What is a “Business Manager” Visa?

The “Business Manager” Visa is a type of work visa, primarily obtained by foreign nationals who reside in Japan for the purpose of managing a company within Japan.

This page explains the requirements for obtaining the “Business Manager” Visa.

Requirements for obtaining the “Business Manager” Status of Residence

To obtain the “Business Manager” Status of Residence, you must satisfy

these two requirements.

Eligibility for the status of residence

Eligibility for the “Business Manager” status of residence is recognized for “activities to operate trade or other businesses in Japan, or to engage in the management of such businesses.”

As in cases where you merely acquire real estate in Japan for investment purposes, or only make an investment into a Japanese company from abroad, the “Business Manager” status of residence cannot be obtained if you do not stay in Japan.

Operating a business

“Operating a business” means running a business as a Representative Director or other officer.
Specific examples include:

and similar activities.

Managing a business

“Managing a business” refers to serving as a staff member who oversees a division of a company—such as a department manager, branch manager, or factory manager—and managing the business of that division.
Specific examples include:

and similar activities.

When applying to the Immigration Bureau, you must sufficiently prove the credibility that the activities you will carry out fall under the activities described above.
Also, depending on the nature of the activities, they may instead fall under “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” or “Intra-company Transferee,” so it is important to carefully analyze the content of the activities you will perform.

Appropriateness of the business

As the first prerequisite for being granted eligibility for the “Business Manager” status of residence, the business in which the foreign national engages in management must be appropriate. In other words, the business must comply with laws and regulations. It goes without saying that a business that is itself illegal will not be recognized; moreover, businesses that require permits or licenses must obtain the relevant permits or licenses.

Specifically, you must obtain the appropriate permits or licenses according to the business you are managing—for example, a secondhand dealer license for a used-car trading business, a restaurant business license for operating a restaurant, or an operating license under the Hotel Business Act for operating a hotel.

In addition to the above permits and licenses, if other laws and regulations such as labor laws and social insurance enrollment obligations are not complied with, the business will not be recognized as appropriate.

Stability and continuity of the business

As the second prerequisite for being granted eligibility for the “Business Manager” status of residence, the business in which the foreign national engages in management must be stable and continuous.

While the requirement that a foreign national’s activities in Japan be carried out stably and continuously is generally required for all visa applications, it is required especially strictly in the case of the “Business Manager” Visa. This is thought to be because the judgment of whether the foreign national’s activities in Japan fall under the activities described above is closely related to whether the business is being carried out stably and continuously.

What is emphasized when proving the stability and continuity of the business is whether the business is generating solid profits (i.e., operating in the black). This is usually proven through financial statements.

In the case of a new business for which no financial statements yet exist, you prove that the business will generate stable and continuous profits into the future by means of a Business Plan. Therefore, in the case of a new business, it is no exaggeration to say that the quality of the Business Plan determines whether the “Business Manager” Visa is approved or denied, so it must be prepared carefully.

Conformity with the Landing Permission Criteria

The Landing Permission Criteria for “Business Manager” are as follows.
Conformity with the Landing Permission Criteria is not recognized unless all of the following are satisfied.

A place of business for operating the business in question exists in Japan (in cases such as a new business that has not yet commenced operations, a facility to be used as the place of business has been secured in Japan)

This place of business may be either owned by the company or a rented property.

In the case of a rented property, the contracting party must be the corporate name that operates the business, and the purpose of use—such as “business use,” “store,” or “office”—must be clearly stated in the lease agreement or in an agreement concerning its use for business purposes.

In addition, an “independent space” and “facilities” for the business must be secured.

To qualify as an “independent space,” a single room must actually exist for business use. For example, a space merely partitioned within a room, or a virtual office, is not recognized as an “independent space.”

A home-cum-office is, as a rule, not recognized.

For “facilities” to be considered secured, the items necessary to carry out activities as a manager, administrator, and employee must first be in place. At a minimum, facilities such as a computer, a printer, a telephone, and desks corresponding to the number of employees are required.

In addition, if there are items indispensable to carrying out the business depending on its nature—such as a warehouse or a kitchen—those must also be provided.

The scale of the business in question is at or above a certain level

You must satisfy all of the following requirements.

① At least one full-time employee residing in Japan, other than the person engaged in business operation or management (the person applying for the “Business Manager” visa), is employed

⇒ To qualify as “full-time,” the person must work at least 5 days per week and at least 30 hours per week.

Also, those who qualify as “residing in Japan” are Japanese nationals, spouses of Japanese nationals, Permanent Residents, Special Permanent Residents, spouses of Permanent Residents, and Long-Term Residents. Note that foreign nationals on work visas are excluded.

② The amount of capital or the total amount of investment is 30 million yen or more

⇒ This requirement assumes the business is operated as a corporation, and it is a requirement commonly known as a requirement for the “Business Manager” Visa.

This 30 million yen is not required to be paid by the foreign national applying for the “Business Manager” Visa themselves. However, because the foreign national paying it personally works favorably toward the aforementioned judgment of “the credibility that the foreign national carries out activities eligible for the ‘Business Manager’ status of residence,” it is common for the foreign national to pay it themselves.

In addition, since the formation process of the source of this 30 million yen is also checked, it must be explained in a statement of reasons or similar document. This is to prevent acts such as borrowing 30 million yen from an acquaintance solely to get past the application and immediately returning that 30 million yen as is once approval is granted (a method akin to so-called “show money” in Japanese company formation). Note that under current immigration review practice, investing in a company with borrowed money is not recognized in the first place.

The applicant or an employee includes a person who can understand and use advanced Japanese

If a Japanese national or Special Permanent Resident is employed among the full-time staff, this requirement is cleared without issue; however, if the person employed holds a Permanent Resident, spouse of a Japanese national, spouse of a Permanent Resident, or Long-Term Resident visa, the applicant themselves or one of the full-time employees must satisfy one of the following.

Note that as long as they are a full-time employee, a foreign national on a work visa can also be the employee who satisfies this requirement.

Having three or more years of experience in business operation or management, or holding a master’s degree or higher related to business management or to the content of the business

“Business operation or management” means having engaged in activities that fall under the Business Manager Visa. This applies to corporate officers, or senior management positions such as department managers and branch managers.

Note that a Sole Proprietor can also be the subject of business operation, but objective proof of the business—such as agreements and receipts exchanged with business partners—is required.

A master’s degree or higher related to business management means, in other words, an MBA or similar.

A master’s degree or higher related to the content of the business means a degree in a highly relevant field—for example, a master’s degree in computer science if you want to run an IT company.

Receiving remuneration equal to or greater than that which a Japanese national would receive

This requirement is necessary only when engaging in “managing a business.”

The requirement of remuneration equal to or greater is established with the aim of preventing the disadvantageous treatment of employing foreign nationals cheaply in place of Japanese nationals.

If there are wage regulations, remuneration must follow them; if there are no wage regulations, the foreign national must be paid a reasonable amount of remuneration that takes into account the remuneration of a Japanese national with the same job duties and responsibilities.

Conclusion

This page has explained the requirements for obtaining the “Business Manager” Visa.
The “Business Manager” Visa involves a wide range of requirements to be met and supporting documents, and it is one of the more difficult visas to obtain.

If you are considering obtaining the “Business Manager” Visa, we recommend that you first consult an experienced specialist and consider how to proceed going forward.