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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'

#101

Post by Shank »

thehappypm wrote: post #92
Shank wrote: post #81

It's exciting to see progress, but I think 180 days is too short for this to be worthwhile for people who really wanted this. They've leaned heavily into the "nomad" part, but the issue is more of practicality. This visa doesn't come with a Residency Card, which means that getting a traditional lease in Japan is going to be difficult. For 6 months, you'll be on an uphill battle with some services like housing, which…

Don’t you think that the housing market will create a niche for these people? Foreigners with deep pockets coming in for six months sounds like a great thing for landlords. Plus, you know they won’t squat because they’re gone after 6 months or they get deported

It's not out of the question, but foreigners already have a tough time getting housing in Japan with a Residency Card. There are very real concerns people have about not getting paid for rent, or people not being able to support themselves. This is why normally, residents will have a guarantor sign documents with them to ensure that the landlord is made whole if something goes awry.

I would also expect, pessimistically, that the housing for foreigners on this visa will, if offered, be significantly more expensive than normal housing on the expectation that foreigners can afford it. Maybe this won't be the case, but I think it will definitely make an already-annoying problem harder.

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

#103

Post by herbst »

m_dupont wrote: post #99
herbst wrote: post #79

People seem to underestimate how limiting tourist visas actually are. Imagine you sell digital products automated or something like that. You would have to literally shut your website down if you go somewhere on a tourist visa so you don't accidently make money. You might think there are exceptions, but no there usually aren't. And now imagine you actually live from a digital business you run yourself. You literally…

I mean sure, but the chances of that ever being enforced are close to 0. I'm a full time digital nomad for over a year in various latin american countries, always on tourist visas. Nobody notices or cares. The only time I ever had an issue is when entering the united states, the immigration department gave me a grilling because my passport showed that I was clearly a nomad and they expected me to be working online. G…

No worries, I am not limiting myself :)

When I was in Thailand years ago a coffee shop was raided, and I heard some bad experiences of people being to stupid about their visa forms.

I never had issues myself, but it's not exactly unheard of.

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

#104

Post by lupire »

cynicalkane wrote: post #43
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.

There's digital nomads everywhere, and it's not hard to do legally under tourist visas. I know for a fact there are FAANG employees who do it today -- companies who would certainly shut that down if it was illegal. There are legal gotchas and grey areas. I would guess the Japan visa is aimed at clarifying the matter for long stays, because there's certainly no shortage of digital nomads in Japan.

During COVID big companies made a huge deal about working internationally. They have to because it affect employees taxes and employer immigration laws.

You can get away with a lot by being sneaky, but the companies are strongly officially opposed to it.

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

#106

Post by oldtownroad »

makeitdouble wrote: post #36
oldtownroad wrote: post #16

“The most similar existing status is usually used by tourists, does not allow work and allows a maximum stay of just 90 days” I don’t think that’s correct. A tourist visa doesn’t allow you to work locally but they do not limit working remotely for an overseas company. For example, if you’re on vacation in Japan from the US and an emergency happens at work, you can join a call without risk of deportation.

Authorities won't be running after you, or a digital nomad traveling by bike the country while working on his blog. But those are still violation of the tourist status, they're just too small to be cared about. It would be another story if you published a movie shot in Japan while on a tourist visa.

Why are they a violation of the tourist status? A tourist is someone who brings money in to the local economy, that’s why tourists are coveted. If a person visits Japan for a week and spends $2000 on a hotel and $1000 on activities, why would the Japanese government change their view of the trip if that tourist was also taking zoom calls from their hotel room?

There’s the belief we all apparently hold that tourism isn’t tourism if you take a laptop, but nobody can evidence such a rule because it’s apparently an implied rule: maybe we can get to the bottom of it by asking why, what explanation / reason would there be for such a rule? Why does taking zoom calls from your hotel room change the nature of your trip?

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

#108

Post by yellow_lead »

herbst wrote: post #103
m_dupont wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean sure, but the chances of that ever being enforced are close to 0. I'm a full time digital nomad for over a year in various latin american countries, always on tourist visas. Nobody notices or cares. The only time I ever had an issue is when entering the united states, the immigration department gave me a grilling because my passport showed that I was clearly a nomad and they expected me to be working online. G…

No worries, I am not limiting myself :) When I was in Thailand years ago a coffee shop was raided, and I heard some bad experiences of people being to stupid about their visa forms. I never had issues myself, but it's not exactly unheard of.

What was that like? "Put your hands up and prove to me this isn't just your side project"?

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

#109

Post by nicbou »

oldtownroad wrote: post #16

“The most similar existing status is usually used by tourists, does not allow work and allows a maximum stay of just 90 days” I don’t think that’s correct. A tourist visa doesn’t allow you to work locally but they do not limit working remotely for an overseas company. For example, if you’re on vacation in Japan from the US and an emergency happens at work, you can join a call without risk of deportation.

This is what happens in practice, but in theory you're not supposed to live and work from somewhere without the appropriate visa. All German residents are expected to have a residence permit (if non-EU) and to pay taxes in Germany.

It's just not possible to enforce that.

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

#110

Post by makeitdouble »

nerdbert wrote: post #54
makeitdouble wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Setting aside my other response, a better way to look at it is that you declare your purpose on entry, but you're not the one judging if it's appropriate or not.

We/You can see remote work as not invalidating your claim, but that's just how we feel, not how it will be judged. To your larger point, the rules being mildly fuzzy aren't helping foreigners in general, it's usually more leeway for the authorities to pick and choose.

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