Designated Activities Visa
The Designated Activities visa is Japan's catch-all status of residence: where no standard work, family, or study status fits, a ministerial notice can define the profile, the period, and the conditions, from graduate job hunting to the 2024 digital-nomad route.1 Each notice is its own small immigration system, so the profile match matters more here than on any other status.
This article serves two readers: a resident or graduate in an unusual situation checking which profile fits, and a remote worker weighing the digital-nomad stay.
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Immigration Services Agency's Designated Activities pages and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa pages. This article is general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed gyoseishoshi (administrative scrivener) for a profile read, or an immigration lawyer for a contested case or appeal.
Last verified: 2026-09.
Overview
Designated Activities, or 特定活動 (tokutei katsudō, "designated activities"), holds every stay the standard statuses cannot describe. Each permitted profile is set by ministerial notice (kokuji) carrying its own period of stay, work rights, and renewal terms.12 Dozens of notices exist; this article covers the four profiles readers actually ask about, then the exits into ordinary statuses.
Terms are national and notice-bound. A working-holiday age cap or quota can still vary by bilateral agreement, so nationality matters on that profile the way it does nowhere else in this subcategory.1
Unlike a work status, this status grants only what its notice says. Work rights, family accompaniment, and renewal each default to no unless the notice affirmatively gives them.
Which profile fits you
Job-hunting graduates
Graduates of Japanese institutions who need time to search may remain on a Designated Activity, typically granted for 6 months with a single-renewal route that extends the search toward a year (as of 2026-09; confirm the current notice with the Immigration Services Agency).1 The stay demands genuine job-seeking activity, usually with continuity from the school's recommendation, not merely continued residence.
The Student Visa Process Through a Language School guide covers the study status this route follows; the status change at graduation is the handoff point.
Working holidays
Bilateral working-holiday arrangements admit young adults, typically ages 18 to 30, for stays up to about a year with work rights to fund travel (as of 2026-09).1 Age caps, quotas, durations, and permitted work types are set per agreement, so confirm the bilateral terms for the specific nationality rather than generalizing from another country's program. Tax-treaty and visa-exemption pairings shape eligibility the same way they do for digital nomads below.
Parents of HSP children and other family profiles
Notices cover exceptional family situations the family statuses do not reach, notably cohabiting parents of a Highly Skilled Professional holder's minor children (as of 2026-09; confirm the current notice with the Immigration Services Agency).1 Conditions are profile-specific, including the child's age and the cohabitation itself, so read the notice rather than assuming Dependent-status rules apply.
The digital-nomad route (Notice No. 53)
Launched March 31, 2024 as Designated Activities Notification No. 53, this is Japan's formal remote-worker stay: up to 6 months living in Japan while working remotely for overseas employers or clients.31
Income, insurance, and nationality gates
Three gates decide eligibility, all verified against MOFA and consulate sources (as of 2026-09; confirm current figures with the Immigration Services Agency). Annual income of ¥10,000,000 or more from non-Japan sources, proved by tax or income certificates, employment contracts, client contracts showing amounts, or bank letters.34 Private insurance covering death, injury, and illness with medical-treatment coverage of ¥10,000,000 or more for the entire stay.34 And nationality (in some framings residence) in one of 49 visa-exempt plus tax-treaty countries and territories, including the United States, Australia, and Singapore.51
A spouse and children may accompany the holder on their own Designated Activity, subject to visa-exempt nationality and coverage under the insurance.31
Single-source earners sail through; mixed freelance income needs layering. Pair tax certificates with client contracts showing amounts and a bank letter restating yearly earnings, since consulates weigh corroboration over any one paper.
What the stay forbids
The period is 6 months with no extension; reapplication opens only 6 months after departure, and consulate sheets describe 6 months usable per year on a single-entry visa valid 3 months from issue (as of 2026-09).34 No residence card and no residence certificate issue on this stay, which cuts off resident-linked benefits including National Health Insurance, the reason the private policy must be comprehensive.5
All work must be remote for overseas entities. Services for Japanese companies, local part-time work, and client-switching into Japan-sourced income sit outside the permission.1 The Can You Freelance on Your Visa? guide maps where remote work shades into unauthorized activity.
Required documents
The nomad set is the visa application form with photo, the passport, and either a Certificate of Eligibility (which waives the activity, income, and insurance proofs) or the full trio: the planned-activity statement with Japan contact and timeframe, income evidence, and insurance evidence showing the coverage scope.3 Accompanying family adds relation proof and the holder's passport copy.3 Other profiles follow their own notice checklists; confirm the current list with ISA rather than extrapolating from the nomad set.
Application process
Nomad applications go to the Japanese embassy or consulate of nationality, with the optional COE obtained by a proxy in Japan to speed examination.3 Graduates and other in-Japan profiles file a change of status instead.6
Costs and timelines
Fees below reflect ISA's published figures; consulate visa-issuance fees follow per-post schedules. Confirm current fees and timelines before filing, since both can change (as of 2026-09; confirm current figures with the Immigration Services Agency).
Fee schedule
| Item | Amount | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Eligibility application | No fee | 2026-09 | 7 |
| Status change grant (in person or paper) | ¥6,000 | 2025-04-01 | 8 |
| Status change grant (online) | ¥5,500 | 2025-04-01 | 8 |
| Period-of-stay extension grant (in person or paper) | ¥6,000 | 2025-04-01 | 8 |
| Period-of-stay extension grant (online) | ¥5,500 | 2025-04-01 | 8 |
| Visa issuance at the post | Per-post schedule | 2026-09 | 3 |
Fees ride on a revenue stamp (収入印紙) under the April 1, 2025 revision (as of 2025-04-01).8
Processing times
| Application | Standard published range |
|---|---|
| Certificate of Eligibility | 1 to 3 months |
| Status change | 1 to 2 months |
| Period-of-stay extension | 2 weeks to 1 month |
These are ISA's standard published ranges, not guarantees (as of 2026-09).769
Period of stay and what ends it
Each notice sets its own period and its own afterlife. Nomad stays end at 6 months with no extension right; graduate job-hunting stays follow a grant-plus-renewal pattern toward roughly a year.31 The qualifying condition is load-bearing throughout: a job-hunter who stops seeking, or a nomad whose income collapses mid-stay, no longer matches the notice that admitted them. Under Article 22-4, ISA can revoke a status where the holder is not doing the authorized activity.10
Exits into work statuses
The graduate profile exists to produce this exit: landing a qualifying offer and changing to an Engineer/Humanities/International Services status through the standard fresh examination.6 Time the change before the Designated Activity expires; an expired stay cannot bridge into a pending work filing.
Six non-renewable months with no residence card do not convert into a work status from inside. Anyone whose plan is actually a Japan job should enter through the work route directly rather than spending the nomad stay first.
Good to know
The items below are the ones most likely to end a stay early or strand its holder.
Expiry without an extension right strands you
The nomad 6 months cannot stretch for any reason, including pending business or unfinished travel.3 Plan departure, or a different status entered through its own procedure, before arrival rather than improvising at month five.
Japan-client work breaks the nomad condition
Overseas-entity remote work only; picking up Japan-sourced clients converts the stay's premise into unauthorized activity.1 Keep contracts, invoices, and payment sources examinable and foreign.
Insurance lapses and missing residence-card coverage
No card means no National Health Insurance and no ward-office safety net; a lapsed private policy voids the premise the visa was granted on.35 Carry proof of coverage for the full stay, and confirm the policy pays providers in Japan directly rather than reimbursing months later.
Tax and pension footprints on longer stays
Year-long Designated Activity holders accrue the same residence-tax and social-insurance duties as other mid- to long-term residents. Clear them before any renewal or status change, since examination weighs payment history the same way it does for work statuses.
Criminal penalties end this status fast
Convictions that trigger deportation grounds end residence with no catch-all leniency. Anyone charged should consult an immigration lawyer before engaging with examiners; the Bengoshi, Gyoseishoshi, Shiho-shoshi, and Zeirishi: Who Does What guide sorts which professional fits which problem.
See also
- Can You Freelance on Your Visa?
- Working Holiday in Japan: The Treaty-Country Designated Activity
- From Student to Work: Japan's 6-Month Job-Hunting Bridge
- Student Visa Process Through a Language School
- Engineer/Humanities/International Services Visa
- The Gyoseishoshi for Visa and Immigration