Tool · 10 countries · 66 routes
Where should I move to in Europe?
By Covered Abroad Research Desk · Last verified July 2026
Match your situation
Every country stays on the page whatever you choose; this narrows the list rather than hiding the data. Nothing here is a judgement about whether any application of yours would succeed — it is what each government publishes, and each card links to the source.
The ten, lowest published income bar first
Ordered by the lowest monthly figure any of that country's routes publishes. Read it with care: a low bar often belongs to a route with the tightest conditions, and a country with no figure at all is not cheap — it is testing something a number cannot capture.
Spain · 6 routes
Local work possible- Living on savings or a pension
- Working remotely for employers or clients abroad
- Studying
- Self-employed or starting a business locally
- Taking a job with a local employer
The rule in writing
“Spain requires health insurance “contracted with an insurance entity authorized to operate in Spain” for the non-lucrative and digital-nomad visas — with no deductible, no copayment, no waiting period and no coverage limit. Most international policies fail this rule on registration grounds.”
Official source: Consulates General of Spain (Los Angeles & London) — official visa requirements — Last verified:
What Spain does not offer: Spain's investor “golden visa” was repealed and is closed to new applicants. See why.
- Minimum time you must actually be there. Non-lucrative residence visa and authorisation
Portugal · 6 routes
Local work possible- Living on savings or a pension
- Working remotely for employers or clients abroad
- Qualifying through investment
- Self-employed or starting a business locally
- Taking a job with a local employer
The rule in writing
“Portugal’s national-visa documentation page requires valid insurance covering urgent medical care and possible repatriation. In practice, consulates and visa centres commonly apply the €30,000 Schengen standard (Schengen-wide validity, urgent care, hospitalisation, repatriation), and some US visa centres ask for a full year of validity — treat €30,000 as the practical bar, with the published national-visa rule as the floor.”
Official source: Portuguese MFA visa portal — national-visa documentation (vistos.mne.gov.pt); €30,000 = the MFA’s published Schengen-visa standard, commonly applied in practice — Last verified:
- Minimum time you must actually be there. Golden Visa / ARI — residence permit for investment activity
Germany · 10 routes
Local work possible- Self-employed or starting a business locally
- Taking a job with a local employer
- Studying
The rule in writing
“For Germany’s national visa, health insurance must include the benefits statutory-insured persons are entitled to under §11(1–3) SGB V, and the contract must be open-ended — no expiry or cancellation clauses tied to age, employment, or residence status. Travel insurance is insufficient.”
Official source: German Federal Foreign Office — health insurance in the national visa procedure — Last verified:
What Germany does not offer: Germany publishes no retirement or independent-means route; Germany publishes no residence-by-investment route. See why.
- Capped by an annual quota. Freelance residence permit for the liberal professions; The over-45 condition on German self-employment permits; Student residence permit; EU Blue Card; Residence permit for business self-employment; Residence permit to prepare founding a company on a start-up scholarship; Skilled worker employment permit; Employment permit for workers with pronounced practical experience, including IT specialists; Job-search permit after study, research or training completed in Germany
- Language required before you arrive. Freelance residence permit for the liberal professions; Student residence permit; EU Blue Card; Residence permit for business self-employment; Residence permit to prepare founding a company on a start-up scholarship; Skilled worker employment permit; Employment permit for workers with pronounced practical experience, including IT specialists
Austria · 10 routes
Local work possible- Living on savings or a pension
- Taking a job with a local employer
- Studying
- Self-employed or starting a business locally
The rule in writing
“Austrian residence permits require health insurance that provides benefits in Austria and covers all risks, with claims payable in Austria — a stricter standard than a Schengen travel policy.”
Official source: migration.gv.at & oesterreich.gv.at — residence-permit general conditions — Last verified:
What Austria does not offer: Austria publishes no residence-by-investment route. See why.
- Capped by an annual quota. Settlement Permit excluding gainful employment; Red-White-Red Card — Other Key Workers; Red-White-Red Card — Skilled Workers in Shortage Occupations; Red-White-Red Card — Very Highly Qualified Workers, with the six-month job-seeker visa; Student residence permit; EU Blue Card; Red-White-Red Card — Self-employed Key Workers; Red-White-Red Card — Start-up Founders; Red-White-Red Card for graduates of Austrian universities
- Language required before you arrive. Settlement Permit excluding gainful employment
France · 7 routes
Local work possible- Living on savings or a pension
- Taking a job with a local employer
- Self-employed or starting a business locally
- Qualifying through investment
The rule in writing
“For a long-stay visa (VLS-TS), you must hold private health insurance covering your full stay in France. Travel insurance and short-stay Schengen policies are not accepted.”
Official source: France-Visas (france-visas.gouv.fr) & FrenchEntrée long-stay guide — Last verified:
Netherlands · 6 routes
Local work possible- Taking a job with a local employer
- Self-employed or starting a business locally
- Studying
The rule in writing
“Anyone insured by operation of law under the Wlz — in practice residents of the Netherlands, and non-residents taxed on employment performed there — must take out a Dutch zorgverzekering. Residence or Dutch-taxed work is the trigger, not nationality and not the residence permit. A non-working spouse who becomes resident is caught with no Dutch income at all.”
Official source: Zorgverzekeringswet Article 2(1), read with Wlz Article 2.1.1 — Last verified:
What Netherlands does not offer: The Netherlands publishes no retirement or passive-income residence route. See why.
Belgium · 5 routes
Local work possible- Living on savings or a pension
- Taking a job with a local employer
- Studying
- Self-employed or starting a business locally
The rule in writing
“Affiliation to a mutualité, or to the CAAMI/HZIV, is compulsory in Belgium. The route in for most new arrivals is the resident category: people entered in the Registre national des personnes physiques. The trigger is commune registration on legal residence of more than three months, not employment. A resident with no Belgian professional income is inside the obligation and pays a personal contribution instead of paying through social contributions.”
Official source: Loi coordonnée du 14 juillet 1994, art. 32, al. 1er, 15°, read with INAMI circular to the mutualités no. 2023/15 of 23 January 2023 and socialsecurity.be — Last verified:
Greece · 4 routes
Local work possible- Living on savings or a pension
- Working remotely for employers or clients abroad
- Qualifying through investment
- Taking a job with a local employer
The rule in writing
“Greece’s national (type D) visas require travel medical insurance with minimum cover of €30,000, valid for the whole Schengen area and the full duration of stay, covering emergency care, hospitalisation, and repatriation.”
Official source: Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs (mfa.gr) national-visa documentation — Last verified:
Malta · 7 routes
Local work possible- Working remotely for employers or clients abroad
- Qualifying through investment
- Self-employed or starting a business locally
- Living on savings or a pension
- Taking a job with a local employer
The rule in writing
“Malta’s Nomad Residence Permit requires health insurance covering the EU (including Malta) and the UK, for one full year with the premium paid in advance. Travel insurance is not accepted — but a foreign health policy that meets the requirements is explicitly acceptable.”
Official source: Residency Malta Agency — Nomad Residence Permit health-insurance policy — Last verified:
- Minimum time you must actually be there. Malta Retirement Programme — special tax status
Italy · 5 routes
Local work possible- Living on savings or a pension
- Working remotely for employers or clients abroad
- Self-employed or starting a business locally
- Qualifying through investment
- Taking a job with a local employer
The rule in writing
“The elective residence visa is widely handled to the €30,000 Schengen insurance standard — hospitalisation and repatriation cover for the full visa year — though published consulate checklists vary: some ask for cover of 100% of medical expenses, and requirements differ by consulate.”
Based on: Official esteri.it consulate checklists (Chicago, Boston et al., which vary) & widely-applied Schengen standard — Last verified:
- Capped by an annual quota. Digital nomad and remote worker visa; Self-employment visa; Subordinate employment visa
What actually decides it, and it is rarely the money
People compare European destinations on income thresholds because thresholds are the easiest thing to put in a table. In practice the conditions that decide whether a move is possible at all are the ones a table leaves out.
Capped by an annual quota — Germany, Austria, Italy. Meeting every condition is not enough if the places are gone. Quotas are allocated by application date and reset annually.
Minimum time you must actually be there — Spain, Portugal, Malta. These routes are not compatible with part-year living, and the bigger ones drag tax residency with them.
Language required before you arrive — Germany, Austria. A condition you cannot fix after landing, and the one most likely to delay a move by months.
And the bluntest condition of all is a route simply not existing. Germany and Netherlands publish no retirement or independent-means route at all, so no amount of savings opens one. Where that is the case the card above says so, and the visa finder shows the statutory basis.
“Which is cheapest?” has a shorter answer than you expect
For insurance, the destination makes no difference to your premium. Our cover is priced from a single EU-region rate card that applies identically to all 10 countries, so what moves your price is your age and the level of cover you choose. Cover starts from $392 a year, and our most-chosen level from $1,525 a year. Real figures by exact age are on the pricing page.
What does differ, sharply, is what each government asks you to prove. Across the 22 routes that publish a monthly figure the spread runs from €600 to €5,942 a month , and the remaining 44 publish nothing at all — they test a business case, a points score, an investment, or in a few cases genuinely nothing. The income requirement checker shows each figure with its derivation and official source.
Prices are USD, from the Regency Premium Rate Card 2026, last verified 2026-07-17. This page compares what the immigration and insurance rules require. Tax is a separate discipline and we do not model it.
Once you have a shortlist
Narrow to a country and a route, then check the insurance condition before you buy anything — it is set by the destination, not by your route, and it is where otherwise strong applications fail. The free policy check reads cover you already hold against your destination's published rule, the visa checklist prints what your certificate must say, and the rules compared puts all ten side by side.
This is not immigration advice. We are an insurance introducer. This page reports what each government publishes and links to the source; it does not assess whether you would be accepted anywhere. Consulates keep discretion, and requirements can change. We show the published rule and its source; the final decision is the consulate’s. Covered Abroad is an insurance introducer, not an insurer. We cannot extend cover beyond the policy wording. We log rule changes as we find them on updates.