🇫🇷 France vs 🇯🇵 Japan: Digital Nomad Visa Compared
France has no visa officially called a "digital nomad visa". Japan offers Designated Activities (Digital Nomad) - Notice No. 53. Every figure below comes from each country's own sourced, dated fiche - compare income, duration, tax, family rules, fees and processing time before you decide. France's initial visa period runs longer than Japan's: 12 months versus 6.
- Minimum income
- 1,867 EUR / month
- 10,000,000 JPY / year
- Visa duration
- Tax regime
- Living in France more than 183 days generally makes you a French tax resident, taxed on worldwide income at French rates. Double-taxation treaties apply.
- A stay of 6 months (under 183 days) generally does not make you a Japanese tax resident, so foreign income is not taxed by Japan under the visa.
- Family (spouse / children)
- Spouse + children admitted
- Spouse + children admitted
- Application fees
- 99 EUR
- 15,000 JPY
- Health insurance
- Processing time
- Typically 2-3 weeks after the consulate appointment
- Reported ~5 business days when applying with a Certificate of Eligibility (COE); 2 weeks to 1 month without one
France has no digital nomad visa. Since June 2025, France had enforced a ban on remote work under the long-stay VISITOR visa (VLS-TS 'visiteur'); a 2026-06-23 Journal Officiel response from the Ministry of the Interior (answering National Assembly question n°11730) reversed course: remote work from France for a foreign employer, with income paid and taxed abroad and no activity benefiting a France-based business, is 'non-active' and IS compatible with visiteur status - no work permit needed. The visiteur visa has no fixed income figure in law; consulates require proof of 'sufficient and regular resources', commonly benchmarked against the SMIC. The Profession Liberale visa (resources ~SMIC, figure above) or the Talent Passport remain the applicable routes only if the work is integrated into the French economy (French clients, French-paid work, staff supervised in France). SMIC-linked figures rise with each revaluation - confirm the current amount and exact thresholds with your consulate.
source · verified 2026-07-16
Attributed to MFA/ISA (pages not fetched directly). Income must be from outside Japan; work for Japan-based entities is not allowed.
source · verified 2026-07-05
source · verified 2026-07-08
General rule tied to the 6-month cap; confirm your own residency position.
source · verified 2026-07-05
Family may accompany on the long-stay visa; each adult typically needs their own status/resources.
source · verified 2026-07-08
Spouse or child of a digital nomad may accompany under the same Designated Activities category.
source · verified 2026-07-05
EUR 99 long-stay visa application fee (paid to the consulate); confirm with the consulate. Separately, the mandatory post-arrival visa validation fee (OFII/interior-ministry portal) rose from EUR 200 to EUR 300 effective 2026-05-01. RE-CHECKED 2026-07-19: this rise now traces to a specific legal source - Article 128 of Loi n. 2026-103 du 19 fevrier 2026 (Loi de finances pour 2026) - corroborated on several prefecture .gouv.fr pages, not just aggregator guides. The figure itself is unchanged; this only upgrades how well-sourced it is. RE-CHECKED 2026-08-11: the separate OFII stamp duty (droit de timbre, applied to issuance/renewal/duplicate of residence permits) also rose under the same 2026 Finance Law, from EUR 25 to EUR 50, effective 2026-05-01 - confirmed directly on multiple prefecture .gouv.fr pages (Oise, Bas-Rhin, Loire, Nord, Gers), correcting the prior 'unaffected, unverified' note.
source · verified 2026-08-11
Japan's general visa issuance fee rose from JPY 3,000 to JPY 15,000 (single-entry) effective 2026-07-01 - the first revision since 1978. A consulate Digital Nomad checklist states the visa follows the general single-entry fee schedule. RE-CHECKED 2026-07-15: a search-indexed snippet of this exact MOFA fee page now corroborates "approximately 15,000 yen for a single-entry visa," but the live page still could not be fetched directly this pass either, so confidence stays "reported" pending an on-page read.
source · verified 2026-07-15
source · verified 2026-07-08
No single canonical MOFA-stated figure found; based on convergent consulate guidance (Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles). Confirm with your consulate. RE-CHECKED 2026-08-04: mofa.go.jp and moj.go.jp/isa still 403 on direct fetch. No source dated after the prior pass changes income, duration, tax, fees or processing time - all reconfirmed by convergent 2026 guides. No material change. RE-CHECKED 2026-08-11: the JPY 3,000-to-15,000 fee rise (2026-07-01) is now strongly corroborated by mainstream press (Japan Times, CNBC, Nippon.com, Euronews, all dated mid-to-late June 2026) rather than only consulate-checklist sourcing - confidence strengthened, figure unchanged. Income, duration and processing time all reconfirmed. No material change.
source · verified 2026-07-12
Frequently asked questions
Which lasts longer, the France or Japan digital nomad visa?
The France visa's initial period is longer: 12 months versus 6 months for Japan.
How long does it take to process a digital nomad visa for France vs Japan?
France's stated processing time is Typically 2-3 weeks after the consulate appointment; Japan's is Reported ~5 business days when applying with a Certificate of Eligibility (COE); 2 weeks to 1 month without one, per each country's own sourced fiche. Actual processing time varies by consulate and caseload.
Related comparisons
Figures marked TBD are not yet verified and are never shown as facts. Last full review: France 2026-09-05, Japan 2026-09-05.