§ Compass · Visa files

The paperwork, decoded.

Every residency door in the countries we track (the official income bars, the documents, the actual application sequence), each fact graded by how well it’s sourced, stamped with when we last verified it, and kept honestly separate from what YouTube and Reddit are saying.

YOUR VISA PASSPORT
$

Enter what you actually earn. Every published income route on this page sorts itself into doors that are open to you, doors within reach, and doors that ask for more, using the official bars below, nothing invented.Just visiting? These bars are for long-stay residency routes. Most passports need no income proof for a short trip. Check what your passport needs to enter →

§ Just visiting? Start here

What your passport needs to enter

TOURIST ENTRY · NOT RESIDENCY

Most trips never touch a residency visa: a tourist admission covers the stay, and no income proof is involved. Pick the two ends of your trip. The income bars further down are for the long-stay routes.

45COUNTRIES TRACKED
138PROGRAMS TRACKED
517SOURCES ON FILE
WEEKLYRE-CHECKED
§ All visa files

Every country on file

§ Explainer · today’s term

What work permit actually means

01

What it actually is

Government permission allowing a foreigner to take paid local employment.

02

Said plainly

A work permit is the government's yes to you actually holding a paid job with a local employer.
People mix it up with a work visa: the visa is the stamp that lets you enter and stay for work, while the permit is the underlying right to be on someone's payroll.
In many countries they come together, but a visa that lets you live somewhere does not automatically let you take local wages.

03

Where it bites

You are in Spain on a digital nomad visa working for clients back home, and a local company offers you a part-time role in their office.
That job needs its own permission you do not have, and taking it without one puts both you and the employer on the wrong side of the rules.

A different term every day, out of the glossary. People mix this one up with Work visa. read the full entry → · every term

§ Methodology

How this page stays honest

  • Every fact carries a confidence grade, the same A / B / C mark you see on each route.
  • Official government texts and portals are prioritised; the “street” layer is kept separate and never used as a source for a number.
  • An automated watcher re-fetches the official pages weekly; every route shows the date we last verified it.
  • Community corrections are checked against the official source before anything changes.
  • Income bars defined by formulas (“3× minimum wage”) show the formula, because the formula is stable law while the dollar figure drifts.
WHAT THE GRADES MEAN
  • AAn official government text (a decree, gazette, or consulate page) states it directly.
  • BConsistent, well-corroborated consular practice reported by multiple independent professional sources.
  • CReported, but not pinned to a primary source. Shown as a lead and clearly marked, because pretending precision would be worse.
§ Keep this page honest

Spot something outdated?

We do our best to keep up, but visa policy moves faster than any website. Consulates change the rules, thresholds drift, offices reinterpret. If you found something newer than what’s above, or you just went through a process and reality didn’t match the paperwork, send it in. We verify every submission against the official source before updating, and if your fix lands, you get credit below.