North Macedonia

North Macedonia has no digital nomad visa. The government's work program for 2024-2028 plans a renewable residence visa for digital nomads, but there's no bill, start date or terms yet, so the planned nomad visa can't be applied for. Until it becomes law, remote workers choose between a short visit and a residence permit on a ground the law already lists.

Short visits

Foreigners who meet the entry conditions can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period under the Law on Foreigners, with or without a visa depending on nationality. Entry and exit days both count, while time on a residence permit or a D visa doesn't. The Foreign Ministry's online visa checker shows which passports need a visa.

• EU and Schengen citizens: No visa is needed, and a national identity card is enough to enter.
• Visa-required nationals with Schengen papers: Holders of a multiple-entry Schengen visa, or of a residence permit from an EU or Schengen country, can stay up to 15 days per entry within the same limit. The Schengen visa must stay valid at least 5 days beyond the planned stay.
• Holders of British, American or Canadian visas: A temporary decision valid through Dec. 31, 2026, lets holders of a multiple-entry visa from one of those countries stay up to 15 days, if the visa runs at least 5 days past the planned stay.

North Macedonia isn't one of the 29 Schengen countries, so days there don't count toward the Schengen allowance of 90 days in any 180-day period. Nomads can spend time there between Schengen trips without using up Schengen days, though North Macedonia's own limit applies separately.

Staying longer: temporary residence

A longer stay needs temporary residence on one of the grounds in Article 71 of the Law on Foreigners, which include work, study, research, volunteering, medical treatment, family reunification and humanitarian reasons. Citizens of EU or OECD countries who own a flat or house in North Macedonia worth at least €40,000 can also qualify. The law has no ground for remote work for a foreign employer, the gap the planned nomad visa is meant to fill.

Applicants must show means of support, accommodation, health insurance and a record free of serious convictions (Article 72). The residence request usually goes in with a long-stay D visa application at a North Macedonian embassy or consulate; the Ministry of Interior has 60 working days to decide, or 30 when the law allows filing at the ministry itself, and can extend either deadline by up to 30 working days. The ministry's guide to foreigners' requests covers each ground.

Citizenship for a special economic interest

The Law on Citizenship lets the government naturalize a foreigner whose citizenship serves a special economic or other national interest. It's a discretionary decision, and no official investment thresholds could be verified.

In its Dec. 19, 2025, visa suspension mechanism report, the European Commission said North Macedonia must abolish the scheme and repeal its legal basis. The citizenship-by-investment page tracks the route's status.

Which route fits

• A short trip: a visa-free stay, or a short-stay C visa for nationals who need one, within the limit of 90 days in any 180-day period.
• Family ties: temporary residence for family reunification, or as a close family member of a North Macedonian citizen.
• A home in the country: temporary residence for EU and OECD citizens who own property worth at least €40,000.
• Remote work for a foreign employer: no dedicated route until the planned nomad visa becomes law, so remote workers without another ground are limited to short stays.

Everyday spending, not rent, takes the bigger share of a budget here. In Numbeo's crowd-sourced prices for Skopje, last updated Sept. 13, 2026, a one-bedroom apartment in the center averaged about €376 a month, while a single person's other monthly costs came to about €575.

Each total adds the average one-bedroom rent, outside the center and in it, to Numbeo's estimate of a single person's other monthly costs, converted from denars. Skopje's figures rest on 969 entries from 75 contributors over the past year. Ohrid's rest on 91 entries from seven contributors and were last updated June 19, 2026, so they're a rough guide.

For context, Numbeo's contributors put the average monthly net salary in Skopje at about €784, below the capital's estimated total for one person living alone in the center.

Everyday prices in Skopje

Numbeo's September 2026 averages for the capital give a feel for daily spending:

• Getting around: A monthly public transport pass cost about €24.
• Utilities: Electricity, heating, cooling, water and garbage for an 85-square-meter apartment ran about €141 a month.
• Eating out: A meal at an inexpensive restaurant cost about €8, and a cappuccino about €1.90.
• Fitness: A monthly gym membership averaged about €34.

What the totals leave out

• Health insurance: Anyone applying for temporary residence must show health insurance, and premiums depend on age, insurer and cover.
• Coworking: A desk comes on top of the totals, and prices vary by space.
• Cheaper towns: Bitola's rents in Numbeo's data were lower still, about €234 for a central one-bedroom, though from only 94 entries.

Skopje and Ohrid are the two main bases, one for city services and the other for a smaller lakeside life, with Bitola as a cheaper third option. Rents below are Numbeo's crowd-sourced averages for a one-bedroom apartment.

Skopje

Skopje, the capital, suits nomads who want city services, the most coworking options and Skopje International Airport close by. A central one-bedroom averaged about €376 a month in September 2026, and one outside the center about €293.

Its Numbeo figures also rest on more data than any other city in the country, 969 entries over the past year, so a budget built on them is less of a guess than one for a smaller town.

Ohrid

Ohrid lies on the lake of the same name, inside a UNESCO World Heritage site that North Macedonia shares with Albania; UNESCO first listed it in 1979 and extended it into Albania in 2019. UNESCO describes the town as one of the oldest human settlements in Europe. It suits nomads who want a smaller lakeside base, and it has its own airport, Ohrid St. Paul the Apostle Airport.

Rents in Numbeo's data were lower than in the capital, about €255 for a central one-bedroom, though from few entries. Coworking is thinner than in Skopje, so a reliable home connection matters more.

Bitola

Bitola has no city guide on this site yet. It's an option for nomads who put rent first: Numbeo's contributors put a central one-bedroom at about €234 a month, the lowest of the three places here, though the figure rests on 94 entries.

Mobile data is the strong point. Speedtest's Global Index for August 2026 put the country's median mobile download at about 165 Mbps, 15th in the world, well ahead of the median fixed broadband download of about 58 Mbps, which ranked 105th. Over the previous 12 months, the fixed median stayed between about 49 and 65 Mbps, while the mobile median ranged from about 149 to 192 Mbps.

Connections are cheap. Numbeo's September 2026 averages for Skopje were about €17 a month for unlimited broadband of 60 Mbps or more and about €17 for a mobile plan with calls and at least 10GB of data. With mobile speeds that high, a local SIM or eSIM can serve as a backup line or even as the main connection for video calls.

A1 lists eSIMs among its prepaid offers, and Makedonski Telekom sells them too, so a phone that supports eSIM doesn't need a physical card swap.

Coworking

Coworking spaces cluster in Skopje, the capital. Ohrid and the smaller towns have fewer dedicated spaces, so home broadband, cafes and mobile data do more of the work there. Day passes and monthly desks are the usual formats, and prices vary by space.

North Macedonia taxes people by residence, not by permit. A person who stays 183 days or more in any 12-month period, continuously or with breaks, is a tax resident under the Personal Income Tax Law, and so is anyone with a permanent home in the country.

Residents file for income earned abroad as well as at home: the Public Revenue Office (UJP) asks taxpayers to calculate advance tax on income they realize in the country and abroad. Salaries and self-employment income are both taxed at a flat 10%, according to the UJP's guidance.

No regime for nomads

There's no tax break aimed at remote workers. The UJP's list of personal income tax exemptions and incentives covers areas such as rental income, copyrights and capital gains, with nothing for digital nomads or newly arrived residents, and the planned nomad visa has no published terms, tax or otherwise.

What to check

• The 12-month window: The day count runs over any 12 months, not the calendar year, so a stay split across New Year can still cross the line.
• A permanent home: Keeping a permanent home in North Macedonia makes a person resident whatever the day count.
• Tax treaties: For income from abroad, the UJP applies the rates in the law or in double taxation agreements. Nomads who stay resident in another country should check whether it has a treaty with North Macedonia and which country it gives the right to tax.

Arrival and registration

• Passport: For a visit, a passport must be valid at least three months after the planned departure and issued within the previous 10 years.
• Registering the address: Hotels and other paid accommodation register foreign guests with the Ministry of Interior within 12 hours, and private hosts within 48 hours. Visitors staying where nobody registers them must register their address themselves within 48 hours of crossing the border. Residence permit holders have 3 days to register an address or a move. Missing either deadline can bring a fine of €25 to €250, paid in denars.
• After a D visa: The long-stay D visa allows one entry and a stay of up to 30 days. Its holder must report to the Ministry of Interior within 5 days of arriving, and the ministry then has 25 days to issue the residence permit (Article 27).
• Trips into the Schengen area: Greece and Bulgaria, next door, are Schengen members. Non-EU visitors entering them on a short stay are registered in the Entry/Exit System with a facial image and, if visa-exempt, four fingerprints; the system has run at every external border crossing since April 10, 2026.
• ETIAS: Not yet operating and no official start date. The EU says it will announce the date several months before launch. The earlier official target, the last quarter of 2026, was removed from the official ETIAS website on July 14-17, 2026. Once it runs, visa-exempt travelers will need it for short trips into the Schengen area; it will cost €20 for most adults and last 3 years or until the passport expires.

Money and phones

The currency is the Macedonian denar (MKD), and the euro figures in this guide are Numbeo's conversions from denars. A1 and Makedonski Telekom both sell eSIMs, so a phone that supports them can take a local number without a physical card.

Health cover

Visa applicants need health or travel insurance that covers emergency treatment and medical repatriation, and temporary residence also requires health insurance. The entry conditions for visa-free visitors don't include insurance, so cover for a short visit is the traveler's own call.

Emergencies

The single emergency number is 112, run by the Crisis Management Center. The Ministry of Interior's police duty line is 192.