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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'

#81

Post by Shank »

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 can be important. It's just long enough that you won't want to maintain a home in your home country unless it's paid for, and short enough that it makes moving your possessions impractical. You also can't renew it, and you have to be out of the country for 6 months before you can get it again.

I think this would be very appealing if it was a 1 year visa at minimum, but comparable visas (e.g., the Taiwan Gold Card) are up to 3 years. I'm not terribly upset at the lack of Individual Number or Residence Card, but the length is definitely something that makes it unappealing except in the most nomad-of-nomad situations.

Apparently they'll be opening it for public comments in the second half of February. They said that they based the 6 month time period on questions they asked foreigners about how long they would want to stay -- so maybe this is the time to push for a longer period of time.

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

#82

Post by martinald »

treprinum wrote: post #74
martinald wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think for many the idea of spending a few months in Dubai is close to spending a few months in hell...

...or nice warm winters. Nobody wants to be there between June-September, but outside that it's much better than suffering in rainy gloomy Scotland or another unfortunate European country. And your tax is 0% as a bonus. There is also Andorra with 10% tax but it can get ugly during autumn/winter there as well.

I don't mean the weather. I mean the horrendous 'bling' culture, complete car dependency that would make even LA blush and everything that goes along with it. While Dubai is a massive impressive display of what humanity can do so quickly, the place gives me the shudders. Obviously YMMV but it is not comparable to Japan.

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

#83

Post by lupire »

kybernetyk wrote: post #56
elzbardico wrote: post #51

In most countries you can't do any kind of work while in a tourist Visa, but this was never enforced, because it was so exceedingly rare for not to be on governments radar. But once it became more prevalent, it creates the problem (on governments view, especially post 9/11) of having a bunch of foreign folks living for months and receiving money from abroad for god knows which reason. This creates the problem for law…

>So, for law enforcement purposes, it makes sense to have an specific kind of Visa for those "working tourists", so they can pre-filter this population and get back to a smaller working set of persons of interest So I guess terrorists/bad actors won't get the idea to apply for this Visa to fly under the radar then?

There's a checkbox on the customs form that asks if you are a terrorist.

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

#84

Post by verticalscaler »

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 give you permission to spread your wings and leave the EU for a stint. Of course don't take the word of an internet stranger, confirm with a lawyer.

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

#85

Post by medvezhenok »

ta1243 wrote: post #63
nerdbert wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what places has it led to trouble for tourists to work remotely in their hotel rooms or Airbnbs? Leaving aside cases when those tourists brought that trouble and scrutiny on themselves through other actions like getting into barfights or shoplifting.

Just because people break copyright law all the time and it's not enforced doesn't mean it's legal to do so. Same principle here I know I broke the law on the way back from the station earlier as I did 61mph in a 60 zone. Just because I didn't get caught doesn't make it legal.

There is a difference between de jure and de facto.

Defacto, going 61mph in a 60 is legal practically everywhere. De jure, it's not (the law is on the books).

Same as jaywalking. It's more of a law to pass responsibility in an accident (i.e. if you were jaywalking and got hit by a motor vehicle - you are at fault because of jaywalking. Jaywalking itself is very rarely prosecuted as a standalone thing)

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

#86

Post by oldtownroad »

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…

That’s not true. The jurisdiction that your business operates in doesn’t change depending on where you’re located. If you’re running a business without a business entity (why?) then you can use a merchant of record service (like Paddle) which will serve that role for you.

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

#87

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.

That's like saying your purpose is enjoying the scenery, because even if you're shooting a new photo book, you put your pleasure above all and taking professional photos while looking at the landscape is just a small detail.

I mean, we can invent a lot of way to present it, it all comes down to how the immigration office interprets it (as far as I know, the only real test is suing them when they ask for the money)

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

#88

Post by herbst »

elzbardico wrote: post #51

In most countries you can't do any kind of work while in a tourist Visa, but this was never enforced, because it was so exceedingly rare for not to be on governments radar. But once it became more prevalent, it creates the problem (on governments view, especially post 9/11) of having a bunch of foreign folks living for months and receiving money from abroad for god knows which reason. This creates the problem for law…

When I was in Thailand about 7 or 8 years ago they just recently raided a co-working coffee and jailed the 'nomads' over night (as far as I remember) there was also regular talks about what to tell and not tell border patrol and official visa places.

Most people I met just paid taxes 'at home' or were generally lost in limbo financially but there always was an awareness about this being illegal.

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

#89

Post by sirn »

oldtownroad wrote: post #23
alibarber wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, this is the correct interpretation in a lot of countries, you are performing paid work there regardless of who and where the employer is. Emergencies are all well and good, but turning up at the immigration desk and saying you don’t plan on working when you actually do will lead to trouble in a lot of places.

Can you share the tourist visa regulations for Japan that say this? I haven’t been able to find any. Thank you :)

IANAL, but it's written in Immigration Act Article 19, Paragraph 1, No 2 (入管法19条１項２号)[1]. Here's a translation from Japanese Law Translation[2]^1

> Article 19 (1) Any foreign national who is a resident under a status of residence listed in the left-hand column of Appended Table I shall not engage in the activities set forth in the following items, with regard to the categories identified therein, except for cases where he/she engages in them with permission as set forth in paragraph (2) of this Article.

> (ii) A foreign national who is a resident with a status of residence listed in the left-hand column of Appended Tables I (3) and I (4): activities related to the management of a business involving income or activities for which he/she receives remuneration.

The quoted "Appended Table I (3)" (別表第一の三) says:

> Temporary Visitor

> Sightseeing, recreation, sports, visiting relatives, inspection tours, participating in lectures or meetings, business contact or other similar activities during a short stay in Japan.

None of this says "within Japan", which from my understanding is that it allows for the maximum interpretation of the law, i.e. "involving income or activities for which he/she receives remuneration [from anywhere]" with the noted activities in Appendix Table being the exception.

Either way, it depends on how immigration interpret the law.

[1]: https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/document?lawid=326CO0000000319

[2]: https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/1934/e...

^1:

- (i) is not quoted here since it's about a mid-long term stay visa, i.e. work visa

- Paragraph (2) is about obtaining permission to receive remuneration (which is a different thing from (ii) quoted above).

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

#90

Post by nerdbert »

ta1243 wrote: post #63
nerdbert wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what places has it led to trouble for tourists to work remotely in their hotel rooms or Airbnbs? Leaving aside cases when those tourists brought that trouble and scrutiny on themselves through other actions like getting into barfights or shoplifting.

Just because people break copyright law all the time and it's not enforced doesn't mean it's legal to do so. Same principle here I know I broke the law on the way back from the station earlier as I did 61mph in a 60 zone. Just because I didn't get caught doesn't make it legal.

I'm not taking a position on its legality. In most cases that's undefined because the law did not anticipate this situation and it's never been tested in court.

They obviously can't prohibit people from checking emails or taking work calls while on vacation, because that means the end of big-spending tourists.

Nobody has drawn a red line at a magic point along the continuum from one emergency work call during a two-week holiday, to 9 hours a day in a hotel room hunched over a computer. Where would it be, and why does that particular point maximize benefit for the host country?

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