, including the United Kingdom, Germany, India, Turkey, Ireland and most EU states; none with the United States, Canada or Australia, so citizens of those countries rely on domestic foreign-tax-credit rules. The 183-day treaty article decides where an employee's salary is taxed.
Practicalities
- Address and police registration
- Accommodation providers report foreign guests to the Ministry of Interior; hotels do it for guests, private hosts and self-registering visitors go to the local police station. Sources disagree on the deadline (12 hours for providers, 24 or 48 hours for individuals) and on the fine, cited anywhere from about EUR 250 to EUR 1,000.
- Overstay
- Secondary sources report fines of EUR 300 to 500, removal and an entry ban of up to five years; no official tariff was verified. Since 26 September 2025 a residence permit cannot be extended after it has expired.
- Bank account
- Banks such as Komercijalna Banka open non-resident accounts in denars and foreign currency on a passport, with proof of address; some branches ask for a local tax number and an opening deposit.
- SIM card
- Prepaid SIMs from A1 and Telekom are registered to a passport or EU ID at the point of sale; starter packs with 5 to 10 GB cost about 200 to 500 denars.
- Health insurance
- Travel medical insurance is expected at entry; temporary residence applications need health insurance except, since September 2025, on the employment and family-of-citizen grounds.
- Tax number and filing
- Residents paid by a foreign employer file one annual return by 31 March; sole traders invoicing foreign clients file and pay monthly. Freelancers register as a sole trader at the Central Registry or form a DOOEL to have a local payer. The 2026 personal allowance of 131,184 denars applies only to payroll income.
- Currency
- The denar is pegged to the euro; cash is common outside Skopje and cards are widely accepted in the capital and Ohrid.
North Macedonia: no nomad visa, a 90-day door and a 10% flat tax
Where nomads base and why
Skopje takes most long-stay remote workers: rents and eating out are among the lowest in Europe, fibre is standard in newer blocks, and the airport has budget links to the main hubs. Ohrid, on the lake, is the second base, busiest between May and September and quiet enough in winter that some monthly rentals halve.
The draw is arithmetic rather than a visa. Ninety days visa-free on most Western passports, a euro-pegged currency and a 10% flat tax make the country a cheap, predictable stop on a Balkans circuit that usually includes Albania, Montenegro and Serbia.
What applicants report about the process
There is no remote-work category, so anyone staying beyond 90 days is fitted into an ordinary ground. Law firms report that founders and freelancers most often register a sole trader or a DOOEL and apply for temporary residence on self-employment, with a business plan and proof of funds; the Ministry of Interior's decision is reported at 30 working days in-country and 60 through a consulate, and visa-required nationals then need a D visa at EUR 70.
Since September 2025 the file is lighter in one respect and stricter in another. Only one criminal-record certificate is needed, from the country of residence for the last 12 months, but an extension must be lodged between 90 and 5 days before the permit ends and a lapsed permit cannot be revived. Applicants are also given seven days to fix an incomplete file before it is rejected outright.
Banking, tax and daily money
Non-resident accounts are opened on a passport and proof of address, though branches vary on whether they want a local tax number first. The 183-day count runs over any 12-month period rather than a calendar year, so a nomad who stays six months straight becomes resident and owes 10% on worldwide income for that year.
Treaty coverage is wide across Europe and includes the United Kingdom, Germany and India, but there is no treaty with the United States, Canada or Australia. A sole trader pays contributions on a minimum base of roughly 69,000 denars a month in 2026 according to a local guide, which is the real cost of making a freelance residence ground work.
What is changing
The 2021 talk of a digital-nomad visa produced international headlines and no law, and official pages in 2026 still list only work, study, family, property and humanitarian grounds. The visible policy movement is on entry rather than residence: the 2026 concession for US, UK and Canadian visa holders, and successive short waivers for Chinese passport holders reported through 2025.
EU accession negotiations continue and a future alignment of the visa list and foreigners' law with Schengen practice is the most likely source of change, but nothing dated has been published for the rest of 2026.
Researched from mfa.gov.mk · mfa.gov.mk · mvr.gov.mk · karanovicpartners.com · ey.com · taxsummaries.pwc.com · taxsummaries.pwc.com · taxsummaries.pwc.com · stampednomad.com · macedoniaguidebook.com · the authority