How can immigration policymakers harness the potential of remote work?
| Published date | 01 December 2022 |
| Author | Meghan Benton,Kate Hooper |
| Date | 01 December 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.13080 |
276 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imig Int Migr. 2022;60:276–279.
INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 pandemic transformed remote work practices, furnishing many workers with the ability to work
remotely some or all of the time. Even before the pandemic began, technological advances had allowed a growing
number of people to telework, particularly in high-income countries with solid broadband infrastructure. But social
distancing and lockdown measures starting in early 2020 turbo-charged this trend, even reaching sectors such as
teaching that previously relied on face-to-face interactions. While most workers will return to the office as the
public-health threat of COVID-19 recedes, companies in many sectors are allowing their staff to work remotely
full-time or on a hybrid basis, viewing this as a tool to sweeten the deal for new hires, retain workers and bring down
operational costs.
This sea change in remote work has far-reaching consequences for immigration policy. More international remote
workers or ‘digital nomads’ are now seeking to combine travel or short periods of living abroad with remote work.
Many governments are capitalizing on this trend, especially in tourist destinations that took a big financial hit from
the pandemic and saw digital nomads as a way to compensate for lost tourism income and support local economic
development (see Hooper & Benton, 2022 for an overview). Burgeoning digital nomad hubs such as Bali and the
Madeira Islands are inviting people to move there to take advantage of the quality of life and technological infrastruc-
ture. But away from these glamorous locations, policymakers are also confronting more rudimentary questions about
how to adapt immigration, tax and other systems to remote work and other non-traditional working arrangements.
THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF INTERNATIONAL REMOTE WORK
Most immigration systems are not well suited to people working remotely, whether with an employment contract
from a company headquartered in a different country, working on a freelance basis or running a business located in
another country. Visa rules also often prohibit (or are silent on the legality of) remote work for people visiting on a
COMMENTARY
DOI: 10.1111/imig.13080
Received: 20 October 2022 Accepted: 23 October 2022
How can immigration policymakers harness the
potential of remote work?
Meghan Benton | Kate Hooper
Migration Policy Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
Correspondence
Meghan Benton, Migration Policy Institute, Washington, DC, USA.
Email: mbenton@migrationpolicy.org
© 2022 International Organization for Migration.
The commentary summarizes Kate Hooper and Meghan Benton, The Future of Remote Work: Digital Nomads and the
Implications for Immigration Systems (Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute).
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