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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'

#301

Post by unnah »

mekoka wrote: post #273
unnah wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Visa rules were typically set up at a time when there was no such thing as remote work to speak of. When they mention working, they don't make any distinction between remote or local work. For example, a US B-2 visitor visa allows "tourism" and also specific business purposes such as "consult with business associates" or "attend a conference". What is prohibited is simply "employment", without making any distinction…

"Employment" on that list is among other items of "Not permitted travel purposes " that hint at an obvious implied context for the said purposes, i.e. the United States. You are not allowed to visit the United States for the purpose of employment while on a visitor's visa. A digital nomad typically is already employed and doesn't visit countries for that purpose. Having traveled to the US a number of times and been a…

If you are open in your visa application about what you're going to be doing, then it's obviously all above the board. However, somehow I got the impression that many digital nomads would rather not to mention their work to any officials, and present themselves as just normal tourists. An intentionally misleading visa application can be used as grounds for revoking the visa even if the actual activities were legal.

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

#302

Post by aikinai »

thehappypm wrote: post #247
Shank wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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, pessimistical…

It would almost certainly be more expensive. It would probably require payment upfront, or a substantial payment upfront as well.

You usually pay four or five months up front to move into a Japanese apartment anyway.

One month thanks for letting me rent here fee Two months deposit One month fee to the agent First month’s actual rent

And most contracts are two years but you can cancel with one month’s notice in the second year. If you cancel in the first year, that’s another one month penalty.

No one’s going to be renting a normal apartment for six months.

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

#303

Post by cynicalkane »

lupire wrote: post #104
cynicalkane wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> I know for a fact there are FAANG employees that do it today.

The fact that many companies are risk-averse and don't allow it doesn't mean it's not legal. Like I said, at least one FAANG (maybe more) is fine with its employees working remote internationally if they follow the rules.

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

#304

Post by geekpondering »

gwill wrote: post #224
plz-remove-card wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that's fine for some countries such as the Philippines (though their tourist visa can be extended so long, it's rarely necessary) but IIRC this doesn't fly in Japan, it's 90 days per year, total, and they're very strict about it.

it is not 90 days total per year, but the officials are strict on it. if they see you were recently in japan they may suspect you of working illegally. they also can say you’ve returned too soon and reject you. not worth the risk imo, even though a i know a few people that have done it successfully so they could study in japan without a year long visa.

Yeah, I got yelled at once by JP passport control for coming back after a visa run, mainly because on the entry card I put a residential address (short term stay place) and that I was staying another 90 days.

The three main things JP passport control are looking for are asylum seekers, people over and people that are illegally working under the table and not paying into the Japanese tax/retirement system.

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

#305

Post by geekpondering »

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #203
standardUser wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

> You're not allowed to say here you only want certain kinds of well off immigrant

Not out loud, anyway. The Dutch have an immigration system that very much benefits well off immigrants (see the 30% rule vs agricultural immigration schemes), but yeah Wilders is considered ultra-right wing for wanting to kick out all the lower class immigrants (saying that they are all "Moroccans" doesn't help matters). Unfortunately despite him saying the quiet part out loud he got 25% of the Dutch voters to agree with him in November.

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

#306

Post by ekianjo »

sersi wrote: post #49
datpiff wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe renting somewhere to live often does, so yes.

If you rent for short term (6 months), monthly mansions don't need bank accounts or proof of residency. It costs about 50% more than you'd pay for long term but you don't have to pay reikin (key money you don't get back), shikikin (deposit for damages).

it may be cheaper to live in a hostel rather than a monthly mansion, but depends on your tastes

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

#307

Post by remarkEon »

niam wrote: post #295
noptd wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the argument against can be boiled down to this hypothetical analogy: A few friends and I like your home better than ours. It's much nicer and safer than where we currently live, so we move into a few open bedrooms. Now that we outnumber you and your family, we vote to change things in the common areas more to our liking. Some changes are small and happen over time, others more jarring and immediate. You like…

I feel like the analogy isn't a service to the problem. It's got all sorts of baggage and expectations pertaining to homeownership that don't carry over into migration. I feel it'd just be better to address the problem space directly and ask what specific problems you observe/predict with immigration. The problem I'm inferring from your comment here would also seem to apply to families moving from Chicago to Boston.…

>I feel it'd just be better to address the problem space directly

Fair enough. Not everyone enjoys naked cosmopolitanism. I don't live in New York City for a reason (I did at one point), and I don't live in the downtown of the city I live closest to (also did at one point, where I watched it change into something else). There are aspects of a nation that go beyond mere economic data, and longing for those things to remain stable and constant is a normal feeling and belief. When people talk about immigration as a mechanism to "solve" some problem, those other aspects get glossed over, usually pejoratively by calling everyone who doesn't agree with mass immigration a "racist" or a "bigot". Talking about Japan is an evocative example because it's so culturally distant from the west in ways that are obvious and stark. Thinking it wise that it changes to echo the mishmash that the west is becoming, in order to make some numbers in a spreadsheet go up, is in my estimation the more extreme position to stake out than simply observing that perhaps not all uniqueness was created equal. There's also the housing problem, where, for some reason, people pretend that this is the one instance in which the laws of supply and demand do not apply and large numbers of immigrants don't have an impact on the cost of housing.

>The problem I'm inferring from your comment here would also seem to apply to families moving from Chicago to Boston.

People complain about this because where you are from is a signal about having skin in the game. It's why politicians advertise their family ties to the place they are running to represent. I don't live in Boston, and am not that familiar with Mayor Wu. Maybe she'll run the city into the ground, maybe she won't. But if she does, she can always just go back to Chicago.

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

#308

Post by somenameforme »

exoverito wrote: post #199
riffic wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just don't have the imaginative capabilities of seeing the entire archipelago depopulated but I suppose it's possible.

If current rates continue, which is a big assumption, then Japan will have 106M people by 2050 and 75M by 2100, which was roughly the population before WW2. Japan is already one of the most densely populated areas in the world, so further population growth may not be the greatest idea. They already have good standards of living, great infrastructure, high societal trust, low crime, a competent government, etc. Europe…

This isn't quite accurate. The population projection graphs you see [1] are based on UN numbers which have the Japanese fertility rate skyrocketing [2] relative to past trends, presumably based on the assumption of some sort of successful social policy. That's why the collapse starts to smooth out in the graph, which is not what you see from a constant rate. Fertility rates, at a constant level, are brutally exponential systems which do not 'slow down'.

As for predictions, I remember about 10 years ago making fun of somebody who wanted to get a class C (commercial trucking) license. It seemed like the most idiotic idea imaginable at the time. Self driving vehicles had already been proven viable and surely it was imminent that nobody would be driving themselves around, let alone truckers where companies would love to ditch those relatively hefty labor fees. Relevant link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmoid_function

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[1] - https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/JPN/japan/population-g...

[2] - https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/JPN/japan/fertility-ra...

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

#309

Post by ametrau »

herbst wrote: post #299
csomar wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t get it. Most of my expenses are “living costs” and food. You also said you have the same tax residency. May we know what other expenses in Thailand that matches Switzerland (I’d guess some electronics, but these are casual expenses that you can pick up from the duty free). The other possibility is that you are simply spending more in Thailand. I’ve seen some DN who have the same expenses because they get used…

Brand electronics and branded imported food is more expensive in Thailand than Switzerland. I went out drinking maybe once a month if at all. However: I eat good and healthy if possible. I love the street food there, but not 2-3 times a day. I am a coffee junkie, coffee to go is generally more expensive as there are no or only expensive imported options in 7/11 and coffee shops are oriented at tourists. I definitely…

> Travelling(!) In a cheap country can be just as expensive than staying(!) Long term in a expensive country

QED. That is bloody true.

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

#310

Post by Pursu »

I have a quick question, maybe someone can help. They talk about a yearly income of 10 million Yen, so roughly 70 000 US$. Where i live i pay pretty high income tax. Do these 10 million Yen refer to the money that actually ends up on my bank account, or the amount before tax and health insurance is deducted? Because if they take the amount of money, before i pay tax, it would work, otherwise i am not even close. I have not found any information concerning this, did i miss something?
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