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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'

#201

Post by FirmwareBurner »

philip1209 wrote: post #192
FirmwareBurner wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So they only want high earning workers from developed countries, basically the kind of immigrants every other country wants but doesn't dare say it out loud. What's wrong with that? Their country, their rules.

Japan seems conservative compared to New Zealand, which limits immigration for those with a range of disabilities - including autism spectrum disorder: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/preparing-...

That's a lot of countries which restrict migration from people with disabilities due to increased pressure on the welfare state. Reminds me of a famous case where a German family moved to Austria with their disabled child and the Austrian authorities were allowed to not register the child.

Unless you qualify for asylum, then all bets are off and these rules are waived.

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

#202

Post by timr »

btbuildem wrote: post #200
awongh wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a lot of gloom and doom around Japan, but I think there are a few counter-points. 1) Yes, the economy is stagnant. But it's interesting to think about it from the point of view that Japan disproves the idea that a growth economy is the only way. Here is a country that increases worker efficiency and has a really high standard of living, but doesn't do it in a hyper growth kind of way. 2) Yes, Japan is super,…

One could argue that when viewed in perspective of a shrinking population, Japan's economy is doing just fine. Just because it doesn't work for hedge fund vampires doesn't mean it's not effective at sustaining a good standard of living for people there.

Their population has been shrinking for far less time than it's been stagnant.

If I had to guess, the causal arrow points the other way.

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

#203

Post by FirmwareBurner »

standardUser wrote: post #174
FirmwareBurner wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So they only want high earning workers from developed countries, basically the kind of immigrants every other country wants but doesn't dare say it out loud. What's wrong with that? Their country, their rules.

> basically the kind of immigrants every other country wants but doesn't dare say it out loud Many nations have high standards for immigration relating to income, wealth and professional qualifications. There is absolutely nothing hush hush about it, not even remotely.

>There is absolutely nothing hush hush about it, not even remotely.

You definitely don't live in the progressive parts of Europe. You're not allowed to say here you only want certain kinds of well off immigrant at the expense of other less well off migrants, otherwise you might be called a N*zi.

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

#204

Post by btbuildem »

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…

Many countries have requirements to maintain residency status -- for example Canada requires 183 days (half a year) residency in the country to maintain access to all the benefits and privileges.

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

#205

Post by plz-remove-card »

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…

Length is far too short, I can stay for 3 months without filling out anything, an additional 3 for the effort of applying kinda sucks (having applied for a Japan tourist visa for my wife, expect this visa to be just as onerous)

If they allow dependents (like the Korean one does) and allowed for 1 year with the option of extending up to 2, we'd be packing right now.

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

#206

Post by jskxneks777 »

dvngnt_ wrote: post #48
prg20 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally. They should allow anyone, even those with no income, to come to their country and use their services for nothing in return. We can see how well that's worked in the US.

US has a bigger economy though so something is working

US is a shit hole compared to japan lmao

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

#207

Post by com2kid »

lurking_swe wrote: post #159
kdmccormick wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing innately "wrong" but I can see it fueling resentment among working class Japanese towards these foreign, exclusively-wealthy digital nomads.

resentment? why? won’t the nomads spend money in the local community on goods and services? You make it seem like they would be taking local jobs away, or taking housing away from the locals that earn 2x less. i’m struggling to see your perspective? or is this just a concern about “crab mentality”?

Portugal has this very issue. A previous HN thread from a few weeks ago went into more detail about it.

The tl;dr is if you drop 5000 people earning 2x the average salary into a neighborhood, the prices of everything goes way up. Rent, food, entertainment, locals get priced out very quickly.

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

#208

Post by niam »

remarkEon wrote: post #160
awongh wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a lot of gloom and doom around Japan, but I think there are a few counter-points. 1) Yes, the economy is stagnant. But it's interesting to think about it from the point of view that Japan disproves the idea that a growth economy is the only way. Here is a country that increases worker efficiency and has a really high standard of living, but doesn't do it in a hyper growth kind of way. 2) Yes, Japan is super,…

But not ever place needs to turn into cosmopolitan London. In the same way that Japan showed it’s possible to have a high standard of living without obsessing over growth, I trust that the Japanese can find a path forward that doesn’t default to “just bring in millions of immigrants”.

Why are we treating a known working and humanitarian strategy as some evil "growth" thing? I feel like we're dragging that term out of the hyper-capitalistic sense it's meant to evoke.

People ought to be able to move where they're most happy / productive. One consequence of that may be that a place turns "into cosmopolitan London". But that's hardly a horror.

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

#209

Post by iamjackg »

seydor wrote: post #166
Jcampuzano2 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer is simple - money. Digital nomads typically don't take jobs from local residents, they on average have more and are willing to spend more money than the typical local resident, and additionally the country has no responsibility to provide social benefits to a digital nomad and thus they are low cost. Additionally while digital nomads may sometimes be ignorant of local culture/tradition and that can be some…

they also dont pay taxes like local residents. And they spend less than tourists

True, but I'd imagine tourists hang out for a few weeks at most, not six months.

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

#210

Post by plz-remove-card »

arwineap wrote: post #7

Has anyone done the digital nomad thing with children? It'd be great if childcare/schooling was easier overseas, maybe even an opportunity for kids to get an early mind opening experience

Worth noting Tokyo has english speaking schools you can enroll your children in (looked into this a while back)
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