Month: March 2026

When starting a business in Japan, one of the most important and most difficult tasks—alongside the incorporation process—is obtaining a work visa (status of residence ; Zairyuu-Shikaku) for foreign founders and employees who wish to reside in Japan.

 

In particular, the Business Manager Visa (“Keiei-Kanri” Visa), which had historically been comparatively easier to obtain and was frequently used by founders, became subject to dramatically stricter eligibility standards in October 2025.

 

1．Main Types of Work Visas and Key Features

When a foreign company expands into Japan, the following three Work Visas (status-of-residence; Zairyuu-Shikaku) categories are typically most relevant:

 

Category	Status of residence (Zairyuu-Shikaku)	Typical applicant	Key requirements / characteristics
Managers / Executives	Business Manager Visa (“Keiei-Kanri” Visa)	Representative director; officers; managers	[Stricter from Oct 2025] The highest-threshold visa in practice. Capital of JPY 30,000,000 or more is required, and hiring Japanese nationals, permanent residents, long-term residents, etc. is effectively mandatory. The applicant’s background and Japanese language ability are also reviewed.
Transferees	Intra-Company Transferee Visa (Kigyou-Nai-Tenkin)	Employees of the foreign HQ/branch, etc.	Must have worked at the foreign HQ/branch for at least one continuous year immediately prior to the transfer. No formal academic degree requirement, but compensation must be at least comparable to that of Japanese employees. In practice, it may be difficult for the representative director to obtain this status.
Employees	Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services (Gijutsu-Jinbun-Chishiki-Kokusai-Gyoumu)	Locally hired employees in Japan	A commonly used work status. Requires a university degree or higher, or 10+ years of relevant professional experience. Simple labor (e.g., factory line work, waiter, etc.) is not permitted under this category.

 

2．Practical Focus: Dramatic Changes to the Business Manager Visa Standards (2025 Revision)

The eligibility standards for the Business Manager Visa (“Keiei-Kanri” Visa), which many foreign founders had been able to obtain in the past, were substantially raised effective October 16, 2025. Accordingly, if a Japanese entity is incorporated with the intent of securing the Business Manager Visa (“Keiei-Kanri” Visa), the entity must be structured to satisfy these new standards.

 

＜Comparison of Old vs. New Requirements＞

 

Item	Before revision (old standard)	After revision (new standard: from Oct 2025)
Capital	JPY 5,000,000 or more	JPY 30,000,000 or more (or total investment amount of JPY 30,000,000 or more)
Employees	Not required (waived if capital was JPY 5,000,000 or more)	Hiring at least one full-time employee is mandatory (Japanese national, permanent resident, long-term resident, etc.)
Japanese language	No requirement	Japanese language proficiency equivalent to JLPT N2 (CEFR B2) (held either by the applicant or by the full-time employee)
Academic / professional background	No requirement	A master’s degree (e.g., MBA) or at least 3 years of relevant work experience
Business plan	Any format acceptable	Must be confirmed by a recognized professional (e.g., SME Management Consultant (Chuushou-Kigyou-Shindanshi))

 

3．Other Practical Approaches

In practice, preparing JPY 30,000,000 in capital at the incorporation stage can be a major barrier. As a result, companies increasingly consider alternative approaches to the Business Manager Visa (“Keiei-Kanri” Visa), such as:

 

(1) Considering the Intra-Company Transferee Visa (Kigyou-Nai-Tenkin)

 

If the company will transfer personnel from an overseas HQ/branch to the Japanese entity, it may be possible to begin the assignment under the Intra-Company Transferee Visa (Kigyou-Nai-Tenkin) rather than the more demanding Business Manager Visa (“Keiei-Kanri” Visa).

That said, in practice it may be difficult for a person who will serve as the representative director in the Japanese entity to obtain the Intra-Company Transferee Visa (Kigyou-Nai-Tenkin). Also, the transferee must have at least one year of prior employment at the overseas HQ/branch.

 

(2) Using the Highly Skilled Professional Visa (Koudo-Senmonshoku)

 

Under this framework, points are calculated based on factors such as educational background, work history, and annual income. If the applicant scores 70 points or more, they may be eligible to obtain the Highly Skilled Professional Visa (Koudou-Senmonshoku). Even in this case, the company’s business scale requirements will still be examined; however, the program offers preferential treatment such as a shortened path to obtaining permanent residence.

 

4．Conclusion

Due to the 2025 revision of the eligibility standards for the Business Manager Visa (“Keiei-Kanri” Visa), the previously common approach of “incorporate first with JPY 5,000,000 capital in order to obtain the Business Manager Visa” is no longer viable.

 

Going forward, if the business plan includes obtaining the Business Manager Visa (“Keiei-Kanri” Visa), it is essential to incorporate (from an early stage) a concrete strategy for raising at least JPY 30,000,000 and for hiring Japanese staff.

 

 

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