Japan
Digital Nomad Visa: health insurance requirements
Yes: health insurance is required
Yes, and unusually specifically. Japan's Digital Nomad Visa (a Designated Activities status launched in 2024) requires private health insurance valid in Japan for the whole stay, covering at least ¥10 million for injury, illness and death, with proof submitted up front. It is for high earners from countries that have both a tax treaty with Japan and visa-exempt entry, on income of at least ¥10 million a year from non-Japanese sources, and grants a single stay of up to six months that cannot be renewed or extended.
The requirements at a glance
| Minimum coverage | ¥10,000,000 |
|---|---|
| Minimum policy duration | Full duration of stay (up to 6 months) |
| Local-licensed insurer required | No: compliant international IPMI is accepted |
| Accepted proof | Private medical insurance valid in Japan for the entire stay, covering at least ¥10 million (about US$66,000) for death, injury and illness. An international policy that meets this and is valid in Japan is accepted; you submit the certificate with the application. |
For nationals of countries that have both a tax treaty with Japan and visa-exempt entry. Annual income of at least ¥10 million from a foreign employer or your own foreign-registered business; all work must be for entities outside Japan, so providing services to Japanese companies is not permitted. The stay is up to six months on a single visa, non-renewable, with no re-application allowed within six months of leaving. A spouse or child can apply for an accompanying visa of the same length.
Who qualifies for the Japan nomad visa
The income bar is what decides most applications, and it is the number people look for first. Here is the current one, with the conditions that come attached to it.
- Income required
- ¥10,000,000/yr (≈ $5,670/mo)
- Length of permit
- 6 monthsnot renewable
- Who can apply
- Employed remotely, Freelancer, Business owner
- Nationality restrictions
- Limited to ~49 countries with both a tax treaty and a visa-exemption deal with Japan (incl. US, UK, EU, Australia, Korea, Canada).
6 months, non-renewable; re-entry only after 6 months away.
Tax
In-Japan work is tax-exempt under treaty if you stay 183 days or less.
That is a summary of the rule, not tax advice. Residence for immigration and residence for tax are decided separately, and the second one tends to arrive quietly, usually after you have been in the country long enough to stop thinking about it. Take proper advice before the year you need it.
What the income bar really means
Two things get people rejected on income even when they earn enough. The first is proving it: consulates want a documented, repeating history, usually bank statements and contracts covering several months, not a screenshot of a good quarter. Irregular freelance income clears the bar on average and fails on paper. The second is dependants, who almost always raise the threshold, and by a percentage of the base figure rather than a flat amount.
Treat the number above as the floor for the paperwork, not as a comfortable income for living there. It is set by the country’s own cost of living or minimum wage, which means it moves, and in several countries it is re-set every year.
Japan's Digital Nomad Visa, launched in 2024, grants a single non-renewable stay of up to six months and requires income of ¥10 million a year plus private health insurance valid in Japan covering at least ¥10 million for injury, illness and death.
Our take
The insurance ask here is precise: ¥10 million of cover for injury, illness and death, valid in Japan, proven before you arrive. A generic travel policy rarely states that, so check the certificate names Japan and the amount.
Six months, non-renewable, is the real constraint. Treat this as a long working trip rather than a base, and line the insurance dates up exactly with the stay.
What happens if you get it wrong
A policy that is not valid in Japan, or below the ¥10 million floor, holds up the visa.
Assuming you can renew or roll straight into another six months: you cannot, there is a waiting period after you leave before you can apply again.
Interactive
Verified pricesWhat would it cost in Japan without insurance?
A fever you assume is flu until the platelet count comes back. Common across the places nomads spend winters.
| The first doctor visit, before anyone worries | $70–$330 |
| Back again, this time to emergency | $140–$350 |
| Four nights on fluids and monitoring | not verified here |
| At least | $210–$680 |
One step in this bill has no verified price for Japan yet, so the real total sits above this one. We would rather leave the line blank than guess at it.
Priced as one lump instead of itemised, a serious admission in Japan runs $3,000 to $40,000.
That is the bill you carry alone. Insurance exists for exactly this.
See what cover costsTypical private-care estimates for illustration, not a quote. Actual bills vary by hospital, city and severity.
FAQ
Yes. Private health insurance valid in Japan for the whole stay, covering at least ¥10 million for injury, illness and death, and you submit proof with the application.
At least ¥10 million a year (about US$66,000) from non-Japanese sources, such as a foreign employer or your own foreign-registered business.
Up to six months on a single visa. It is non-renewable, and you cannot re-apply within six months of leaving Japan.
Nationals of countries that have both a tax treaty with Japan and visa-exempt entry, working remotely for entities outside Japan.
Yes. A spouse or child can apply for an accompanying visa for the same six-month period.
How to apply
- Processing time
- Not officially published for this visa; commonly reported at roughly 2 to 8 weeks at the Japanese mission.
- Government fee
- The standard visa issuance fee, which for a single-entry visa is 15,000 yen as of the 1 July 2026 increase (it was 3,000 yen before); multiple-entry is 30,000 yen. Collected in local currency at the mission.
- Where to apply
- Only at a Japanese embassy or consulate outside Japan. No Certificate of Eligibility and no in-country application. The visa leads to a Designated Activities status, not a work visa or residence card.
- 1
Confirm eligibility before anything else: you need a passport from a country with the required tax-treaty or visa-exemption arrangement with Japan and annual income of at least 10 million yen from work outside Japan.
- 2
Buy private health insurance covering death, injury and illness for the whole stay with at least 10 million yen of coverage; this is a hard requirement, not optional.
- 3
Apply at a Japanese embassy or consulate in your country of residence. No Certificate of Eligibility is needed, and you cannot apply from inside Japan.
- 4
Collect the visa, which is issued single-entry and valid three months from the date of issue, then enter Japan, where you are admitted under Designated Activities (Notice No. 53) for up to six months.
- 5
Plan around the hard limits: you get no residence card, the status cannot be extended or renewed, and you can only apply again after spending six months outside Japan.
Fees and processing times move, sometimes without announcement, and a consulate can add a document the published checklist does not mention. Treat the above as the shape of the process rather than a guarantee, and check the current requirement with the mission handling your application before you book anything.
What policy actually satisfies this visa
Japan publishes a figure, which makes this simpler than most: your certificate has to show at least ¥10,000,000 of medical cover. Clear that and the paperwork is satisfied.
A compliant international policy is accepted, so you are not forced into a local insurer. That matters more than it sounds: it means one policy can follow you when you leave, instead of expiring at the border.
Repatriation is not named as a condition, though it is the benefit you would most want to have if the worst happened, and it costs very little to add.
The dates are the other thing that gets applications rejected: full duration of stay (up to 6 months)
Ask your insurer for a certificate of cover that states your full name as it appears on your passport, the exact policy period, the territory covered, and the benefit amounts. That is a normal request and any decent insurer issues it without fuss. The insurance being real and the paperwork still failing is a more common way to lose an application than being uninsured.
The visa tells you the minimum. It does not tell you what to actually carry. Those are different questions, and the paperwork minimum is nearly always the smaller of the two answers.
Get a policy that satisfies this visa
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