Moving to Japan from New Zealand

More than JPY 11,000,000 a year: The Immigration Services Agency says annual income that meets a minimum (to be safe, more than JPY 11 million a year) is needed at the time of application. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists a tax payment certificate, an income certificate, an employment contract or a contract with a business partner that states the period and the amount as proof. The agency's Q&A says the most recent annual income counts, an expected raise or a new job paid at that level can count, a sole proprietor is judged on profit after necessary expenses rather than the contract amount, and several stable incomes can be added together. At the rate worked out from the European Central Bank's reference rates of 15 October 2026 (177.06 yen and NZ$2.0012 to the euro, about 88.48 yen to the New Zealand dollar), the minimum is about NZ$113,000. To be safe, have more than JPY 11,000,000 a year, about NZ$124,300.

A few countries (Austria, Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) can stay up to six months by applying for an extension before the 90 days end; New Zealand is not among them. The Immigration Services Agency grants an extension of a visitor stay in principle only for truly unavoidable humanitarian reasons, such as medical treatment that must be completed, and the embassy says that in principle you cannot change visa type once you are in Japan. The agency pages do not say whether remote work for an employer abroad counts as an activity on a visit, the embassy says paid or profit-making activities are prohibited on a visitor visa, and the Ministry describes the short stay as one that "does not include remunerative activities". The six-month digital nomad status exists for people who work remotely from Japan. SafeTravel, New Zealand's travel advice service, has no section on entry requirements for Japan. The embassy suggests you pre-register your arrival on Visit Japan Web.

It needs annual income that meets a minimum (to be safe, more than JPY 11,000,000 a year) at the time of application, private medical travel insurance with treatment cover of JPY 10 million or more, and a passport from a country in the agency's chart, which includes New Zealand. You may not work for a Japanese organisation or person under an employment or contractor agreement. The agency's outline says your stay under the status must not exceed six months within a year, and its Q&A says you can re-enter with the status once six months have passed after leaving. There is no residence card. A spouse or child can come on a separate six-month status. Longer routes without a Japanese job offer need more: Business Manager (periods of up to five years) asks for capital or invested funds that meet a minimum (to be safe, more than JPY 31 million), a full-time employee, Japanese at B2 level held by you or the employee, three years of management experience or a master's degree, and a business plan checked by a qualified expert; the long stay for tourism and recreation (six months, up to one year) asks for savings above a minimum (to be safe, hold more than JPY 31 million) and does not cover work; J-Find (up to two years) is for graduates of a university in the top 100 of two world rankings within five years of the degree, with savings that meet a minimum (to be safe, hold more than JPY 210,000); and the startup visa (up to two years) needs a startup plan checked by a certified local authority. Highly Skilled Professional points are scored on a salary from an organisation in Japan or on running a business there. The Japan–New Zealand working holiday scheme, running since 1985, is open to New Zealand passport holders who live in New Zealand, are aged 18 to 30 inclusive when they apply and have no dependent children; since 1 December 2024 you can take part twice, in two separate one-year stays. It is for a holiday, with casual or temporary work to supplement your funds and not regular full-time employment, and the Wellington embassy asks for a bank balance that meets a minimum (to be safe, hold more than NZ$3,100), and a higher one for a married couple.

Documents in a foreign language need a Japanese translation when filed with the agency, and certificates issued in Japan must be under three months old. A spouse or child adds proof of the relationship and a copy of your passport. The Embassy of Japan in New Zealand lists no documents for this status on its own pages (it lists temporary visitor, work, student, working holiday and other visas), so these come from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the agency; confirm them with the office that serves you. The agency's Q&A says that if you are outside Japan nobody in Japan can file the certificate of eligibility for you, so you apply for the visa directly at the embassy or consulate. In New Zealand three offices take visa applications. The Embassy in Wellington serves Wellington, Taranaki, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui (excluding Ruapehu District) and the South Island except Canterbury; the Consulate-General in Auckland serves the upper North Island and asks for an online appointment; the Consular Office in Christchurch serves Canterbury. The Wellington embassy says applicants must hold a New Zealand passport or a long-term New Zealand visa. It says visitor visas take about two to three weeks, there is no urgent service, passports are not returned by post, and a visa is valid for three months from issue. Its fee page copy, two years old, lists New Zealand among the nationalities exempt from visa fees; it does not name this status, so ask whether a fee applies. Processing time for the digital nomad visa itself is not stated on any page read, so it is unknown.

Anyone else is a non-resident, taxed only on income from sources in Japan, and the guide says pay for personal services performed in Japan is Japan-source income even if it is paid abroad. The agency's digital nomad Q&A says pay for work done in Japan can be exempt under the tax convention when the conditions are met, which in most conventions include staying 183 days or less in the taxable year or in any 12-month period, and that it is not exempt if you go over or if a Japanese employer pays you. The New Zealand convention puts it this way for an employee: tax only in New Zealand if you are in Japan no more than 183 days in total in any 12-month period commencing or ending in the tax year, your employer is not a Japanese resident, and a Japanese permanent establishment does not bear the pay. A stay of six months can last 181 to 184 days, and earlier visits in the same 12 months count, so plan your dates with an adviser. At home, Inland Revenue says you stop being a New Zealand tax resident only if you have no permanent place of abode in New Zealand and are away more than 325 days in any 12 months, so six months in Japan does not end your New Zealand residence.

Your plan of up to six months with no residence card points to non-resident status, but a stay that turns into a longer one can change that. Non-residents are taxed only on Japan-source income. Japanese law has no 183-day residence test; 183 days is the limit in the tax conventions for exempting short-stay pay.

Article 7 says a business's profits are taxable only in its home state unless it has a permanent establishment in the other, and Article 5 treats a business as having one if it performs services through an individual who is present for more than 183 days in any 12 months and more than half of its gross revenues come from those services, or for the same project through one or more individuals; whether a rented flat or shared desk could count as a fixed place of business was not checked. Article 4 decides residence if both countries claim you: first the country where you have a permanent home, then your closer personal and economic ties, then where you usually live, then your nationality, then the two tax authorities. Article 24 gives credit for tax paid to the other state. The National Tax Agency lists New Zealand among the treaties with a limitation on benefits article, and says a person claiming a treaty exemption on a Japanese return must attach its convention application form, the limitation on benefits attachment and a certificate of residency from their home country, and that a non-resident with Japan-source pay for services not subject to withholding files a quasi-final return before leaving Japan. Whether a nomad who claims a full exemption must file at all was not settled.

If your residency does change, update your details with your New Zealand bank or investment provider so the right non-resident withholding tax is deducted. If Japanese tax applies to you, income tax runs in seven bands from 5% to 45% (the 45% band starts at JPY 40,000,000 of taxable income), with a 2.1% reconstruction surtax on the income tax; the agency says the surtax changes for income from 1 January 2027. This describes the rules, not your bill.

The digital nomad status carries no residence card, and the agency says holders are not eligible to join Japan's public medical insurance, which is why private cover of JPY 10 million is required. Government KiwiSaver contributions need you to live mainly in New Zealand; after a year living overseas (not in Australia) you can withdraw most of your savings, but not the government contributions. A student loan stops being interest-free if you become overseas-based, which happens when you are in New Zealand 31 days or fewer in a 184-day period. If you already get NZ Super and go overseas for more than 26 weeks, you must apply to keep it, at least 6 weeks before you leave, at a rate based on the months you lived in New Zealand between ages 20 and 65. A six-month stay can run a little over 26 weeks. This is a mechanism, not your bill.

The Wellington embassy takes visitor-visa applications at the counter without an appointment and asks you to apply no more than three months before you fly. Its own pages do not describe the digital nomad application, so ask which documents it wants. Pre-register your arrival on Visit Japan Web.

The United States Embassy's medical list, which describes how care is paid for, says caregivers expect payment in full at treatment or proof you can pay, that English-speaking care is expensive and not widespread, and that national health insurance does not pay for evacuation. SafeTravel adds that Japan has strict rules on importing prescription medicine, and advises carrying a doctor's letter describing your condition and medication. The price of a policy that meets the rule was not found, so it is unknown.