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Japan

Digital Nomad visa. A 6-month, non-renewable stay for remote workers with a foreign employer — a trial stay, not a residence-building visa.

Free · The law behind every answer · Checked Sep 24, 2026

Digital Nomad visa

A single stay of up to 6 months, explicitly non-renewable and non-extendable; to return, the holder must spend 6 consecutive months outside Japan.

Who qualifies

  • Annual income of at least JPY 10,000,000 (about $65,000–68,000) from employment or contracts with a company based outside Japan.
    Japan Digital Nomad visa
  • Private health insurance (not Japan’s national health insurance), and a nationality from one of the roughly 50 countries with a relevant tax treaty and visa-exempt entry to Japan.
    Japan Digital Nomad visa

You keep your U.S. citizenship.

1

Does it fit your family?

2 questions, from the program’s own rules.

Steady monthly income, from any source?

Not legal advice.

2

What it takes.

Income
At least $5,556 a month, steady and documented.
Time
A few weeks once documents are ready.
Cost
The visa fee itself is nominal; the real cost is private health insurance for the stay (roughly $1,000–3,000) plus living costs.
The hard part
The hard 6-month, non-renewable cap and the nationality gate make this unsuitable as a family relocation plan — it is a trial stay, not a residence pathway.

Dollar figures are converted from the local currency at the rate the program’s research used; the official figure is in the local currency.

3

This door stops short of a passport.

  1. 2027
    First residence permit

    0.5 years, not renewable.

Language
Japanese good enough for daily life: speaking, reading and writing.
Time away
The Nationality Act requires five years' continuous domicile in Japan on a lawful status, but since 1 April 2026 the Legal Affairs Bureaus generally expect ten years or more as proof of integration. The ministry publishes no day count for trips abroad; long absences can break the continuity.
Two passports
Usually not: new citizens are asked to give up their other citizenship.
  • Time on this program does not count toward permanent residence or citizenship; the family would need to switch to one that does.
  • Six months at most, not renewable; it deliberately does not build residence.
  • Ten years is administrative practice from 1 April 2026, not a change to the law, which still says five; the Tokyo bureau's page says ten years 'as a rule', so some cases may be decided on less.
  • Tax and social insurance records are now checked over five years rather than one; not modelled here.
  • No official decision time found; the Legal Affairs Bureau does not publish one.
  • Renunciation is required unless your home country's law makes it impossible to lose your nationality.
  • The PR guideline treated a three-year stay as the longest period until 31 March 2026; from April 2026 applicants may need a five-year period of stay.
The law behind these dates
4

Living there.

Time you must spend there
Hard cap of 6 months per stay, non-renewable.
Tax
Because the stay is capped under 183 days, holders generally do not become Japanese tax residents — by design.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

5

Start today.

  1. Review the Digital Nomad visa with the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.Open moj.go.jp ↗
  2. Round up the papers.
    • Proof of steady income: at least $5,556 a month
    • Request your FBI Identity History Summary
    • Health insurance that meets the program’s rules
6

Or let us run it.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.Standard first year: $1,200. Everyone renews at $399.One membership, the whole family. Accounts and activation included.

16 steps, from the first paper to every renewal. You do 4 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Accounts and activation are included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Accounts depend on provider availability. Government, record and approved third-party charges are extra.

Run it for my family →
7
ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

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