An image processing apparatus includes: a receiving unit that receives a screen update request including identification information of a screen and a job start request including identification information of a job; a database that defines a relationship between the identification information of the screen, the identification information of the job, and a polling interval corresponding to a degree of association between the screen and the job; a determining unit that determines the polling interval corresponding to the degree of association between the screen and the job on the basis of the identification information of the screen and the identification information of the job received by the receiving unit and the database; and a transmitting unit that incorporates information of the determined polling interval into screen data and transmits the incorporated screen data to an external apparatus that outputs the screen update request.