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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'

#191

Post by jorvi »

herbst wrote: post #157
jorvi wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Switzerland is #2 in the CoL index. Thailand is #94. Not to sound confrontational, but you must be horrible at managing your trip spending.

I know this sounds stupid. However i still paid taxes, health care, a mobile contract, banking, etc in Switzerland. The actual savings should be in living and food. On short term I rarely rented below $800/month for a single room flat. (Vs $1000 for a old house in Switzerland) for food I have to cook myself now Vs. Eating out twice a day in Thailand. Without actually moving and centering your life to a cheap country…

You are not comparing apples to apples.

“Normal” meals in Thailand are food stalls, $2 per meal if not less.

If you’d eat out twice a day in Switzerland, you’d go bankrupt.

Same with renting. Short term leases in Switzerland would be astronomical in price.

The way you air-quoted “super cheap Thailand” implies that it isn’t cheap to live there at all. It is, as long as you don’t go out of your way to spend extra.

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

#192

Post by philip1209 »

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #137
fxtentacle wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I also find it weird because "To be eligible for the new status, applicants must have an annual income equivalent to 10 million yen ($68,000) or more" which means the newly created Digital Nomad class needs to have 2x the average GDP/capita in income?

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-...

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

#193

Post by standardUser »

boringg wrote: post #181
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.

Not sure about this comment - I think you need to put up examples here. I think your comment is historically true but not up to date with current policies.

Canada, Portugal, Colombia, the US... we'd probably have an easier time making a list of nations that don't have a "pay to play" immigration scheme.

Here's a half-decent list: https://www.globalcitizensolutions.com/citizenship-by-invest...

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

#194

Post by mplewis »

oldtownroad wrote: post #106
makeitdouble wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 is…

Because a tourist visa is not a work visa. That’s all.

If you want to work remotely in a foreign country, you need to have the correct visa.

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

#195

Post by thridnri »

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 fine. I am seriously considering it.

Properties in rural Japan are VERY cheap (like 20k USD). It makes sense to just buy summer house there. It is pretty good life to spend summers in Japan, and winters somewhere at south.

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

#196

Post by csomar »

herbst wrote: post #183
csomar wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I challenge this as someone who frequents Thailand and the SEA region. You can get a nice condo (short-term airbnb/utilities paid) for $500 or less; only 20 minutes from central Bangkok. Sure, more expensive options exist. But comparing Switzerland to Thailand when it comes to living costs is plain ridiculous.

See my comment below: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39230623 As travelling(!) nomad with an effective tax residency in Switzerland other than living cost and food there aren't as many actual saving options. Vs being stational in a country with low tax and a cheap long term rental. For ME the difference isn't very high.

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 to going out ever night. But this is an apples to oranges comparison.

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

#197

Post by ghaff »

herbst wrote: post #189
ghaff wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China I definitely needed a business visa to go to a conference. Malaysia was some sort of visa on arrival thing. Indonesia I don't remember but it wasn't something I had to get ahead of time and that was business. Japan I don't need a visa from the US nor Singapore; ditto for Europe. It's entirely possible if I needed a visa for some of the countries I've been to, I might have needed a business visa of some sort for…

Visa on arrival forms have a reference to a URL or something attached and mention that you acknowledge their visa rules by applying for a visa. It's like a prechecked privacy policy checkbox.

It was probably actually Indonesia I had a visa on arrival for. And they explicitly allow business meetings and attending events--which is pretty much the norm for most (but not all) countries whether they say so explicitly or not.

The US does seem to have a different visa for temporary business activities.

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

#198

Post by sonthonax »

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-...

> Severe developmental disorders or severe cognitive impairments where significant support is required, including but not exclusive to: physical disability, intellectual disability, autistic spectrum disorders, brain injury.

I think that's a deliberate misinterpretation. It obviously means 'low functioning' autism rather than someone who's awkward in adulthood but otherwise leads a normal life.

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

#199

Post by exoverito »

riffic wrote: post #164
aidenn0 wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if they allow immigration.

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's strategy of importing millions of low skill foreigners who are mostly dependent on welfare and have destabilized their societies is also probably not a great idea either.

These population projections also ignore the many factors that may change. As the population declines, more opportunities may open for young people, leading to increased family formation. The culture may evolve in response the lopsided demographic pyramid, causing increases in the fertility rate. People are already predicting AGI in the next couple decades, which will render most people unnecessary anyway. These classical analyses around demographics will probably become increasingly obsolete.

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

#200

Post by btbuildem »

awongh wrote: post #139
somenameforme wrote: post #112

Most aren't aware of the situation Japan is in today because of the world we all grew up in, where Japan was at one point nearly the largest economy in the world. Japan has been in between a recession and stagnation for 30 years. Their GDP was higher 31 years ago than it is today. [1] Their GDP/capita is $33,950 with most wages well below that. They hit a record high for average wages in 2022 of ¥311,800 - about $2,1…

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.
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