Japan or Pakistan
Two countries side by side across the same rows as the full comparison. A dash means the value is missing: fields are not filled with guesses. about the data
| Japan | Pakistan | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | $ 24 467 | — |
| Citizenship | 5 years | — |
| Partner can work | — | — |
| Parents | no | — |
| Pets | difficult | difficult |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | 180 days | — |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 1 606 · estimate | $ 145 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 34,9 | $ 14,8 |
| Life expectancy | 84.04 | 67.8 |
| Homicides/100k | 0.23 | 4.33 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 8.3 | 7.4 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Japan — 88, Pakistan — 22. Types present in both: work, study, family, investment and repatriation. Japan adds: remote work, startup, talent, retirement, job seeking and working holiday.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Japan: fees range from 6,000 to 10,000 JPY. Routes with no fee: 72. Routes with a published decision deadline: 87; the shortest is 14 days. Pakistan: fees range from 200 to 400 PKR. Routes with no fee: 1. Routes with a published decision deadline: 9; the shortest is 1 days.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: Japan after 10 years; the other country publishes no term. Citizenship: Japan after 5 years; the other country publishes no term. Pakistan allows a second citizenship, Japan does not.
Japan in brief
Japan combines low crime, good healthcare and a fast route to permanent residence through the Highly Skilled Professional points system with high natural hazards (earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, volcanoes), a ban on dual citizenship and practically no route for parent reunification outside a narrow HSP exception.
Pakistan in brief
Pakistan is the world's fifth most populous country, with English-language official paperwork and a visible IT outsourcing industry in Karachi and Lahore. The work route has two steps: a mission abroad issues an entry work visa for three months — within 48 hours under the service's own rules and without security clearance — while an extension of up to two years with multiple entries is decided by the Ministry of Interior, where clearance is mandatory, as is a recommendation from the Board of Investment. The visa policy sets out a rule rare for the region: if the agencies do not answer within 30 days, the case counts as approved. The visa is issued to the worker and the family at once. The directorate describes no permanent residence for an ordinary foreigner: a long stay rests on renewing the visa. Citizenship is available on a closed list of grounds, and the list is asymmetric by sex — a foreign woman married to a Pakistani man is on it, a foreign man married to a Pakistani woman is not. Bringing in cats and dogs requires a prior permit from the agriculture ministry, while antibody titration is not needed. The background in figures: life expectancy 67.8 years (World Bank, 2024), homicides 4.33 per 100,000 (UNODC, 2024), average PM2.5 concentration 58.4 µg/m³ — almost twelve times the WHO guideline (World Bank, 2023). INFORM rates natural risks at 7.4 out of 10, with floods at 9.5 and earthquakes at 9.2 — among the highest values in the world.
Other comparisons
Japan or… Taiwan · South Korea · Thailand · Kazakhstan · Lebanon · Uzbekistan · Malaysia · Azerbaijan
Pakistan or… Philippines · Bangladesh · Kuwait · Iraq · Mongolia · Oman · People's Republic of China · Sri Lanka
More on each: Japan · Pakistan. Build your own comparison — up to four countries
This material is for reference and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Visa rules, tax thresholds and prices change. Before deciding anything, check the official sources and consult a licensed professional in the relevant country.