Marco had been in Bali for four months when the email arrived. Not a warning. Not a grace period. A notification that Indonesia’s remote work visa category was under immediate policy review and that his status was, in the words of the official correspondence, “subject to reassessment.” He had a lease, a coworking membership, and a flight booked three months out. None of that mattered. He had 30 days to sort it out or leave.

I have been to 40 countries. This surprised me. Not because governments change their minds, but because so many remote workers I meet still think a visa stamp is a promise. It is not. It is a policy position, and policies move. Here is what the guidebooks do not tell you: the remote work visa wave that crested between 2021 and 2023 is now receding in ways that are quiet, fast, and poorly covered by mainstream travel media.

Here are 5 countries actively pulling back on remote worker access right now, and what you need to do before you become the next Marco.

1. Indonesia: The Bali Situation Is More Complicated Than Instagram Suggests

Indonesia launched its “Second Home Visa” and related digital nomad pathways with considerable fanfare in 2022. By late 2023, enforcement inconsistencies and political pressure around housing costs in Canggu and Seminyak had Indonesian immigration officials quietly tightening application reviews. As of early 2025, multiple applicants are reporting rejections on renewal without clear explanation, and the official digital nomad visa category remains technically “under review” with no confirmed relaunch date.

The average monthly rent in Canggu rose 35% between 2022 and 2024, according to data from Numbeo’s 2024 Cost of Living Index. Local legislators have directly linked that spike to the influx of high-earning foreign remote workers. When the math stops working for locals, the politics follow fast.

Warning: If you are currently in Bali on a social or tourist visa and working remotely, you are already in a legally gray zone. Indonesia does not have an active, clearly structured remote work visa right now. Get formal legal advice from an Indonesian immigration attorney before your next entry stamp.

2. Georgia: The Free Spirit Is Getting a Reality Check

For three years, Georgia was the darling of the nomad community. The “Remotely from Georgia” program was generous, the cost of living in Tbilisi was absurdly low (a furnished one-bedroom for under $500 a month in 2022), and the wine was outstanding. I spent six weeks there and genuinely considered staying longer.

But here is the shift: Georgia’s government has been under significant pressure from its EU alignment process and domestic housing concerns in Tbilisi’s Vake and Saburtalo districts. The original program ran from 2020 to 2022 and was not formally renewed in its original structure. What replaced it is murkier, relying on standard tourist entry rules that cap stays and do not formally authorize remote work. Do you know exactly which legal framework you are operating under if you are there right now?

Did You Know: Georgia allows visa-free entry for up to 365 days for many nationalities, but visa-free entry is not the same as work authorization. If your income source is foreign and your presence is remote work, you are in an unregulated gray zone that Georgian authorities have not formally clarified.

3. Costa Rica: The Rentista Trap

Costa Rica’s “Rentista” visa and its newer digital nomad visa (launched in 2021 under Law 9996) looked like a clean solution. One year, renewable, requires proof of $3,000 USD per month in income. Straightforward on paper.

The trap is enforcement. I made this mistake so you do not have to: I applied without confirming that my income documentation format matched what the Costa Rican immigration office specifically requires, not what the tourism ministry’s website describes. Those two documents contradict each other in two places. Multiple nomads in 2023 and 2024 reported visa approvals followed by complications at the border when re-entering, because the approval did not sync properly with the immigration database. The processing backlog as of 2024 runs 4 to 6 months, meaning a gap in status is almost guaranteed if you do not plan ahead.

Pro Tip: Request a formal “constancia” document from Costa Rican immigration after your approval is issued. This physical confirmation has resolved border re-entry issues that the digital record alone did not. Ask for it in writing, in Spanish, before you leave the office.

4. Portugal: The Golden Visa Is Gone and the Digital Nomad Visa Is Wobbling

Portugal was the European anchor for the nomad wave. Then, in February 2023, the government eliminated the Golden Visa program under housing pressure in Lisbon and Porto. The D8 Digital Nomad Visa survived, but it landed in a country that is actively hostile to the conditions that made it attractive in the first place. Lisbon rents have risen over 60% since 2019, according to Portugal’s National Statistics Institute (INE, 2024). New zoning restrictions are being debated in Parliament that would limit short-term rentals in central Lisbon entirely.

Here is the part nobody is talking about: the D8 requires proof of income at four times Portugal’s minimum wage (currently around 3,480 EUR per month as of 2025). That threshold is real, enforced, and checked at renewal. If your freelance income fluctuated in the past 12 months, your renewal is not guaranteed. Build a backup into your plan now. Portugal’s neighbor, Spain, launched its own Digital Nomad Visa in January 2023, with a processing time of approximately 20 working days from a Spanish consulate and a slightly lower income threshold. It is not perfect, but it exists, it is active, and it is currently under less political fire than Portugal’s.

Action Step: If you are on Portugal’s D8 and approaching your first renewal, pull your last 12 months of income statements right now and run the math against the current 3,480 EUR monthly minimum. If any three months fall short, talk to a Portuguese immigration lawyer this week, not next month.

5. Malaysia: The MM2H Program That Keeps Changing the Rules

Malaysia’s My Second Home (MM2H) program was once considered one of the best long-stay options in Southeast Asia. Affordable, stable, and well-structured. Then in 2021, Malaysia overhauled the requirements dramatically, raising the minimum monthly offshore income requirement from 10,000 MYR to 40,000 MYR (roughly $8,500 USD per month) and requiring a fixed deposit of 1,000,000 MYR. Applications collapsed by over 90%.

In 2023, Malaysia introduced a revised “MM2H” with three tiers in an attempt to recover applicants. The Silver tier lowered income requirements back toward the original range. But here is what the guidebooks do not tell you: the rules changed three times between 2021 and 2024. When a new administration wants to make a point about foreign residency, this program is the lever they pull. If you are counting on MM2H as your long-term base, you need a backup country in your plan the same way you have travel insurance. You do not expect to use it. You are very glad it exists when you need it.

When did you last actually read your visa terms in full, not the blog summary, the official government document? If you cannot answer that question confidently, that is your answer.

Did You Know: Malaysia’s MM2H Silver tier (as of 2024) requires a minimum offshore income of 10,000 MYR per month and a fixed deposit of 150,000 MYR. That is dramatically different from both the 2020 requirements and the 2021 overhaul. Always check the government’s official MM2H portal, not third-party summaries, for current figures.

Your Next 3 Steps

1. Open your visa approval letter right now and set a calendar alert for 90 days before your status expires. Do this before you close this tab. Not when you land. Now.

2. Go to your destination country’s official immigration ministry website (not a nomad forum, not a travel blog) and find the page for your specific visa category. Screenshot it, save the PDF, and note the date you retrieved it. Do this within the next 24 hours, because these pages change without announcement.

3. By end of this week, identify one backup country with an active, clearly structured digital nomad or long-stay visa, confirm the current income threshold on the government site, and save the consulate contact information. Spain, Albania, and Cape Verde all have functional programs right now. Pick one. Know the number.