Difficulties in obtaining a business manager visa

I want to start a business in Japan, I want to try my hand at management at a Japanese company! However, I don’t think there are many people who immediately understand what exactly is needed to do that. In fact, what is needed in this case is a residence status called a “business manager visa.” “Business manager visa” is probably not a name you’re familiar with. What kind of visa is a “business manager visa” in the first place? Furthermore, is it easy to obtain a business manager visa? In this article, you can find out the following points.

1. What is a business manager visa?

(1) What kind of visa is it for?

The Business Manager Visa is a status of residence established to enable foreigners to manage and administer a business. The activities covered are “business management activities” or “business management activities.” However, even if you are told that, it may sound difficult and you may not understand it very well. Therefore, we will explain it more specifically using a model case below.

(2) Model case

You are originally from China and currently live in Japan. Let’s say you are employed as a chef at a Chinese restaurant in Japan. In this case, let’s assume that you have a skills visa. The authentic Chinese food you make is very popular with customers, and the number of customers is increasing. So, rather than being employed as a chef,I decided that I wanted to open my own restaurant and be involved in running it.

I have some friends who are veteran chefs, so I asked them if they would be willing to work for me. Furthermore, I looked online and found that there are many vacant properties that would be good for opening a Chinese restaurant. I hope to start my second life as a restaurant owner in the near future.

But wait a moment. There is one thing you have forgotten. That is, visa. You may want to say, “I already have a skills visa. I have a visa.” However, you cannot run a restaurant with a skills visa, and you need the business manager visa mentioned above.

(3) Bonus: Are businesses other than restaurants allowed?

A Model case

If you have read this far, you may have a rough idea of ​​what a business manager visa is. However, the example of running a Chinese restaurant was given earlier,

Does the Business Manager Visa not apply to other businesses?

Let’s say you’re from India. Whether it’s curry or chai, the deciding factor is spices. If you don’t have all the necessary spices, the taste will be lacking. And it’s not like any quality of spices will do. But in Japan, there aren’t many people who are particular about spices, and you want people to know more about Indian spices and taste them.

Let’s say you’re from India. Whether it’s curry or chai, the deciding factor is spices. If you don’t have all the necessary spices, the taste will be lacking. And it’s not like any quality of spices will do. But in Japan, there aren’t many people who are particular about spices, and you want people to know more about Indian spices and taste them.

B. Businesses covered by the Business Manager Visa

In fact, activities that are permitted as the subject of a Business Management Visa are not limited to running a Chinese restaurant, but anything is OK. Of course, activities that are illegal in Japan are not permitted. For example, drug businesses and prostitution businesses are not permitted. However, as long as they are legal in Japan, there are no restrictions on the type or form of business that can be permitted as the subject of a Business Management Visa.

This means that with a business manager visa, it looks like you may be able to make your dream of importing spices from India come true.

2. Difficulty of obtaining a business manager visa

(1) It’s not easy

There are 29 types of residence status for entering and staying in Japan. Among them, obtaining a business manager visa is said to be very difficult. Have you ever thought, “Huh? It’s difficult? Well, maybe I’ll just give up…”? But that would be a shame. You’ll understand why shortly.

(2) Qualifications to obtain a business manager visa

First of all, why is it not easy to obtain a business manager visa? The reason is that there are many people who try to obtain the visa unfairly. Specifically, there are cases where people obtain a business manager visa unfairly by creating a so-called paper company, even though they have no intention of running a company in Japan. This is not good, so it is not easy to obtain a business manager visa.

If that’s the case, you don’t need to give up on obtaining a Business Manager Visa so easily. Because, everyone reading this article should be thinking of doing a proper business. They’re not going to create a paper company and do something illegal. If that’s the case, then they are fully qualified to get a Business Manager Visa. That’s why you definitely want to get a Business Manager Visa! Our office (Touch Administrative Scrivener Corporation) also believes in your potential and will support you with all our might!

3 How difficult is it to get a business manager visa?

(1) Difficulty level

The Immigration Bureau of Japan does not publish specific data on the approval rate for business manager visas. Therefore, the exact approval and disapproval rates are unclear. However, you can find the experiences of experts on the Internet.Specifically, one comment reads, “In conversations with immigration officers at the Immigration Bureau, I heard that the approval rate is lower than for other visas.” As a more specific guideline, some say that the approval rate for business manager visas is less than half that of general work visas. Although there are no clear figures, it is possible to imagine a situation in which business manager visa applications are frequently rejected.
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(2) In what sense is it difficult?

A. The hurdle for application is not high.

Looking at the flow so far, it seems that obtaining a business manager visa is not necessarily easy. However, surprisingly, the hurdle to applying for the visa itself is not high at all. What does this mean?

First of all, for visas other than the Business Manager Visa, in most cases, a certain level of educational background and work experience is required. For example, when a foreigner who wishes to work in Japan applies for a work visa (Engineer, Specialist in Humanities, International Services), the required educational background is “university graduation or equivalent education.”If that is the case, then there are some people who have no choice but to give up on working in Japan depending on their educational background or work history. On the other hand, surprisingly, there are no such requirements for a business manager visa. In other words, even if you have not graduated from a university or do not have sufficient work history, there are plenty of opportunities as long as you clear the other points.

B,Therefore, the checks on other parts are stricter.

As you can see, the entry point is wide, but after applying, a strict examination awaits. Furthermore, the process to obtain the visa is not simple and takes several months. In these senses, it can be said that obtaining a business manager visa is not easy.

Hearing this may make some people want to give up. It is not surprising that some people think that they are not sure whether it will come to fruition or not, and do not want to waste time and energy on something that has a low chance of coming to fruition. But there is no need to worry. This is because obtaining a business manager visa is not a lottery, and it is possible to increase the approval rate even slightly by taking measures in advance. As a first step to that, let’s start by finding out what specific areas will be strictly checked. We will explain in detail below.

C,What points will be checked?

Naturally, if you do not meet the requirements for visa approval, your application will be denied. One point that is commonly pointed out is the office. A common request is to use your current home as a company office. I’m sure some of you reading this article have been thinking about doing this. In fact, in that case, there is a risk that your application will be denied. To put it simply, you should assume that, in principle, a home-office combination will not be approved.

There are exceptions to this rule, but it is not 100%. In this way, what many people think “Of course it will be okay. I want to do that” can be an unexpected pitfall that results in denial of permission. There is an aspect to these kinds of pitfalls that are difficult to notice on your own unless you are told about them.

There are many other points, but I’ll introduce one more important point that affects the approval rate. That is the business plan. Many people think, “As long as you prepare well to start your business, you will naturally be able to get a business manager visa. You’ve properly established your company, so it should be fine.” Do you, the reader of this article, have the same expectations? Unfortunately, you will not be able to get a business manager visa just by preparing to start your business.

Another thing you will need is a business plan. Simply put, a business plan is the vision for the business you are trying to do. You are going to be running a company in Japan, so what are your plans for the future? Immigration will not be satisfied with an explanation like “It’s all about the flow. It will be what it is. Tomorrow will be what it is.” Naturally, you will not be able to get a visa.

Certainly, when doing business, unexpected opportunities may suddenly appear or the situation in the world may suddenly change, leading to unexpected developments.

The opinion, “I don’t know what the future holds, but whatever will be, will be.” is correct.

However, what you are trying to do now is to get a business manager visa. If that is the case, you will be required to do the things that are required for that purpose. Specifically, you will need to create the business plan mentioned earlier. It is difficult in the sense that you cannot convince the other party with a mere explanation.

4. Get a business manager visa!

(1) Summary

What you have learned from reading this far is that although it is certainly not easy to obtain a business manager visa, you can make preparations to increase the approval rate as much as possible. On the other hand, there is no magic way to get a visa. What you need to do is to do what needs to be done according to your own situation.

(2) So what should we do?

So, what is the most useful thing you can do to achieve this? It is to ask a professional for help. As mentioned earlier, when obtaining a business management visa, the path is complicated and there may be unexpected pitfalls. If you compare it to hiking, it is like the route to the top is difficult to understand and there are dangerous places.It’s a mountain where many people give up and go back down after failing to reach the top. But the view from the top is amazing. So you really want to succeed in climbing! What do you do in this situation? Usually, you would ask an experienced mountain guide to lead you. If you have a guide who has been to the top of the mountain many times and knows the locations of the pitfalls, it’s reassuring, and doesn’t it seem like your chances of reaching the top are significantly increased?

We, “Touch Administrative Scriveners Corporation,” will be your guide. Please consult with us first. Then, we will use our expertise to fully support you in order to achieve your goal of obtaining permission.