Designated Activities: the Digital Nomad status, job-hunting permissions and other designated categories

Eligibility requirements

• Digital Nomad (notice item 53): remote work for an overseas employer, or paid services or sales to persons outside Japan, delivered using information and communication technology; employment with a Japanese organisation is not permitted. The applicant must be a national of a listed country or region, show individual annual income of JPY10 million or more and hold private insurance covering death, injury and illness for the stay, with treatment cover of at least JPY10 million.
• Digital Nomad family (notice item 54): a spouse or child may accompany the principal for the same period, with the same insurance requirement; permission for part-time work is not granted in principle.
• Continued job-hunting: a graduate of a Japanese university or a vocational-college course awarding the 専門士 title whose Student period has ended, who is continuing a job search with the institution's recommendation and a clean record. The period is six months, renewable once; part-time work within 28 hours a week is possible with permission.
• Startup Visa (notice item 44): founders confirmed by a METI-certified implementing body, for a cumulative period of up to two years, described on the Startup Visa page.
• Highly Skilled Professional family concessions: spouse work, accompanying parents and domestic workers, described on the family statuses page.
• Other published categories include Future Creation Individual (J-Find), working holiday under bilateral arrangements, certain interns and the post-offer waiting period for graduates with a confirmed start date, each with its own documents. Individual designations cover cases outside the notice.

Legal framework

Build the evidence

Prepare records that substantiate the relevant criteria. The final checklist depends on the applicant, route and filing authority.

• Digital Nomad: application form and photograph, an activity plan for the stay, a tax or income certificate from the country of work or contracts showing the amount and period, evidence of current employment or clients, the insurance certificate and policy terms, and passport copy; for a spouse or child, the marriage or birth certificate.
• Job-hunting: the graduating institution's recommendation, the graduation certificate, evidence of job-search activity, evidence of funds, and the previous residence card.
• Any Designated Activities application: a clear description of the activity, because the designation written on the permission is the limit of what may be done.
• Documents issued in Japan dated within three months of filing; Japanese translations of foreign documents.

How to apply

1. 01

   Confirm the category and the nationality list

   WG checks whether the intended activity fits a published notice item and, for the Digital Nomad category, whether the applicant's nationality is on ISA's list. An activity that can only be performed by entering Japan, such as site work for a Japanese client, is outside the category.

2. 02

   Assemble income and insurance evidence

   The JPY10 million income must be the applicant's individual income evidenced by official certificates or contracts; the insurance must cover the stay with the required treatment limit. Credit-card insurance may be accepted where its terms are documented.

3. 03

   Apply at the mission, with or without a Certificate of Eligibility

   A Certificate of Eligibility is optional for the Digital Nomad category but shortens consular processing. Graduates and others already in Japan apply for a change of status at the regional bureau before the current status expires.

4. 04

   Observe the limits during the stay

   Digital Nomad holders may not take Japanese employment, do not receive a residence card and cannot extend; graduates must keep job-search records and stay within 28 hours of paid work. Any change of circumstances, such as a Japanese job offer, requires a fresh application for the appropriate status.

5. 05

   Plan the exit or the transition

   A Digital Nomad who wants to stay longer must leave and consider a work status with a Japanese sponsor or, where points allow, Highly Skilled Professional. A graduate with an offer changes to the relevant work status before the designated period ends.

After approval & family planning

• Digital Nomad family members may accompany but cannot work; dependants of job-seeking graduates are limited to what their own status allows.
• Designated Activities is defined by its designation. Working outside it, or overstaying a non-renewable period, affects every later application in Japan.
• Time under the Digital Nomad category is a short-term stay rather than mid- to long-term residence and does not build towards permanent residence; job-hunting time counts towards residence but not towards the five work-status years.

What this route builds, and what it opens

WG assesses every route on three returns: the knowledge it adds, the cognitive capability that sustained work abroad develops, and the institutional opportunity it opens or closes. Real work is the mechanism in each case.

Programme context. These categories are unlikely to constitute a qualifying managerial role. Where a participant is a recent graduate of a Japanese institution, the job-hunting period may be assessed as the stage before a genuine role with a qualifying affiliate. Read the framework ↗

Frequently asked questions

Points to consider

• The Digital Nomad nationality list and the income threshold are set by notice and may change; check the linked authority before planning travel.
• A pattern of repeated six-month stays may attract tax and immigration scrutiny; a professional who intends to stay in Japan should plan a proper work status.