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How I Got a Digital Nomad Visa for Japan

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Re: How I Got a Digital Nomad Visa for Japan

#61

Post by nicbou »

esperent wrote: post #23
forgotoldacc wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting a credit card as a long term resident alone is hard. Getting a phone number can be troublesome for some people fresh off the boat. One longstanding issue has been people who come to Japan expecting to settle down, then quickly realize it's not for them and take a flight home without telling anybody. Debts left unpaid and landlords not even contacted. People who come here with the intention of milking some cas…

> One longstanding issue has been people who come to Japan expecting to settle down, then quickly realize it's not for them and take a flight home without telling anybody. Debts left unpaid and landlords not even contacted This really sounds like one of those not-quite-racist "problems with foreigners" that every country likes to pretend they have. Every "knows" it's a problem, there's no way to prove it right or wro…

It’s exactly the same in Germany. It’s not that the system is designed against foreigners, but that it’s not designed for them at all. It’s a sort of “Falsehoods states believe about people” situation . This leads to a lot of Catch-22 situations where you need A to get B and B to get A, and the only way to fix it is to go through expensive loopholes.

Re: How I Got a Digital Nomad Visa for Japan

#62

Post by Pooge »

csomar wrote: post #40
tjpnz wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically you would be expected to bring your passport everywhere you go.

Tip: a photo of your passport and the stamp will most likely do in most circumstances. Much better than risking taking your passport with you all the time.

Bad advice. Photos are not accepted and police will expect you to carry your passport at all times, just as you're supposed to carry your residence card at all times if you have one.

Re: How I Got a Digital Nomad Visa for Japan

#63

Post by Pooge »

gwervc wrote: post #54
shiroiushi wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, you need more than a residence card to get a bank account here: you also need a certificate of employment from your employer.

No you just need your residence card, fill a form, sign (no hanko required) and you can open a bank account at the Post Bank. At least that's how it went 10 years ago as a student. It's easier to open an account as a foreigner there than opening an account as a citizen in France... (no appointment bullshit, no proof of residency asked)

This is still how it goes.

I became a client of Sony Bank (yes, that Sony) but they would accepted "financial resident of Japan" which means people that have either 1) a work contract or 2) lived for 6 months in Japan.

It absolutely blows my mind why Japan Post is the only one to not have those restrictions.

Re: How I Got a Digital Nomad Visa for Japan

#65

Post by afavour »

hardwaresofton wrote: post #37
Klonoar wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a world of difference in the level of effort between this and the digital nomad visa.

And a world of difference in stability and perception. If you have $35k+ to dedicate to this (and note that it does not cost $35k, these are more like initial capital requirements), you should 100% go the investor route. People underweight how amazing it is to be able to pay less than $50k for the equivalent of a golden visa to a top 5 GDP nation that is well regarded, safe, has some opportunity and is generally easy…

They’re just totally different scenarios. Someone looking at a digital nomad visa isn’t looking to stay somewhere in the long term.

Re: How I Got a Digital Nomad Visa for Japan

#66

Post by Foobar8568 »

flemhans wrote: post #58
Klonoar wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they'll be stuck in hotels the entire time they're here. Eh, Tokyo has plenty of monthly apartment rentals that are effectively corporate rentals that you can do without a residence card. (I used to do this before having an actual visa there) It's functionally better than a hotel, insofar as it doesn't read or act as one.

Rented a flat in Tokyo for a month too as a tourist. But it wasn't cheap. Around $1500/month, in 2011. But it was 3 rooms, and very nice. So maybe not so bad, actually? But then again, it was many years ago.

3 rooms, in Tokyo, for a month, is bloody cheap unless I miss something.

Re: How I Got a Digital Nomad Visa for Japan

#67

Post by csunbird »

lIl-IIIl wrote: post #20
d13 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one will ever know or care if you’re working remotely while in Japan on a tourist visa. Just AirBnB and get ordinary travel insurance. For a paltry 6 months this nomad visa seems like a massive amount of paperwork for no benefit.

Apparently they do, from the article quoting the US Embassy: Japanese Immigration officials are aware of the pattern of people staying for 80-90 days as “tourists,” spending a few days in Korea, Guam or some other nearby area and then seeking to re-enter Japan for another 90 days. Persons with such a travel pattern can expect to face questions at Japanese Immigration and may be denied entry with the suspicion that th…

Well, EU prevents this kind of workaround by restricting stays to 90 days within 180 days period, so leaving EU for a couple of days after a stay of 90 days and coming back to stay another 90 days won't work, you will go over your quota.

Re: How I Got a Digital Nomad Visa for Japan

#68

Post by dagw »

csomar wrote: post #40
tjpnz wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically you would be expected to bring your passport everywhere you go.

Tip: a photo of your passport and the stamp will most likely do in most circumstances. Much better than risking taking your passport with you all the time.

I cannot think of any circumstances where someone would be demanding to see your passport and then accept a photo of your passport instead.

That being said having a photo of your passport and relevant stamps is good advice, but only to make it slightly easier to deal with all the hassel that comes if you do lose your passport.

Re: How I Got a Digital Nomad Visa for Japan

#70

Post by dagw »

notpushkin wrote: post #24
DeathArrow wrote: post #18

Isn't Japan an expensive country?

It is a mixed bag: apartments can be pretty expensive, especially in Greater Tokyo area. Food is pretty cheap IMO. Taxis are prohibitively expensive, but railroad system is really really good and compensates for that pretty well. But people don’t go to Japan because it’s cheap – it’s just a really nice place to live for some.

apartments can be pretty expensive

Poking around sites online it was quite easy to find apartments fairly centrally in Tokyo for $1000-1300/month if you were staying for 3-6 months. While that is far from cheap, I certainly wouldn't call it expensive in the grand scheme of major international cities.

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