How to Apply

About this visa

7 Things to Note When Applying for a Working Holiday Visa in Japan

Young travelers from the participating countries have the unique opportunity to work and travel in Japan for up to one year with this working holiday visa.

Below you will find out how to apply for this working holiday visa.

Participating countries

Japan has made Working Holiday visa agreements with the following 26 participating countries:

If you are a Citizen of Japan and are considering a Working Holiday experience in one of the participating countries above, contact the Embassy of the country in question for more information.

With this visa you can

This visa allows you to:

Live in Japan for up to one year
Work while traveling
Study
Re-enter Japan during the visa period

Things to note

The working holiday participants are strictly prohibited from working at bars, cabarets, nightclubs, gambling establishments and other premises affecting public morals in Japan.
Working Holiday Makers will receive a Residence Card from the Government of Japan and must carry it at all times. If you arrive at Narita, Haneda, Chubu (Nagoya) or Kansai Airport you can receive your Residence Card upon arrival and there are special lanes at these airports dedicated to those waiting for their Residence Card to be issued. If you plan to arrive at another airport you can apply for and receive your Residence Card at an Immigration Office in Japan. Your Residence Card, in principle, allows you to leave Japan and return without first acquiring a Re-entry Permit.

Conditions

Hold a valid passport for one of the participating countries
Being between 18 and 30 years of age both inclusive at the time of application for the visa (18 – 35 years old for Australians, Canadians and South Koreans. 18 and 26 years of age for Icelandic people).
Not being accompanied by dependents or children.
Have a return travel ticket or sufficient funds with which to purchase such a ticket
Possessing reasonable funds for the maintenance of his/her stay during the initial period of stay in Japan.
Being in good health.
Never having been issued a Japanese working holiday visa in the past.

Note: The visa conditions outlined above are subject to change without notice.

Normal processing time: 1-2 weeks
Visa fee: Free of charge

Collect the required visa documents (Find the required document list here)
Fill out the visa application form
Apply in person at the Japanese Consulate or Embassy closest to you

The immigration authority in Japan for processing Working Holiday visa's is Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan.

Go to: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan

Visa quotas

Need more help?

If you are seeking advice about Working Holiday visa's drop a comment below and we will be happy to answer any Working Holiday & Youth Mobility visa question you have! We are travellers too! 🙂

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7 thoughts on “Japan”

Hi! I am Wouter (27) from the Netherlands (also currently living in my home country).
I am very much interested in applying for a Working Holiday Visa for Japan, as I’m planning to travel and work there for a couple of months. I see that people partaking in this project are issued a resident card upon arrival, and that you have to register your place of residence within 14 days after arrival. I’m not entirely sure how to arrange this correctly, because my plan as a traveller is to not stay at the same place during my time in Japan. How do travellers generally arrange this? Do you really need a fixed place of residence? Do I need to have my own rented apartment or such? For example, my plans for Japan are to visit different prefectures and islands, which I don’t want to plan too much in advance (of course I do have a general plan).
I would really appreciate it if I could get some clarification on this, or some tips where I can read experiences of other travellers in a similar situation as mine.

Thanks in advance!

Hello,

I would like to know if their is any cost to apply for a working holiday visa in Japan?

-Thank You

Hi there,

I’m 35 years old and I only just learned about the working holiday visa this past year. I am from Canada, and I see that you’ve listed the maximum age for Canadians as 35. I can’t seem to find matching information anywhere, and I was hoping you could confirm that age range.

Thanks

I am looking at getting a seasonal job in Japan this year.
I am 33 years old and i have previously had a working holiday visa about 4 years ago in Japan.
Is there any way I can apply again or is there any other visa i could apply for to be able to do part time work for a few months?

Im a Canadian citizen, I want to make sure that I can still apply a working holliday visa in Japan when Im 33 years old right?
and I also want to know what document that I needed to prepare to apply?

my name is laurits and i am currently working in australia on a working holiday visa.
I am a danish Citizen and want to apply for a working holiday visa from australia. Is this possible? Cincerely Laurits.

Hi! I’m from Argentina and I would like to know about the age range for Argentinian people.

Thank you in advance

Dámaris