Europe wants to make life easier for digital nomads and expats — or so they say.

The European Union just announced its first-ever EU Visa Strategy, signaling big changes in how Europe manages travel, visas, and long-term stays. The message is clear: tighter screening, but easier access for skilled and frequent travelers.

For Americans, the biggest change is ETIAS, a new digital travel authorization for visa-free visitors. Starting in late 2026, U.S. travelers will need to complete an online pre-approval before entering the Schengen Area.

The EU also wants more talent. The strategy includes plans to simplify long-stay visas and residence permits, expand fully digital visa applications, and offer longer multi-entry visas for trusted travelers. Entrepreneurs, startup founders, students, researchers, and highly skilled professionals are a clear priority.

Is it all just talk, or will the infamously slow-moving EU bureaucracy actually follow through? Stay tuned for updates.

Google Fi is one of the most recommended phone plans on expat and digital nomad forums. But does it actually live up to the hype?

Here at Savvy Nomad, we recently performed a deep dive into Google Fi—which, we should add, no one paid us to do. In our unbiased review, we explored both the pros and the cons of this popular service.

One of the biggest logistical challenges of living overseas is dealing with your cell phone coverage. Most expats want to keep their U.S. phone number for things like two-factor authentication and WhatsApp verification.

Prepaid SIM cards and eSIMs are readily available for data, but the main problems are cost and convenience. Every new country means new plans, new apps, and new registration hassle.

Enter Google Fi. As a global roaming-first carrier, Google Fi allows you to keep your U.S. phone number, and your plan follows you around the world. No need to swap SIM cards or install a new eSIM.

For the international data, you’re gonna need the Unlimited Premium plan, which is Google Fi’s highest tier offering. It costs $65 a month for one line, or $110 for two lines. 

Unlimited Premium includes 50 GB of high speed data in 200 destinations. It also includes unlimited free texts and 20 cents a minute for calls. 

One downside of Google Fi is that after you exceed those 50 gigs, your speed gets throttled back to only 256 kilobytes per second. That’s enough to send text messages, but not much else. 

There’s also some critical fine print that many users miss about international roaming. 

Although Google Fi has become popular among the nomad crowd, the Google high command apparently never intended for it be used overseas permanently. Now, Google Fi specifies that the service can only be used outside the U.S. for limited periods. (This caveat is buried in the terms and conditions; it is not advertised on the pricing page.)

Eventually, you will receive an email or app notification that your service is scheduled for suspension. The amount of time it takes to get the warning seems to vary from user to user. Some have reported 50 days, others 90 days. A few customers claim that they got away with it for a whole year. In any event, your international data will be cut off 30 days after you receive the email. (You can avoid suspension by returning to the U.S. for at least a week.)

At the end of the day, Google Fi is not a great solution if you’re living overseas full time. It really works best for digital nomads or frequent travelers who also spend significant time in the U.S.

For expats that want to keep their U.S. phone number, consider combining a local data plan with a low-cost Tello subscription. With this setup, you can port your number to Tello and receive verification texts through a Wi-Fi connection.

Save an extra 4%-14.8% of your annual income with tax-savvy strategies. Change your domicile in the US: let Savvy Nomad help with the hassle.