Palau Digital Residency ID (Not a Visa)

Palau's digital residency ID costs $288 for one year, $1,199 for five years or $2,339 for 10 years. Applicants pay those prices to RNS.ID, which Palau's Digital Residency Office has confirmed as the program's authorized service provider.

• What it is: A digital and physical ID card issued by the Palau government, used to prove identity. It is not a visa or residence permit and gives no right to live, work, enter or stay in Palau.
• Work in Palau: No. Tourist visas bar commercial, employment and business activity; working requires a labor permit from the Bureau of Labor and Human Resources.
• Path to residence or citizenship: None. No route to residence, citizenship or a Palau passport.

Holders still enter Palau as ordinary visitors. The one stay benefit is a longer tourist-visa extension that the border agency offers digital residents. A senator says that rule conflicts with the law that created the ID.

Non-Palauans can apply online from anywhere. RNS.ID produces and delivers the cards, so there's no need to visit Palau. Program regulations let the Digital Residency Office bar nationals of countries on a blacklist. No income, savings or job requirement has been published.

The ID doesn't decide who may enter Palau. Entry depends on nationality under the border agency's visitor rules:

• Visa on arrival: 30-day tourist or business visa issued on arrival; no issuance fee stated.
• No visa needed: Citizens of the United States, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands; they must still complete the QR-code arrival form.
• Visa before travel: Nationals of Bangladesh and Myanmar.
• Schengen-country citizens: visa-free short stays under Palau's 2015 visa-waiver agreement with the EU, according to the border agency.

Neither the Digital Residency Office nor the border agency publishes a document checklist for the ID. RNS.ID accepts, reviews and processes applications for the office and applies the security measures set by the office's regulations.

Traveling to Palau has separate requirements. The border agency asks visitors for a passport valid for at least six months on entry, a return or onward ticket unless exempt, enough money for the stay and the online Palau Entry Form, filed no more than 72 hours before departure to generate a QR code for check-in and arrival.

• One year: $288
• Five years: $1,199
• 10 years: $2,339

These are the package prices RNS.ID lists in its FAQ, paid once for the chosen term. The Digital Residency Office doesn't publish a separate fee schedule. RNS.ID hasn't published a renewal price.

Visiting costs extra. Palau's Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee of $100 is built into international air tickets. Each 30-day extension of a visitor visa costs $50.

The border agency's page doesn't give a clear fee for the digital-resident extension; the fee line in that section names a different visa. Applicants should confirm the cost with the Division of Immigration.

• Where to apply: Online at RNS.ID (rns.id), the government's authorized provider. It reviews applications and issues and ships the cards.
• Processing time: 7-10 days, according to RNS.ID; longer if it needs more information from the applicant.

Using the digital-resident extension is a separate step in Palau. The holder applies at the Division of Immigration at least seven days before the current visa expires and shows the ID card, which the officer checks with the Digital Residency Office. The extension isn't available to anyone who entered Palau illegally.

• ID validity: 1, 5 or 10 years, depending on package.
• Renewal: Renewable when the 1-, 5- or 10-year term ends; renewal price not published.
• Digital resident extension: Up to two consecutive 90-day extensions per calendar year after the initial tourist visa expires.
• Standard visitor stay: the visa on arrival can be extended twice by 30 days, up to 90 days in total.

The digital-resident extension comes from Section 320 of Palau's Immigration Regulations, amended in May 2023. RNS.ID's FAQ describes it as available on each entry, but the border agency's rule sets the limit per calendar year.

On Nov. 24, 2025, Senate Floor Leader Kerai Mariur asked President Surangel Whipps Jr. to correct the regulation, saying it conflicts with Title 13, Section 1022 of the Palau National Code, Island Times reported. That section says digital residency confers no right to reside in or visit Palau. The border agency still listed the extension on Sept. 23, 2026.

None of this is a right to live in Palau. Long stays need a visa from the Division of Immigration; the border agency lists a Resident Visa, issued at the director's discretion for up to two years. The Palau country guide covers the other options.

The Digital Residency Office hasn't published any tax rule for digital residents. RNS.ID's FAQ says digital residents pay 0% Palau tax on non-Palauan income; that's the provider's statement, not an official ruling.

Because the ID confers no right to live in Palau, holders shouldn't rely on it to show tax residence there. Home-country tax rules still apply.