Digital nomad status and J-Find: requirements, and the pre-entry tuberculosis screening
What the Immigration Services Agency requires for the six-month digital nomad status and the two-year J-Find status, and which nationalities face pre-entry tuberculosis screening.
Digital nomad (Designated Activities Notice No. 53)
- Up to six months for remote work, either as an employee of a foreign entity working from Japan or selling services or goods to people abroad. The stay is not renewable and no residence card is issued. A new stay is possible six months after leaving.
- Work for a Japanese employer is excluded: holders cannot work under an employment contract with any organisation in Japan.
- The applicant must have an individual annual income of at least 10,000,000 yen at the time of application, and travel medical insurance covering the whole planned stay with at least 10,000,000 yen for injury and illness treatment. An accompanying spouse or child needs the same insurance.
- Nationality must be on the list: 51 countries and regions for the applicant, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil and most European states. A wider list of 73 applies to a supported spouse or child.
- A holder who leaves Japan temporarily can use a re-entry permit or the deemed re-entry permit and keep the status, as long as they return before the period of stay expires.
J-Find (Future Creation Individual, Designated Activities Notice No. 51)
- Up to two years in Designated Activities for job hunting or start-up preparation. Applicants must be 18 or over.
- The applicant graduated from a university ranked in the top 100 on at least two of three world rankings, within five years of the degree, and holds at least 200,000 yen in savings at application.
- Paid work is allowed to the extent needed to fund those activities. A dependent spouse or child can accompany the holder and needs permission for activities outside status to work.
- When extending, the holder must submit materials showing they are actually carrying out job hunting or start-up preparation.
- Since the January 2026 overhaul of the online residence application system, J-Find applications and those of the family status can be filed online, using a different input method from before.
Pre-entry tuberculosis screening
Pre-entry tuberculosis screening applies to nationals of the Philippines, Viet Nam, Indonesia, Nepal, Myanmar and China who plan to enter Japan as mid- to long-term residents (re-entry permit holders excluded) or as digital nomads and their spouse or child. It is rolled out country by country, and people shown to live outside the target country are excluded. Groups such as Specified Skilled Workers, JET participants and EPA nurse and care-worker candidates are exempt for the time being.
What to check
Check the agency’s pages for each status, the country lists, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare page on the screening for the current list of target countries.
Sources
- ISA: Designated Activities, digital nomad ↗ moj.go.jp
- ISA: Digital nomad, eligible countries and regions ↗ moj.go.jp
- ISA: Digital nomad Q&A (July 2024) ↗ moj.go.jp
- ISA: Designated Activities notice ↗ moj.go.jp
- ISA: J-Find (Designated Activities No. 51) ↗ moj.go.jp
- ISA: J-Find outline ↗ moj.go.jp
- MHLW: Japan Pre-Entry Tuberculosis Screening ↗ mhlw.go.jp
- MHLW, ISA and MOFA: Guidelines for the screening ↗ mhlw.go.jp
Last checked 24 October 2026
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Designated Activities: digital nomadDesignated Activities: J-Find (future creation individual)
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Show 5 more
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- Since the January 2026 overhaul of the online residence application system, applications for J-Find (and its family status) and for the J-Skip househ…
Information only. Not legal advice and not an official service. Check the official source and consult the Immigration Services Agency or a licensed administrative scrivener (行政書士) before you decide.