Digital Nomad & Residency · Japan
Japan digital nomad visa: requirements (2026)
Japan shaded by its digital nomad & residency status
Digital nomad visa in Japan: dedicated visa.
FrameworkSpecified Visa – Designated Activities (Notice No. 53) for 'Digital Nomad' and spouse/child, administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA)
Japan launched a dedicated digital nomad visa on 31 March 2024 under the 'Designated Activities' residence category, letting qualifying foreign remote workers stay up to six months while performing overseas-based work. Eligibility is restricted to passport holders of ~49–51 jurisdictions that are both visa-exempt for short stays and party to a tax treaty with Japan, and requires JPY 10 million (~USD 68k) annual income plus private health insurance with JPY 10 million medical coverage. The visa is non-renewable and non-extendable, and separate longer-term routes (Highly Skilled Professional, Business Manager) remain the main pathways to residency and permanent residence, as Japan has no traditional 'golden visa'.
Key points
The Designated Activities visa for 'Digital Nomad' and their spouse/child was launched by MOFA/ISA on 31 March 2024 for remote workers employed by or contracting with entities outside Japan; it is officially published on MOFA's specified-visa pages.
Applicants must prove annual income of at least JPY 10,000,000 and hold insurance covering death, injury or illness during the stay with medical-treatment coverage of at least JPY 10,000,000.
The permitted stay is up to six months and cannot be extended or renewed; nomads must leave Japan and generally cannot re-apply within six months, and work for Japanese employers/clients is not permitted.
Only citizens of countries/regions that are both visa-exempt for short-term stays in Japan and have a tax treaty with Japan qualify — initially 49 countries, expanded to ~51 (e.g. US, UK, EU states, Australia, Canada, Singapore, South Korea).
Japan does not operate a passive residency-by-investment programme; the Business Manager (Business Management) status requires establishing a real company with ≥JPY 5 million capital or ≥2 Japan-based employees, a physical office and a business plan.
Longer-term relocators typically use the points-based Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) visa, which can lead to permanent residence after 3 years with 70 points or 1 year with 80 points — a widely used alternative to the time-limited nomad visa.
Timeline - major decisions & events
Japan's lower house passed (and the upper house enacted on 2024-06-14) an amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act letting the Minister of Justice revoke permanent residency for intentional failure to pay taxes or social-insurance premiums. It tightened the security of long-term residency status that skilled migrants rely on.
The Japan Times ↗Japan introduced a six-month, non-renewable residence status letting remote workers from 49 visa-waiver/tax-treaty countries live in Japan while working for overseas employers or clients. It is the country's first dedicated visa for digital nomads and forms the core of today's framework.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan ↗The Immigration Services Agency created a new 'Designated Activities' status letting remote workers from 49 visa-exempt, tax-treaty countries stay up to six months (non-renewable, no residence card) while working for foreign employers. It gave Japan its first dedicated remote-worker visa, with a ¥10 million annual income and private health-insurance requirement.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan ↗Japan announced the digital nomad scheme would require annual income of at least ¥10 million (~US$68,000) plus private health insurance, one of the highest income bars globally, and would launch by end of March 2024.
The Japan Times ↗Japan introduced J-Skip (a streamlined Special Highly-Skilled track qualifying on income/education alone, with PR eligibility after one year) and J-Find (a two-year job-hunting/entrepreneurship visa for graduates of top global universities). They broadened the high-skill residency framework beyond the points system.
Consulate-General of Japan (Immigration Services Agency) ↗A new 'Specified Skilled Worker' residence status opened labor-shortage industries to foreign workers, and the former Immigration Bureau was upgraded into the cabinet-level Immigration Services Agency. This marked Japan's shift toward a more open, actively managed immigration framework.
Ministry of Justice / Immigration Services Agency ↗Japan cut the residency period required for permanent residence to three years (70-79 points) or just one year (80+ points), versus the standard ten years. It became one of the world's fastest PR routes for high earners and specialists.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan ↗Following the 2014 amendment (Act No. 113 of 2014), HSP was elevated from a points-based preferential treatment into its own status of residence with HSP(i) and HSP(ii) tiers, formalizing the high-skill immigration track.
Japanese Law Translation (Ministry of Justice) ↗The preferential treatment built on the points test was reorganized into a distinct 'Highly Skilled Professional' (i)/(ii) residence status, with HSP(ii) offering an effectively indefinite stay. It institutionalized the high-skill track within the residence-status system.
JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) ↗Japan launched a points test (education, career, salary, age; 70-point threshold) granting preferential immigration treatment across academic, technical, and management categories. It was the foundational measure that began shaping today's skill-based residency framework.
Government of Japan (JapanGov) ↗Japan - other topics
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