Bringing a spouse and kids on the digital nomad visa

A spouse and minor children can accompany you on Japan's digital nomad visa. They apply under a separate status called 指定活動 (shitei katsudō — designated activities), Notification No. 54, while you hold Notification No. 53. They land at the same airport on the same date and they leave on the same date. The status sticker is different.

The two are not equal. Your status authorises you to work remotely for a non-Japanese employer; theirs does not authorise work of any kind, including part-time. Both of you arrive without a 在留カード (zairyū kādo — the plastic residence card issued at the airport for stays over 90 days), and without that card, neither of you registers at a ward office. No 住民票 (jūminhyō — resident certificate, the printout the ward issues to anyone in the Basic Resident Register) is issued to either of you.

That last sentence is the source of every gap below. Most Tokyo systems for residents (schools, banks, the National Health Insurance pool) gate on jūminhyō. The digital nomad family does not enter that gate.

This guide covers three places where the dependent path is different from the principal's. Schools for the children. Health insurance for the family. Bank accounts for the spouse.

For the principal's eligibility threshold (annual income ¥10 million, the 49 nationality list), see the eligibility and income piece. For why the visa requires furnished mid-term housing rather than a normal lease, see the furnished-midterm requirement walkthrough.

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Who qualifies as a dependent

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists two categories under Notification 54: spouse and child. Both are tied to the principal's stay and depart with the principal.

Spouse. A legally registered marriage. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (外務省 — gaimushō) page on Specified Visa Designated Activities excludes 内縁 (naien — common-law spouse) and same-sex partners. The exclusion holds regardless of the law of the marriage's home jurisdiction. You provide a marriage certificate, translated into Japanese or English, issued within 3 months of the application.

Child. A minor (under 20 in Japanese law, though most consulates align with the home country's age of majority). Biological or legally adopted. You provide a birth certificate or family register that names both parents and the child, again issued within 3 months of the application.

A spouse or child of a non-visa-exempt nationality can still apply as a dependent on Notification 54. The 49-country list gates on the principal's nationality. Dependents follow the principal regardless of their own passport. The standard documentary checks at the consulate still apply.

The status runs for the same six months as Notification 53, non-extendable, non-renewable. If the principal departs Japan early, dependents must depart with them. There is no exception for "the children finish the school term, the spouse leaves a week later."

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Schools: what's open and what's closed

Children on Notification 54 cannot enrol full-time in a Japanese public school during the digital nomad stay. The path is closed at the ward office.

The mechanism: enrolment in a Tokyo public elementary or junior high school runs through the 教育委員会 (kyōiku iinkai — board of education) of the ward your jūminhyō names. No jūminhyō, no enrolment trigger. Tokyo's public schools work by mailing an enrolment notice to every household with a school-age child on the resident register. A Notification 54 child is not on the register. The notice does not arrive.

Three options actually work for a six-month stay:

International schools. Most full-curriculum international schools in Tokyo (Tokyo International School, ASIJ, British School in Tokyo) admit on a school-year basis from September. A six-month visa lands awkwardly inside that calendar. A few schools admit on a term basis. Tuition runs ¥2.5 million to ¥3.5 million per year for elementary, prorated by term in some cases and not in others. Apply at least 3 months before move-in; admission is competitive in central Tokyo wards.

Short-term programs for younger children. Bilingual preschools and kindergartens in central Tokyo (Ayla International School, Komazawa Park International School, Setagaya International School) offer short-term enrolments of 1 to 3 months for ages 1 to 6. Daily fee runs ¥6,000 to ¥10,000 for half-day, ¥10,000 to ¥15,000 for full-day. These are the easiest to land for a digital nomad family.

Homeschool with optional Japanese-language tutoring. A spouse not authorised to work has time. Many digital nomad families on six-month stays choose this. The curriculum from the home school continues remotely. A private Japanese tutor (¥4,000 to ¥8,000 per hour, two sessions per week) handles language exposure. This is the path most r/movingtojapan threads on family DNV settle on.

What does not work: showing up at the local kuyakusho (区役所 — ward office) and asking to enrol the child as a regular student. The clerk will explain the registration gap politely.

A separate path exists for "guest students" (体験入学 — taiken nyūgaku, literally "trial enrolment") that some Tokyo wards run for short-term foreign children of any visa category. The program runs 2 to 4 weeks and is treated as observational rather than full enrolment. Setagaya, Bunkyō, and Suginami all have active programs. The application goes through the kyōiku iinkai of the ward where the family is staying. Bring a passport, the visa documentation, and proof of your Tokyo address (a copy of the rental contract is enough). The ward does not require a jūminhyō for taiken nyūgaku.

Healthcare: private insurance, no public scheme

Notification 53 holders are excluded from 国民健康保険 (kokumin kenkō hoken — National Health Insurance, the public scheme that gives 70% cost coverage to registered residents). Dependents under Notification 54 are excluded for the same reason: no jūminhyō, no enrolment.

Every applicant (principal and each dependent) must hold private medical insurance with at least ¥10 million in coverage for injury, illness, and death. The threshold is per person, not per family. A family of four needs four policies, each at the ¥10 million floor. Submit the policy schedule with the visa application. Renew before any policy expires inside the six-month window.

Three insurance options meet the threshold:

A travel-insurance product extended to six months. Cigna Global, IMG Global Medical, and Allianz Care all sell six-month plans that satisfy the Japanese threshold. A family of four runs roughly $300 to $700 per month total in 2026 pricing, depending on age band and country of residence. The policy must explicitly cover Japan and name medical evacuation as an included benefit.

A home-country health plan that covers Japan. Some employer plans (large US firms with international footprints, EU plans from countries with Japan reciprocity) cover medical care abroad up to the Japanese threshold. Get a written attestation from the insurer that includes the ¥10 million figure (or the equivalent in your home currency at current rates), names Japan, and lists the family members covered. The Japanese consulate accepts an English-language attestation.

A Japanese expat-resident plan. Companies like SBI Life and HanseMerkur sell short-term Japan plans for foreign visitors. Pricing is similar to international travel insurance. The claim process runs in Japanese, which is often slower than an English-language international plan. Most digital nomad families pick the international plan.

For day-to-day care, the family pays cash at the clinic or hospital and submits receipts to the insurer for reimbursement. Tokyo private clinics that handle international patients (Tokyo Midtown Clinic in Roppongi, the National Medical Clinic in Hiroo, Hibiya Clinic Marunouchi) accept English documents and expect cash up front. A general consultation runs ¥8,000 to ¥15,000 before reimbursement; a paediatric visit for a fever runs ¥6,000 to ¥10,000. For the full insurance walk-through, see the digital-nomad health insurance piece.

If a dependent needs ongoing care during the stay (asthma, type-1 diabetes, scheduled physiotherapy), confirm with the international plan that the relevant medication is dispensable in Japan. Some US-prescribed medications (Adderall, certain ADHD medications, codeine-containing painkillers) are restricted or banned in Japan regardless of insurance. The 厚生労働省 (kōsei rōdōshō — Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) page on prohibited and controlled medications has the current list.

Banking: no Japanese account, what works instead

Neither the principal nor the spouse can open a standard Japanese bank account during the digital nomad stay. The standard account at MUFG, SMBC, Mizuho, Yucho, and the foreign-friendly banks like Shinsei requires a zairyū card and, in most cases, a jūminhyō. The principal does not have one. The spouse does not have one. The bank rejects the application at the screening step before the staff member finishes the form.

This rules out salary deposits to a Japanese account, mobile contracts that bill by direct debit, utility accounts in the spouse's name, and Japanese-issued credit cards. The spouse cannot work, so the salary point is moot. The principal cannot receive Japanese-source income on this visa either.

What works for the spouse instead — usually the one running daily payments while the principal works:

A multi-currency card from the home country. Wise (formerly TransferWise), Revolut, and Charles Schwab debit cards work at most Tokyo ATMs. Yucho ATMs accept all major foreign cards at the standard yen rate. 7-Eleven ATMs are the second-most foreign-card-friendly. Daily withdrawal limits run ¥100,000 to ¥300,000 per card, set by the issuing bank.

A pre-paid IC card for transit and konbini. Welcome Suica, the tourist version of Suica, is issued at Haneda and Narita airport counters on a passport. It loads in cash and works on every Tokyo train, every konbini, and most vending machines. It expires 28 days after first use, so a six-month family stay needs to refresh the card or migrate to a regular Suica (which a Japanese phone number can register, even on a foreign-card payment route through Apple Pay). Mobile Suica on iPhone is the cleanest setup; the spouse adds it to Apple Wallet on day one.

A foreign-domiciled credit card with no FX fees. Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and most EU travel cards waive currency-conversion fees. Most Tokyo restaurants, supermarkets, and large stores accept Visa and Mastercard. A subset of small restaurants and izakaya remain cash-only. The spouse should carry ¥10,000 to ¥20,000 in cash for any given week.

What does not work: opening a joint account with the principal (no zairyū card on either side), opening an account in the spouse's home country and routing rent through it (most operators want JPY transfers from a domestic account, though HalfKey accepts international wire and major credit cards directly).

For tax implications of working from Japan, and whether the spouse's status triggers a filing obligation, see the tax implications piece.

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Comparison: principal vs dependent across the six-month stay

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Documents to gather before applying

For each dependent applying alongside the principal, prepare:

• A passport with at least 7 months of validity past the planned arrival date.
• The marriage certificate (for a spouse) or the birth certificate / family register (for a child), translated to Japanese or English, issued within 3 months.
• The dependent's private health insurance policy showing ¥10 million coverage, naming Japan, and naming the dependent by full legal name.
• A passport-style photo, 4.5cm × 4.5cm, taken within 6 months.
• The dependent's portion of the visa application form (each dependent files a separate form; minors are filed by the parent).

The principal additionally provides their employment contract, proof of income above ¥10 million annually (12-month band), and the principal's own ¥10 million insurance schedule. For the income threshold mechanics, see the eligibility and income piece.

The consulate processes the family as a single batch. Submit all members' documents in one package; the consulate prefers it and the visa stickers are issued together.

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Set this up before the family flies

If you are six weeks or more from arrival, work through this list in order:

1. Confirm the marriage and parent-child documents are issued within 3 months and translated. Reissue any that are older. Some consulates treat a six-month-old certificate as expired.
2. Quote private health insurance for every family member at the ¥10 million threshold. Buy one policy that covers all of you if possible. Some international insurers list dependents on the principal's policy schedule, which simplifies the visa submission.
3. Decide the schooling path now. International school applications take 2 to 3 months. Short-term preschools take 2 to 4 weeks. Homeschool with a Japanese tutor takes a week to set up.
4. Open a Wise or Revolut account in your home country if you do not have one. Order the physical card to your home address. Activate it before you fly so the spouse has it on landing.
5. Pick a furnished mid-term apartment with at least two bedrooms (or a two-bedroom-plus-living-room layout if the children share) and confirm the operator accepts the Notification 54 dependents on the booking. Most operators in this segment do; HalfKey accepts dependents listed on the principal's booking with no additional documentation beyond passport scans.
6. If you'd like HalfKey to shortlist furnished family-sized units for your dates, reply to this article's contact form.

The consulate processing time runs 2 to 4 weeks for the family bundle in most jurisdictions. Pad the timeline.

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— HalfKey runs furnished one-bedroom and two-bedroom Tokyo apartments for family stays of 30 days to 12 months. Browse listings for your dates.