[New System] What is the nationwide rollout of the Startup Visa? What has changed?

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Startup Visa (Entrepreneurial Visa) to be rolled out nationwide from January 2025

Recently, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry have amended the relevant public notices to unify the startup visa for national strategic special zones with the Project for Promoting Foreign Entrepreneurial Activities (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) that is being implemented nationwide. Furthermore, the grace period for meeting the two requirements of securing a business establishment and business scale will be extended to a maximum of two years, and the project will be rolled out nationwide (effective January 1, 2025).
Announced by the Cabinet Office

Current system

Normally, in order to obtain a “Business Manager Visa”,

A.Investment of 5 million yen or more or 2 or more full-time employees
B. Securing a place of business, etc.

After meeting the above requirements, you can apply for a business manager visa to the immigration bureau.

In order to promote entrepreneurial activities by foreigners in Japan, the government gave a certain period of time to allow foreigners to satisfy the above requirements.

① National Strategic Special Zone Foreign Entrepreneurship Promotion Project
② Foreign Entrepreneurship Promotion Project (Startup Visa)

It was.

Maximum grace period of 1 year and 6 months by using other systems

By utilizing two systems, namely, ① the National Strategic Special Zone Foreign Entrepreneurship Promotion Program and ② the Foreign Entrepreneurship Promotion Program (Startup Visa), a grace period of up to one year and six months can be obtained, during which foreign entrepreneurs can fulfill the requirements and apply for a business manager visa to the immigration bureau.

What will change under the new system?

The new Startup Visa combines these two businesses and rolls them out nationwide.
In addition, the grace period for satisfying the two requirements of “securing a place of business” and “business scale” was a maximum of one year and six months, but has now been extended to one year and six months.This has been extended to a maximum of two years.

Overall system flow

The flow of the entire system is shown below.

Personal opinion on the system from an administrative scrivener

Our company provides support for many foreigners who live abroad and have no supporters in Japan to obtain business manager visas, and based on that experience, our personal opinion is as follows:

• Probably not popular
• Very poor usability
• Too much man-hours required

Two-stage review required

If you directly apply for a business manager visa, your application will be examined by the immigration bureau alone.

To use the startup visa system, a two-stage screening process is required: first by a local government or private business operator, and then by immigration.

The extension of the grace period does not mean that the requirements will be relaxed.

A) Investment of 5 million yen or more or two or more full-time employees
B. Securing business locations, etc.

The above requirements are only satisfied for a maximum of two years, and ultimately the requirements must be satisfied before applying for a Business Manager Visa.

Therefore, we believe that it would be better to apply for a business manager visa directly once everything is ready, without having to go through the trouble of getting a startup visa.

Benefits of using the Startup Visa System

One practical benefit of utilizing this system at present is that it gives you a grace period to secure a business premises, so no unnecessary rent is paid during the review process.
To put it another way, that’s about all there is, so we hope that special exceptions and operational policies will emerge in the future.