In our Spotlight on APAC we round up the latest developments from across the Asia Pacific region. In this post we look at the recent announcement by Japanese authorities that a new Digital Nomad Visa scheme will be introduced by the end of March 2024.
Japan’s Immigration Services Agency has suggested that before the end of March a new Digital Nomad Visa category will be introduced enabling certain individuals to reside and undertake remote work in Japan for up to six months. This follows a trend that we are seeing across a number of APAC countries but it is important to note that the features of the Digital Nomad schemes vary from one jurisdiction to another. It is not yet clear exactly how the scheme will operate in Japan or the process for applying. What is clear is that only applicants earning at least 10million Japanese Yen annually will qualify and those must specifically be from the 49 countries which currently have visa free entry and have signed taxation agreements with Japan for example, the US and Australia.
Proposed features of the visa:
- A period of up to 6 months duration that cannot be extended. The visa may be reapplied for after leaving Japan and after a period of six months. This ‘cooling off’ period is an interesting departure from many other APAC countries’ schemes.
- Applicant must earn at least 10million JPY annually.
- Applicant must have private health insurance.
- Dependent family members should be able to join the applicant.
If you would like further information about the proposed scheme or any of the other emerging Digital Nomad Schemes across Asia Pacific please contact [email protected] and Rachel Ang at [email protected].
