🇸🇨 Seychelles Digital Nomad Visa: What Really Happened to Workcation?

Is there still a Seychelles digital nomad visa?

Your dream of working from paradise deserves facts, not false hope. The Workcation Retreat Program started in April 2021: up to a year of legal remote work, applied for on a dedicated platform, workcation.sc, for a fee of €45. It is an irresistible prospect, and that is how it still appears in countless visa lists.

But our check on 1 August 2026 revealed a sobering reality. The domain workcation.sc no longer exists; it does not even resolve. The immigration authority, ICS, mentions neither Workcation nor digital nomads on its official visa and permit pages. Some third-party portals still describe a Workcation permit for about US$46 in 2026, but we found no official source that confirms it.

Our interim verdict: the program can no longer be found officially, but no formal end was ever announced. Frustratingly, the uncertainty remains.

That is why we rate its status as unclear, not active. Do not build your dream around the €45 figure from blogs; you may be planning on something that no longer exists. The good news? For most stays, you do not need the program at all. Take your next step with confidence: for how nomad visas normally work, see our guide What is a digital nomad visa?.

Your dream escape starts here: the Visitors Permit

The Seychelles is one of the few countries that welcomes practically every traveler visa-free. Your only pre-flight requirement? The electronic travel authorization. Then, the moment you arrive, you receive a Visitors Permit for up to three months, free of charge. Paradise is calling: imagine finally being there.

Don’t let your stay end before you’re ready. You can extend online through the official portal permits.ics.gov.sc or in person at the authority in Victoria. Have your return or onward ticket, confirmed accommodation and sufficient funds ready. Apply at least two weeks before your current period ends; leave it any later and processing gets tight.

Dreaming of a full year? That means the free first permit plus three paid extensions, with the paperwork repeated each time.

What the Visitors Permit does not cover

Do not let one costly misunderstanding derail your plans. The Visitors Permit is a visitor status for holidays and business trips, not a remote work permit. That is precisely the gap the Workcation program was meant to close.

Quietly working on your laptop for clients outside the Seychelles is not prosecuted in practice, but do not mistake that for explicit permission. Any work for Seychellois employers or clients without a Gainful Occupation Permit is clearly illegal.

Protect your plans. Protect your money. Build your trip around visitor status and its limits, not a nomad visa that nobody currently issues reliably. If an agency offers you a Workcation permit, ask for an official source before you pay.

Taxes: zero locally, but not at home

Picture it: working from the Seychelles, serving clients abroad, and paying nothing locally on that foreign income. The Seychelles does not tax visitors on foreign income, so that freedom is real. But there’s one crucial catch: your tax status at home stays the same.

Keep your residence in your home country, and you usually keep paying tax there on your worldwide income, even during those unforgettable months on Mahé. Spending a year on the islands as a visitor does not create a Seychelles tax residence you could point to at home, either. And if you are a US citizen, you remain subject to US income tax on your worldwide income wherever you live (IRS).

Make your island dream a well-informed one. Explore the basics, including rules for real residents and companies, in the Seychelles tax guide from our network. Moving often? Understand how tax residence works on our page on taxes for digital nomads.

Daily life, costs and connections

Paradise has a price, and daily life will take the biggest bite out of your budget. The Seychelles imports almost everything, so you’ll feel the cost with every purchase. On Mahé or Praslin, living comfortably on less than €3,000-4,000 a month is hard. And finding a long-term home takes patience: accommodation is scarce, with the market geared towards holiday rentals.

But imagine what you wake up to: one of the most spectacular natural settings in the world. Add a high level of safety, English and French as official languages and usable internet in populated areas, and the dream feels closer. Daily connections via Dubai, Doha or Istanbul keep you connected. And at only two to three hours ahead of Central European Time, you gain something truly precious: a long-haul escape without a jet lag problem if your clients are in Europe.

Your peace of mind is too precious to gamble with. On islands without top-level medical care, a lot depends on your policy. Before you book your escape, read our overview of health insurance for digital nomads.

Not ready to leave paradise? Start with this checklist

Your island dream doesn’t have to end when your holiday does. The Visitors Permit route makes a longer stay possible, but preparation is everything. Before you fly, protect that dream and your peace of mind with:

• Your electronic travel authorization, completed before departure
• A return or onward ticket, even if you plan to extend later
• Confirmed accommodation, ideally for the whole first period; long-term rentals are scarce, so don’t risk missing out
• Proof of sufficient funds, with a realistic budget of €3,000-4,000 a month in mind
• Health insurance that covers you on the islands for the whole stay
• A calendar reminder at least two weeks before each permit period ends, so you can apply for the next extension in time

Don’t let paperwork cut short the stay you’ve dreamed of: keep copies of every permit and receipt. Each extension costs SCR 5,000 and requires the same documents again, so a twelve-month stay means three rounds of paperwork on top of the first arrival.

Who the Seychelles suits

Dreaming of one to three months in paradise? The Seychelles is a wonderful escape, and you need neither a program nor a fee to enjoy it. But as a permanent, budget-friendly nomad base, it simply does not work, especially while the program's status remains unclear.

If your heart is set on an Indian Ocean island with a clear legal route for remote work, compare the Mauritius digital nomad visa. Find other programs with a clear legal basis in our overview of digital nomad visas and our country profiles.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Seychelles still have a digital nomad visa?

Dreaming of working from paradise? Its status is unclear. The Workcation portal workcation.sc went offline, and immigration no longer mentions the program, but no formal end has been announced. Before you budget for that dream, know this: we found no official source for the fees still quoted online.

How long can I stay in the Seychelles as a visitor?

Your dream escape starts with a free Visitors Permit for up to three months on arrival. Not ready to leave paradise? Extend your stay in three-month steps up to twelve months in total, for SCR 5,000 (about €320) per extension.

Can I work remotely on a Visitors Permit?

Dreaming of taking your work, and your freedom, somewhere new? Know this before you leap: this is visitor status, not a work permit. Quiet remote work for clients abroad is not prosecuted in practice, but it is not explicitly allowed. Planning to work for local employers or clients? You’ll need a Gainful Occupation Permit.

Do I pay tax in the Seychelles on foreign income?

Not as a visitor, one less worry. But a visitor stay creates no Seychelles tax residence, so your home country's rules still apply.