The Japan Digital Nomad Visa: Explained
This year, Japan announced a much anticipated new visa that is targeted towards Digital Nomads and let’s you stay in the country for a little longer than the tourist visa.
Japan undoubtedly is a very popular destination, especially for tourists, but also for digital nomads it’s getting a lot of traction.
In this blog post, I’ll explain what the Japan Digital Nomad Visa is exactly, what the requirements are and how to get it.
Note that this information is valid at the time of writing and may be subject to change.
Quick links:
What is it?
The Japan Digital Nomad Visa is a visa allowing foreigners with a remote job (non-Japanese citizens) to stay in Japan for up to 6 months.
This visa cannot be renewed, however, and you would need to leave the country after six months and reapply if you want to enter Japan again with this kind of visa. Therefore, it technically is a “Temporary Stay” Visa. With this kind of visa, you can’t apply for residency, and therefore can’t do things such as opening a bank account in Japan.
Who is eligible?
You need to fulfill the following requirements to be eligible for this kind of Visa:
Be a national of one of the countries on this list. Most EU countries apply, as well as the US, Singapore, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
You need be have a remote job, meaning you either work for a company that allows you to work remotely, or you are a freelancer or a business owner. The company should be registered outside of Japan.
The yearly income requirement is 10 million Japanese yen, which is about 68000 USD)
You need to get a private health insurance with a coverage of at least 10 million Yen (which would cover the duration of your stay in Japan).
What about taxes?
Good news: with the Japan Digital Nomad visa, since it’s a temporary visa, you won’t need to pay taxes in Japan as you won’t be seen as a permanent resident in Japan.
You will likely still need to pay taxes wherever your usual ‘base’ is, whether that’s your home country or a different country.
💡 Check out my blog post on Digital Nomad Taxes for more information.
Can my family apply too?
Yes, you can also bring your family or dependents with you. Your legally married spouse and children may also enter with the Japan Digital Nomad visa. You will need to submit additional documents for them in your visa application (for example, your marriage certificate, see also below).
How do I apply?
To apply for the Japan Digital Nomad Visa, you will need to collect the following documents:
The Certificate of Eligibility (COE) Application form for the Digital Nomad Visa
Valid passport that doesn’t expire for the next 6 months plus at least two blank pages
Passport photo’s taken within the last 6 months.
Proof of remote work (e.g. employment contract)
Proof of earnings of more than 10 million yen (e.g. income/bank statements). This must come from non- Japanese entities
Proof of private health insurance (you need to be covered by at least 10 million Yen)
Birth certificate
Marriage certificate (in case your spouse needs a visa too)
Visa fee of 3,000 JPY (for single entry visa) or 6,000 JPY (for a multiple entry)
After you filled out the Certificate of Eligibility application and gathered the necessary documents for this document, you can submit it either online on the immigration portal or, if you are already in Japan, at the local Regional Immigration Control Office or a Immigration Information Office.
Once you get the Certificate of Eligibility, you can make a visa appointment at the Japanese consulate. Gather the other necessary documents to bring to your visa appointment.
How long does it take to get the visa?
This is hard to say, as it really depends on the number of requests at each consulate. As I don’t have personal experience applying for this visa, I don’t have any personal experience either.
I saw on Reddit that it takes around 3 weeks, which I would say is pretty fast.
What if I want to stay in Japan after the 6 months?
The Japan Digital Nomad visa is only valid for 6 months and can not be extended, so if you want to stay in Japan after the period has passed, you will need to get a different visa, or get out of the country and then reapply again (which seems like a lot of hassle to be honest).
There are a few other visa types you could check out, for example:
The “Highly Skilled Professional” Visa
This Visa was introduced in 2015 to attract more foreign talent into Japan. To get this visa, you need to collect a certain amount of “points” in the system, which are based on your things like your salary, education and level of Japanese, among others.
It seems to be more of a hassle to get this kind of visa as there are a lot of documents to collect and submit, but once you have it you can stay in Japan for 5 years.
Read more about this type of visa here.
The Engineering Visa
The name of this visa is a bit misleading, because it’s not just engineers that could apply for this type of visa.
You need to be working in a field related to science, natural science or engineering and you need to have the appropriate educational qualifications for the job you’re doing. In addition, you salary must be equal or higher than a similar role in Japan.
You can read more about this visa type on this blog post.
The Student Visa
The Student Visa is for someone coming to Japan mostly for studying and you are only allowed to work a certain number of hours with this kind of visa, You can stay up to 4 years with this type of visa.
What is it like being a digital nomad in Japan?
Japan is an amazing country to visit for tourists and also for digital nomads I think it’s a great place.
The internet is exceptionally fast basically anywhere, there is a lot of convenience when it comes to everyday things like food, and there are a lot of decent hotels that aren’t too expensive for a longer term stay.
It’s easy to work in cafes that are often very laptop friendly. At the time of writing, The Japanese Yen is quite weak which is not great for Japanese but it is nice for anyone else, as Japan is usually quite expensive and now it’s actually quite affordable.
⛩️ Read my Digital Nomad Guide for Kyoto to get a glimpse of how life as a digital nomad in Japan would be like
Private Health Insurance
You need to get a Private Health Insurance for the Japan Digital Nomad Visa
As mentioned in the requirements, you will need to get a private health insurance that covers the duration of your stay in Japan, as you won’t be eligible for the public health system.
Whenever I go on a (digital nomad) trip I use Safety Wing, which is my go-to insurance and it’s specifically designed for remote workers and digital nomads. It has great value for money and is easy to use and reliable.
Safety Wing has a specific health insurance that is a good fit for the Japan Digital Nomad Visa, which is called Nomad Health. It is a fully-equipped health insurance that includes access to routine and preventive healthcare, mental health and complementary therapies. It is specifically made for remote workers and freelancers that live in another country for extended periods of time.
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