Brazil's real estate investor visa requires buying property worth at least R$ 1.000.000. The digital nomad visa requires no purchase at all: a remote income of US$1,500 a month is enough. For many Russian tech professionals who moved to Florianópolis after 2022 and already work remotely, that difference decides which path to take first.
What the digital nomad visa requires
Brazil created this immigration category in 2021, under CNIg Resolution No. 45 (VITEM XIV). It applies to anyone working remotely for an employer or clients based outside Brazil: it does not allow local invoicing or employment. Applicants must show monthly income of US$1,500 or, alternatively, bank funds of at least US$18,000. Two smaller requirements apply: health insurance valid in Brazil and a clean criminal background check.
The initial residence permit lasts one year and can be renewed once for an equal period, capping this category at two years. One point worth knowing before planning the move: the digital nomad visa does not convert into permanent residency on its own, no matter how many times it is renewed. Anyone who wants to stay longer than two years must switch to another category — investment, formal employment, family reunification — before the second period expires.
The alternative to the investor path
The other common entry point for a foreigner with capital is real estate investor residency (CNIg Resolution No. 36/2018). It requires buying urban property in Brazil worth at least R$ 1.000.000, with the buyer's own funds from abroad. Santa Catarina, in the South region, does not qualify for the reduced R$ 700.000 threshold that applies only in the North and Northeast.
For an IT professional earning in dollars or euros without a million reais in liquid funds, that path is out of reach in the short term. The digital nomad visa solves the same problem — living legally in Florianópolis — without requiring a purchase. The core difference, summarized:
- Digital nomad (VITEM XIV): US$1,500 monthly income or US$18,000 in savings; no property purchase; residency capped at 2 years; does not lead to permanent residency on its own.
- Real estate investor (RN 36/2018): purchase from R$ 1.000.000; minimum presence of 14 days every 2 years; temporary residency that can convert to permanent while the investment is maintained.
These are two paths with different logic, not two steps of the same process. The digital nomad visa solves the short and medium term; the investor path aims for permanent settlement from day one.
Why Florianópolis, specifically
The island combines two trends that, even considered separately, explain much of the appeal. The first is technological: Florianópolis grew from 2,029 IT companies in 2018 to 6,433 in 2024, and the sector generated R$ 12.800 million in revenue that year — 25% of the city's GDP. Formal tech employment reached 45,600 jobs in 2024, up more than 70% from 26,800 in 2020. That ranks the city fourth in Brazil for tech employment, behind only São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília. In 2025, local startups raised more than R$ 787 million in investment.
The second trend is the Russian community itself. According to official data released in 2025, Florianópolis is home to 1,170 of the 1,300 Russians registered in Santa Catarina, the largest concentration in the country. That presence is already visible in neighborhoods like Ingleses, with signage in Russian. It also overlaps with a separate, larger flow: the city was the world's second fastest-growing destination for digital nomads over the past five years. Roughly 5,666 remote professionals were projected for 2025 — 224% more than in 2018. These are two separate figures, not to be conflated, but they coexist in the same neighborhoods. That explains why a Russian IT professional finds both compatriots and an established remote-work ecosystem on the island.
Renting before buying
The digital nomad visa does not require a purchase, and in practice most people who arrive this way start out renting. A furnished one-bedroom apartment in Florianópolis typically starts at R$ 1.500 to R$ 1.990 a month, based on local real estate portal listings during 2026. Adding condo fees (R$ 350 to R$ 490), property tax (IPTU), waste collection and fire insurance, the total monthly cost of a furnished unit runs R$ 2.150 to R$ 2.360.
Against the minimum required income of US$1,500 a month, that housing cost leaves room to live comfortably in well-connected neighborhoods such as Lagoa da Conceição, Campeche or Ingleses itself. It is also the natural period to learn the market — prices by neighborhood, building type, distance to the beach — before deciding to buy later on.
The path to buying, when the time comes
Nothing stops a digital nomad visa holder from buying property in Florianópolis: a purchase requires no specific immigration status, only a CPF tax number. What changes is the order of the decision. The investor buys first to obtain residency. The digital nomad, instead, can rent for two years and learn the island from the inside. They can buy later, with the investor path available — not required — if they decide to settle permanently.
The practical question, then, is not which visa is "better," but what each one solves. The digital nomad path solves remote income without tying up capital. The investor path solves the case of someone with available capital who wants permanent residency from day one.
Sources
- CNIg/MJSP Resolution No. 45/2021 (VITEM XIV, digital nomad) — Portal de Imigração, Ministério da Justiça e Segurança Pública.
- CNIg Normative Resolution No. 36/2018 (real estate investor residency) — Portal de Imigração.
- Observatório ACATE / TI Inside — weight of the tech sector in Florianópolis's GDP (2024-2025).
- ACATE — Florianópolis, Brazil's fourth city for tech employment.
- Ministério da Justiça e Segurança Pública / OBMigra — Russian immigrant registrations by city (released 2025).
- Florianópolis Digital Nomad Observatory / local press — growth of remote professionals.
- Real estate portals (ZAP Imóveis, Imovelweb) — furnished apartment rental prices in Florianópolis (2026).