Japan vs Thailand Digital Nomad Visa: Compared

Minimum income

10,000,000 JPY / year

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

TBD

The DTV has NO monthly income floor. The financial requirement is a SAVINGS balance of at least THB 500,000 held for the last 3 months (bank statement). Reported from the MFA DTV checklist; not an income threshold.

Visa duration

6 months

6 months, NON-renewable. A stay under 6 months generally keeps you a non-tax-resident of Japan.

source · verified 2026-07-05

6 months, renewable

5-year, multiple-entry validity; up to 180 days per entry, extendable once by another 180 days (THB 1,900 extension fee) at a local immigration office.

source · verified 2026-07-05

Tax regime

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.

General rule tied to the 6-month cap; confirm your own residency position.

source · verified 2026-07-05

Foreign income may be taxable in Thailand if you become a Thai tax resident (183+ days) and remit it; rules on remitted foreign income tightened recently.

Confirm your position with the Thai Revenue Department; treatment of remitted foreign income changed. RE-CHECKED 2026-07-19: Revenue Department Order Por. 161/2566 (effective 2024-01-01) remains in force unchanged - Thai tax residents owe tax on foreign-sourced income when remitted, regardless of which year it was earned or remitted. A draft proposal to add a 2-year exemption window (income earned 2024+ exempt if remitted within 2 tax years) had been circulating for the 2026 filing season, but it stalled: Parliament dissolved for the 2026-02-08 election, all pending legislation lapsed, and the post-election government had not revived it as of PwC's Thailand tax summary (updated 2026-02-02). No relief is in force - status quo confirmed, not a change.

source · verified 2026-07-19

Family (spouse / children)

Spouse + children admitted

Spouse or child of a digital nomad may accompany under the same Designated Activities category.

source · verified 2026-07-05

Spouse + children admitted

Dependents (spouse and children) may apply.

source · verified 2026-07-05

Application fees

15,000 JPY

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

10,000 THB

THB 10,000 government fee. e-Visa only (thaievisa.go.th) since 2025-01-01.

source · verified 2026-07-05

Health insurance

Required - Private health insurance covering the full 6-month stay with medical coverage of JPY 10 million or more.

source · verified 2026-07-05

TBD

Checked 2026-07-12: health insurance does not appear as a required document on the official DTV checklist itself, but multiple sources report individual Thai embassies/consulates exercising discretion and sometimes requesting proof of coverage (commonly cited figures: ~USD 50,000, or THB 40,000 outpatient / THB 400,000 inpatient). No single authoritative universal figure found, so this stays TBD rather than stating one.

Processing time

Reported ~5 business days when applying with a Certificate of Eligibility (COE); 2 weeks to 1 month without one

No single canonical MOFA-stated figure found; based on convergent consulate guidance (Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles). Confirm with your consulate.

source · verified 2026-07-12

Varies (e-Visa; typically a few weeks)

source · verified 2026-07-05

🇯🇵 Japan vs 🇹🇭 Thailand: Digital Nomad Visa Compared