Digital Nomads in Florianópolis: Visa, Remote Relocation and Housing Demand

Remote work has changed who's looking for housing in Florianópolis. On top of internal migration, there's now a flow of professionals earning abroad who choose the island for its quality of life — and who tend to rent before they buy.

The digital nomad visa

Brazil has had a dedicated visa since Resolution CNIg nº 45/2021 (VITEM XIV). The core requirements: be a remote worker for a foreign employer, with no employment ties in Brazil, and prove a minimum monthly income of US$ 1,500 or, alternatively, a bank balance of US$ 18,000. You also need valid health insurance in Brazil and a clean criminal record. The visa is valid for up to one year and is renewable.

Why Florianópolis

The island combines three things rarely found together. First, a real tech hub: technology accounts for around 25% of the city's GDP, with some 6,100 companies and roughly 38,000 sector jobs, and Florianópolis was named "Capital Nacional das Startups" by Lei 14.955/2024. Second, safety: with a rate of 9.7 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants (2024 data), it's Brazil's safest capital according to the Atlas da Violência. Third, the obvious draw of the beaches and the natural surroundings.

Demand that moves the rental market

Florianópolis was one of the world's fastest-growing digital nomad destinations (+152% between 2018 and 2023), with clusters and coliving spaces in neighborhoods such as Lagoa da Conceição, Campeche, and Barra da Lagoa. That demand adds to structural migration — Santa Catarina was the country's top migration destination — and pushes rents up: asking rent hovered around R$ 60/m² at the end of 2025, among the highest of the state capitals.

What they want (and what's worth offering)

This segment values medium-term stays, furnished and work-ready properties, good connectivity, and proximity to coworking spaces and the beach. For an owner or investor, that defines a concrete niche: well-equipped units in neighborhoods with an ecosystem, rather than raw square meters. That said, it's worth separating the hard data (visa, safety, the size of the tech sector) from the narrative: that nomads "drive prices up" is a reasonable reading, but the precise causation hasn't been measured.

Sources

• Resolution CNIg/MJSP nº 45/2021 (VITEM XIV) — Portal de Imigração.
• Observatório ACATE / Rede de Inovação de Florianópolis — weight of the technology sector.
• Lei nº 14.955/2024 — "Capital Nacional das Startups".
• Ipea / FBSP — Atlas da Violência (safest capital, 2024 data).
• IBGE — 2022 Census, migration to Santa Catarina and Florianópolis.
• FipeZAP — asking rent in Florianópolis (Dec. 2025); Nomad List / local press — growth of the destination.