Moving to the UK from Japan: Guide

Visiting Rather Than Moving

Japan is not on the UK's visa national list, so a Japanese citizen does not need a visa for a visit of up to 6 months. What is needed instead is an electronic travel authorisation, which costs £20. Everyone travelling needs their own, including babies and children. It is also needed to pass through UK border control on the way to somewhere else; staying airside in the airport does not need one.

Visa Routes for Japanese Citizens

• Youth Mobility Scheme. Open to Japanese citizens aged 18 to 30, with no ballot. It allows a stay of up to 24 months, living and working in the UK with no sponsor. The visa costs £340, you need £2,530 in savings, and the healthcare surcharge is £776 a year. Time on this route does not count towards settlement.
• Skilled Worker visa. Requires a job offer from a licensed sponsor at the minimum salary of £41,700 a year, or the going rate for the occupation code if that is higher. Since 22 July 2025 a new applicant's job must sit at degree level (RQF 6), unless the occupation code is on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List. This route does lead to settlement.
• Senior or Specialist Worker visa. This is the route for someone moving to their employer's UK branch. It replaced the Intra-company Transfer route, which is closed. The minimum salary is £52,500 a year, and the maximum total stay is 5 years in any 6-year period, or 9 years in any 10-year period if you earn £73,900 or more. GOV.UK states plainly that you cannot apply to settle permanently in the UK on this route.
• Student visa. £558. See the student visa guide.
• Graduate route. 2 years after a UK degree, or 3 years after a PhD. For applications made on or after 1 January 2027 the 2-year period shortens to 18 months. See the Graduate route guide.
• Family visa. See the spouse visa guide. The minimum income requirement is £29,000 a year for a new application.

Document Requirements

• Valid Japanese passport.
• No tuberculosis test. Japan is not on the Home Office list.
• English language test. An approved secure English language test at the level the route requires: B2 for a new Skilled Worker application since 8 January 2026, A1 for a first partner visa. Only a test taken with a provider on the Home Office approved list counts. The Youth Mobility Scheme has no English requirement.
• Criminal record certificate. Not needed for most applications. GOV.UK asks for one from a Skilled Worker applying from outside the UK whose job is in education, healthcare, therapy or social services. The Japanese document is issued by the prefectural police. Neither the Home Office nor the Japanese police publish a processing time on GOV.UK, so this guide gives none.
• Money to support yourself. £1,270 on the Skilled Worker route unless your sponsor certifies it, and £2,530 on the Youth Mobility Scheme.

What It Costs

The Home Office publishes its fees in pounds. It does not publish a yen price, and the exchange rate it applies is the rate on the day you pay, so this guide gives no conversion.

• Youth Mobility Scheme visa: £340, with the healthcare surcharge at £776 a year
• Skilled Worker visa, applying from outside the UK: £819 for 3 years or less, £1,618 for more than 3 years
• Healthcare surcharge: £1,035 a year, or £776 a year for students, their dependants, Youth Mobility and anyone under 18
• Student visa: £558
• Electronic travel authorisation for a visit: £20
• Settlement: £3,226 for each person

GOV.UK publishes no price for an English language test; the test providers set their own. See our UK visa fees guide.

Healthcare

Paying the healthcare surcharge does not make the National Health Service free. It buys care on the same basis as a UK resident, so you then pay what a resident pays. In England that is £9.90 for a prescription and dental charges of £27.90, £76.60 or £332.10 depending on the band of treatment. Prescriptions are free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Japanese Community in the UK

Japanese communities in the UK are concentrated in London, particularly Acton, Ealing and Finchley, with Japanese schools, shops and cultural centres, and a long-standing Japanese business presence in the City. The Home Office does not publish a count of Japanese nationals resident in the UK, so this guide gives none.

After Arrival

• Set up or sign in to your UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account and check your online immigration status. There is no card to collect: biometric residence permits stopped being issued at the end of 2024
• Apply for a National Insurance number
• Register with a doctor (GP surgery)
• Open a UK bank account

Path to Settlement

After 5 years on a route that counts towards it, apply for settlement (indefinite leave to remain), which costs £3,226. Time on the Youth Mobility Scheme, the Graduate route and the Senior or Specialist Worker visa does not count. Twelve months after receiving settlement, apply for British citizenship, which costs £1,709 plus a £130 ceremony fee.

The UK does not require you to give up another nationality when you naturalise. Japanese nationality law takes a different view of holding two nationalities as an adult; what that means for you is a question of Japanese law, which this guide does not cover, and the Japanese embassy publishes the current rules.

Next Steps

For the Youth Mobility Scheme, visit the GOV.UK Youth Mobility page. For other routes, see the GOV.UK Skilled Worker visa page and the GOV.UK Senior or Specialist Worker visa page.

Questions and answers