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Japan to introduce six-month residency visa for 'digital nomads'

asia.nikkei.com

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Re: Japan to introduce six-month residency visa for 'digital nomads'

#51

Post by elzbardico »

In most countries you can't do any kind of work while in a tourist Visa, but this was never enforced, because it was so exceedingly rare for not to be on governments radar.

But once it became more prevalent, it creates the problem (on governments view, especially post 9/11) of having a bunch of foreign folks living for months and receiving money from abroad for god knows which reason.

This creates the problem for law enforcement of having to separate nomad workers from more shady characters that have exactly the same "signature": long term stays, getting regular money from above, not doing the usual tourist stuff that people that have money and free time enough to stay in a foreign country for months usually do.

So, for law enforcement purposes, it makes sense to have an specific kind of Visa for those "working tourists", so they can pre-filter this population and get back to a smaller working set of persons of interest without the added noise of "working tourists" (digital nomad as a term is incorrect, after all, true nomads would be working locally)

Re: Japan to introduce six-month residency visa for 'digital nomads'

#52

Post by treprinum »

walthamstow wrote: post #10

180 days with a salary threshold and country restrictions, or 90 days pretending to be a tourist. I know which I'd choose.

180 days doesn't even make one a Japanese tax resident. In Dubai one can get a 1-year digital nomad visa for $300 with tax residency and/or even 5/10-year Golden Visa with tax residency and the need to spend only a few months there.

Re: Japan to introduce six-month residency visa for 'digital nomads'

#53

Post by gejose »

treprinum wrote: post #45

I spent 1 month around Kyoto's UNESCO sites 10 years ago while working remotely for a company in the US and am not sure I'd want to spend whole 6 months in Japan when there are so many interesting places all around the world. One needed to know basic Japanese as very few people spoke English, finding an accommodation was a chore as AirBnB was non-existing and hotels with unlimited fast WiFi scarce and one had to book…

Everyone’s preferences differ when it comes to travel destinations. What may not have worked for you might actually be great for someone else.

Ultimately, the decision to visit a destination should be based on personal interests and experiences.

Re: Japan to introduce six-month residency visa for 'digital nomads'

#54

Post by nerdbert »

makeitdouble wrote: post #46
oldtownroad wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you share the tourist visa regulations for Japan that say this? I haven’t been able to find any. Thank you :)

That's implied. If you're working with your tourist visa you're changing the purpose of your stay and thus lying regarding your visa declaration: > Single-entry short-term stay visa for the purpose of Tourism (for a period of up to 90 days) (Note). > [...] > If you wish to visit Japan for other purposes or for a long-term stay, please submit your application to the Japanese Embassy, Consulate General or Consular offi…

The purpose of the visit is still tourism, even when people are also working remotely. Otherwise they could have stayed home and worked remotely.

Re: Japan to introduce six-month residency visa for 'digital nomads'

#55

Post by resoluteteeth »

oldtownroad wrote: post #23
alibarber wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, this is the correct interpretation in a lot of countries, you are performing paid work there regardless of who and where the employer is. Emergencies are all well and good, but turning up at the immigration desk and saying you don’t plan on working when you actually do will lead to trouble in a lot of places.

Can you share the tourist visa regulations for Japan that say this? I haven’t been able to find any. Thank you :)

I'm not sure if there's a specific rule that says that explicitly, but you aren't allowed to work if you are in Japan on a tourist visa, and the government's opinion is that this includes remote work for a company outside of japan, so it doesn't really matter that there's no rule saying that explicitly.

That's also the whole reason for potentially introducing this new type of visa; if you were allowed to do remote work on a tourist visa, they wouldn't need to do this.

Re: Japan to introduce six-month residency visa for 'digital nomads'

#56

Post by kybernetyk »

elzbardico wrote: post #51

In most countries you can't do any kind of work while in a tourist Visa, but this was never enforced, because it was so exceedingly rare for not to be on governments radar. But once it became more prevalent, it creates the problem (on governments view, especially post 9/11) of having a bunch of foreign folks living for months and receiving money from abroad for god knows which reason. This creates the problem for law…

>So, for law enforcement purposes, it makes sense to have an specific kind of Visa for those "working tourists", so they can pre-filter this population and get back to a smaller working set of persons of interest

So I guess terrorists/bad actors won't get the idea to apply for this Visa to fly under the radar then?

Re: Japan to introduce six-month residency visa for 'digital nomads'

#57

Post by andybak »

gottorf wrote: post #3
andybak wrote: post #2

The salary requirement seems harsh for people working on non-profit, self-funded or early-stage.

On the other hand, if you meet any of those criteria, perhaps it's not the best use of your resources to be a digital nomad in Japan.

That's fairly presumptuous of you.

Re: Japan to introduce six-month residency visa for 'digital nomads'

#58

Post by someguydave »

Jcampuzano2 wrote: post #31
alibarber wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretending to be a tourist is a good way to get deported usually in a lot of places.

Depends on your definition of tourist. If you are there for legitimate business within that country that is obviously a big no-no. If you are a tourist who works for a foreign company while visiting a country, well I don't know a single person who has been actually deported for this. I know it can happen, but most places seem to not care much, and mostly care you're spending your money in their country. I am a digita…

That the law is rarely enforced does not make the law invalid or unenforceable.

Re: Japan to introduce six-month residency visa for 'digital nomads'

#59

Post by resoluteteeth »

nerdbert wrote: post #50
alibarber wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, this is the correct interpretation in a lot of countries, you are performing paid work there regardless of who and where the employer is. Emergencies are all well and good, but turning up at the immigration desk and saying you don’t plan on working when you actually do will lead to trouble in a lot of places.

In what places has it led to trouble for tourists to work remotely in their hotel rooms or Airbnbs? Leaving aside cases when those tourists brought that trouble and scrutiny on themselves through other actions like getting into barfights or shoplifting.

It would be fairly hard to detect so it's not surprising that it hasn't led to trouble in most cases, but that doesn't mean it's actually legal.

Re: Japan to introduce six-month residency visa for 'digital nomads'

#60

Post by andybak »

spidersenses wrote: post #15
andybak wrote: post #2

The salary requirement seems harsh for people working on non-profit, self-funded or early-stage.

Japan is a country that is expensive to live in. Having minimum salary requirements already filters out the type of 'digital nomad' who would otherwise become a burden on society or those who merely seek immigration from Africa or South Asia under the disguise of the 'digital nomad'.

There's a large gap between "burden on society" and "provable $58k income"
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