To obtain a status of residence such as the Business Manager Visa, after submitting documents to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, you must undergo a residence review.
The review period for the Business Manager Visa is, on a nationwide average, around 80 to 110 days—that is, about 3 to 4 months.
Compared to other statuses of residence, the review period is outstandingly long and the review is also strict, so you need to confirm that the requirements are met and also pay attention to your schedule when applying.
- Cases where the Business Manager Visa is required
- Requirements for obtaining the Business Manager Visa (version conforming to the revised permission criteria of October 16, 2025 (Reiwa 7))
- The capital, etc. must be 30 million yen or more
- The applicant must satisfy the career or academic background requirement
- One or more full-time employees must be employed
- Either the applicant or a full-time employee must have Japanese language ability
- An office for conducting the business must exist within Japan
- The stability and continuity of the business must be recognized
- Schedule up to obtaining the Business Manager Visa
- About how long is the review period for the Business Manager Visa?
- What to prepare up to obtaining the Business Manager Visa
- For obtaining the Business Manager Visa, please consult our office
Cases where the Business Manager Visa is required
The Business Manager Visa is a status of residence for operating trade or other businesses in Japan and engaging in the management of those businesses.
For example, it becomes necessary in cases where you are trying to do the following.
- Establish a company in Japan and engage in its operation or in the management of the business.
- Assume a position as a director or other officer of a Japanese company and participate in management.
- Assume a position as a department manager, factory manager, branch manager, etc. of a Japanese company and engage in the management of the business.
Requirements for obtaining the Business Manager Visa (version conforming to the revised permission criteria of October 16, 2025 (Reiwa 7))
From October 16, 2025 (Reiwa 7), the requirements for obtaining the Business Manager Visa have been made stricter.
The following five requirements must be satisfied.
- The capital, etc. must be 30 million yen or more.
- The applicant must satisfy the career or academic background requirement.
- One or more full-time employees must be employed.
- Either the applicant or a full-time employee must have Japanese language ability.
- An office for conducting the business must exist within Japan.
- The stability and continuity of the business must be recognized.
Let’s confirm them one by one.
The capital, etc. must be 30 million yen or more
The amount of capital of the company you operate must be 30 million yen or more.
In the case of a Joint-Stock Company (Kabushiki Kaisha), the amount of capital, and in the case of a Limited Liability Company (Godo Kaisha), the total amount of investment, must be 30 million yen or more.
Previously, 5 million yen was sufficient, but the amount has been increased, so please be careful.
The applicant must satisfy the career or academic background requirement
The person applying must satisfy the career or academic background requirement.
Specifically, it is one of the following.
- Obtaining a doctoral, master’s, or professional degree in a field related to business management, or to the technology or knowledge necessary for the work of the business in question.
- Having three or more years of experience in the operation or management of a business.
One or more full-time employees must be employed
The employment of one or more full-time employees has become mandatory.
A full-time employee must be one of the following: a Japanese national, a Special Permanent Resident, a Permanent Resident, a spouse of a Japanese national, a spouse of a Permanent Resident, or a Long-Term Resident.
Previously, satisfying either the capital requirement or the full-time employee requirement was considered to satisfy the business scale requirement, but please note that after the revision, both the capital amount and the employment of full-time employees must be satisfied.
Either the applicant or a full-time employee must have Japanese language ability
Either the applicant or a full-time employee must have a considerable level of Japanese language ability.
For those who are not Japanese nationals or Special Permanent Residents, one of the following must be satisfied.
- Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N2 or above
- BJT Business Japanese Proficiency Test score of 400 or more
- Residing in Japan as a Mid-to-Long-Term Resident for 20 years or more
- Graduating from a higher education institution such as a Japanese university
- Completing Japanese compulsory education and graduating from high school
An office for conducting the business must exist within Japan
You must secure an office within Japan for conducting the business.
If there is no actual substance, as in the case of a virtual office, the office is not recognized as existing.
Also, the office must have substance suited to the business.
For a business that can be done with just a computer, obtaining the Business Manager Visa is possible even with an ordinary office; but in the case of a business that holds inventory, whether there is enough space to store the inventory also becomes a point.
Note that a home-cum-office is basically not recognized as an office. Given the requirements of capital of 30 million yen or more and the employment of full-time employees, a home-cum-office is not envisioned.
If you are not sure whether you satisfy the office requirements, consult an Administrative Scrivener.
The stability and continuity of the business must be recognized
Whether the stability and continuity of the business is recognized is confirmed through the Business Plan and the profit-and-loss plan.
Before applying, it has become mandatory to obtain confirmation from an external Small and Medium Enterprise Management Consultant, Certified Public Accountant, Tax Accountant, or similar specialist that the plan has concreteness and rationality and is feasible.
Schedule up to obtaining the Business Manager Visa
The schedule up to obtaining the Business Manager Visa differs greatly depending on whether you have already established a company in Japan.
If you aim to obtain the Business Manager Visa after establishing a company in Japan, you also need to take into account the time required for company establishment and obtaining business permits and licenses.
Company establishment (about 1 month)
You need to establish a company before applying for the Business Manager Visa. Assuming that the company’s business content and so on have been decided, it takes about 1 month for the following procedures.
- Drafting the articles of incorporation
- Having the articles of incorporation authenticated at a notary office
* In the case of a Joint-Stock Company. For a Limited Liability Company, authentication of the articles of incorporation is not required. - Transferring the capital at a financial institution
- Registering the establishment of the corporation at the Legal Affairs Bureau
Various notifications to the tax office (about 2 weeks)
You file notifications such as the following with the tax office.
- Notification of corporation establishment
- Notification of the opening of a salary-paying office, etc.
- Application for approval of the special provisions concerning the due date for withholding
The copies of the tax office notifications are required documents when applying for the Business Manager Visa, so keep them on file.
Obtaining business permits and licenses (about 1 month)
For business types that require permits and licenses, you basically need to apply to the administrative agency after company establishment.
If only a “notification” is required, it does not take much time, but if a “permit” is required, the review takes time.
For example, the necessary permits and licenses differ by business type—such as food service, real estate (real estate transaction business), manufacturing, hotels and inns, construction, transportation, etc.—so consult a specialist such as an Administrative Scrivener.
Preparing the Business Manager Visa application (about 1 month)
When applying for the Business Manager Visa, you need to prepare various documents and materials. In practice, this is done in parallel with the above procedures, so an additional month is rarely required; nevertheless, it remains that careful preparation is required.
Review by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan
Once the required documents are in order, you submit them to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan and undergo review.
The review period required for obtaining the Business Manager Visa is as described below.
About how long is the review period for the Business Manager Visa?
Regarding the review period for the Business Manager Visa, the Immigration Services Agency of Japan publishes the average number of days for residence review processing periods (number of days).
The review period differs greatly in numbers depending on the fiscal year, but the review period for the Business Manager Visa tends to be long compared to other statuses of residence.
Comparing “Business Manager” with the general work visa “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services,” you can see that the difference is particularly large for new applications.
Reiwa 7 (2025), March
| New | Renewal | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Manager | 123.2 days | 36.3 days | 54.4 days |
| Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services | 53.8 days | 29.0 days | 61.1 days |
Reiwa 7 (2025), December
| New | Renewal | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Manager | 124.5 days | 52.8 days | 76.9 days |
| Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services | 64.1 days | 35.1 days | 41.4 days |
Reference: https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/resources/nyuukokukanri07_00140.html
When applying for the Business Manager Visa as a new application, you need to be prepared for a review period of 3 to 4 months.
Main reasons why the review period is prolonged (delayed)
There are common reasons in cases where the review takes longer than the average number of days.
- Insufficient proof of the formation process of the funds: If copies of bank passbooks or remittance certificates showing how a large amount of funds of 30 million yen was prepared are insufficient, you will be requested to submit additional materials and the review will be put on hold.
- Lack of concreteness in the Business Plan: If the basis for sales projections or the prospects for contracts with business partners are vague, the continuity of the business will be questioned and a cautious review will be carried out.
- Confirmation of the substance of the place of business: If it cannot be judged from photos of the office layout and equipment whether appropriate business operations are possible, an on-site investigation or additional materials will be required.
- Deficiencies in the submitted documents: Even elementary mistakes such as missing confirmation seals from a specialist or inaccurate Japanese translations cause significant delays.
What to prepare up to obtaining the Business Manager Visa
The key to obtaining the Business Manager Visa is to firmly assemble the required documents.
In addition to the documents drafted or obtained in the course of company establishment, you also need to draft the following documents.
- Application for Certificate of Eligibility for Status of Residence
- Business Plan and profit-and-loss plan
- Statement of reasons for application
Among these, what is particularly important is the Business Plan and profit-and-loss plan.
When newly establishing a company, you need to convince the review officer that the content of the business is feasible.
It must be something that explains—based on objective figures and data such as market size, market trends, and revenue/expenditure prospects—rather than merely conveying enthusiasm.
Rather than relying solely on your own experience and intuition, it is important to have a specialist check it and finalize it into a more concrete Business Plan.
For obtaining the Business Manager Visa, please consult our office
To obtain the Business Manager Visa, you need to gather the required documents without omission; and, beyond simply assembling the documents, they must be such that they can prove from those documents that the requirements for obtaining the Business Manager Visa are met.
Because the review for the Business Manager Visa is strict, it is not uncommon for documents that have not been looked over by a specialist to fail the review.
If you stumble in obtaining the Business Manager Visa, you become unable to manage a company in Japan in the first place, so be sure to receive the support of an Administrative Scrivener well-versed in the Business Manager Visa.
At Administrative Scrivener Corporation Touch, in a free consultation we listen to each client’s situation and select the optimal method toward obtaining the Business Manager Visa.
