u/Fair-View-4438

Hey everyone,

I’m in a very specific legal bind and really need advice from anyone familiar with EU digital nomad visas.

My Situation:

• The Job: I am currently interviewing with a small German fintech startup (~10 people). They want to hire me full-time but do not sponsor visas. They want me physically located in Europe from Day 1 of the job (which starts in roughly one month).
• The Contract Setup: They are willing to structure this as a Full-Time International Independent Contractor Agreement out of their German entity, paying roughly €6,200/month.
• My Background: I am an Indian national, but I graduated with a Master’s degree from HEC Paris. I never applied for the French APS/RECE post-study work permit, and I am currently residing in India.
• The Financial Catch: Because the job hasn't started yet, I have zero pay slips or income history to show. For immediate savings, I have about €7,000 in a personal Revolut account. My parents are willing to transfer a bit more money into my account if needed, but I cannot show a massive lump sum like €40k+ out of nowhere.

My Goal:
I want to move to Europe by Day 1 of my job, work legally for this German startup, and set up in a relatively low-tax regime (like Romania, Croatia, Malta, Spain).

The Problem:
Almost every Digital Nomad Visa (Spain, Romania, Malta, Croatia) strictly mandates either 3 to 6 months of past pay slips with the employer, OR a massive upfront lump-sum savings balance (like Croatia's €43k savings route). I have neither of these right now.

My Questions for the Sub:

1. Are there any low-tax EU countries that will grant a digital nomad visa purely based on a forward-looking contract or under 15k euros saving without demanding past pay history? ( I am no tworking since Feb'26 so i dont have last 3 months salary for any role)
2. If I land in Europe on a short-stay visa (Using me HEC alumni short stay visa) on Day 1, Can i work from europe anyways? as it is a remote job (although it's not the best idea as i cant technically work on a short stay visa) but can I legally transition to a Digital Nomad Visa (like Spain) from inside the EU once I hit the 3-month contract history mark on the ground?

Worst case I can ask my company to let me work remotely from india for first 3 months so that i can use those salary slips to apply, but then applciation processing will also take some time so it'll be ~5 months before I can move to europe which they might not like.

Would love to hear from anyone who has navigated a brand-new contract and moved to europe?

Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone,

I’m in a very specific legal bind and really need advice from anyone familiar with EU digital nomad visas.

My Situation:

• The Job: I am currently interviewing with a small German fintech startup (~10 people). They want to hire me full-time but do not sponsor visas. They want me physically located in Europe from Day 1 of the job (which starts in roughly one month).
• The Contract Setup: They are willing to structure this as a Full-Time International Independent Contractor Agreement out of their German entity, paying roughly €6,200/month.
• My Background: I am an Indian national, but I graduated with a Master’s degree from HEC Paris. I never applied for the French APS/RECE post-study work permit, and I am currently residing in India.
• The Financial Catch: Because the job hasn't started yet, I have zero pay slips or income history to show. For immediate savings, I have about €7,000 in a personal Revolut account. My parents are willing to transfer a bit more money into my account if needed, but I cannot show a massive lump sum like €40k+ out of nowhere.

My Goal:
I want to move to Europe by Day 1 of my job, work legally for this German startup, and set up in a relatively low-tax regime (like Romania, Croatia, Malta, Spain).

The Problem:
Almost every Digital Nomad Visa (Spain, Romania, Malta, Croatia) strictly mandates either 3 to 6 months of past pay slips with the employer, OR a massive upfront lump-sum savings balance (like Croatia's €43k savings route). I have neither of these right now.

My Questions for the Sub:

1. Are there any low-tax EU countries that will grant a digital nomad visa purely based on a forward-looking contract or under 15k euros saving without demanding past pay history? ( I am no tworking since Feb'26 so i dont have last 3 months salary for any role)
2. If I land in Europe on a short-stay visa (Using me HEC alumni short stay visa) on Day 1, Can i work from europe anyways? as it is a remote job (although it's not the best idea as i cant technically work on a short stay visa) but can I legally transition to a Digital Nomad Visa (like Spain) from inside the EU once I hit the 3-month contract history mark on the ground?

Worst case I can ask my company to let me work remotely from india for first 3 months so that i can use those salary slips to apply, but then applciation processing will also take some time so it'll be ~5 months before I can move to europe which they might not like.

Would love to hear from anyone who has navigated a brand-new contract and moved to europe?

Thanks in advance!