【Case Study】Procedures for business manager visa applications

1. Procedures for business management visa applications

(1) Securing a business office as the location of the company’s head office (contract in the name of an individual)
(2) Company incorporation procedure
(3) Notification of starting business to a tax office, etc. after the incorporation of a company
(4) Application for business license required to conduct business
(5) Changing the name of lessee of the office to the company name
(6) Preparation of documents required for business manager visa application
(7) Application for Certificate of Eligibility/Application for Change of Status of Residence concerning a business manager visa

(1) Securing a business office as the location of the company’s head office (contract in the name of an individual)

In order to obtain a business manager visa, it is necessary to secure a place of business in the name of a sole proprietor or a company if business is conducted by a company. As no company exists before the incorporation of a company, it is only possible to secure an office in the name of an individual. If you find a property which you wish to use as the head office, you can enter into a contract under your own name and tell the lessor that you intent to change the name of lessee to the name of a company after it is incorporated.

(2) Company incorporation procedure

For the details of company incorporation procedure, please refer to “【Case Study】Procedure for a foreigner to start a business in Japan (incorporation of a company)”

(3) Notification of starting business to a tax office, etc. after the incorporation of a company

Incorporation of a company is completed upon the registration of incorporation, but the registration is not the only thing you have to do to start a business. After completing the registration of incorporation, you need to notify the tax office, municipality, and prefecture of the incorporation of the company without delay. When applying for a business manager visa, you need to submit a copy of the documents issued after the completion of these notifications in order to show the immigration bureau that you are ready to start a business.

(4) Application for business license required to conduct business

If any license is required for the business you plan to conduct in Japan (e.g. accommodation business, restaurant business, real estate business, export sales business of used products), you need to obtain a necessary license such as hotel business license, restaurant business license, license for transaction business of building lots and buildings, and license as a used goods merchant.

(5) Changing the name of lessee of the office to the company name

You have concluded a contract for the lease of the office in the name of an individual in (1) above. Now, you need to change the name of the lessee to the name of the company after the registration of incorporation and before applying for the business manager visa. You will have to submit a lease contract to prove that you have secured an office, and by concluding the contract under the company’s name, you can prove that the company has the right to use the office.

(6) Preparation of documents required for business manager visa application

Prepare the “Required documents for business manager visa applications” described in 2 below, and apply for permission to change your status of residence at the relevant immigration office. The examination period is about 1 month.
In the case of permission, a new residence card will be issued and the period of stay will be decided at the same time. The maximum period of stay for a business manager visa is 5 years. Either 5 years, 3 years, 1 year, 4 months, or 3 months will be granted. When you obtain a business manager visa for the first time after incorporation of a company, usually 1 year is granted as the period of stay.

2. Required documents for business manager visa applications

The required documents for business manager visa applications are divided into Categories 1 to 4 according to the types of organizations to which applicants belong (company in case of doing business as a company, and an individual in case of doing business as a sole proprietor).

Category 1:

(1) Companies listed on the Japanese stock exchange;
(2) Mutual insurance companies;
(3) Japan or foreign countries/local governments;
(4) Public-interest corporations of Japan/local governments in Japan;
(5) Target companies (innovation-creating companies) provided in (a) or (b) in the middle column of the paragraph concerning special addition in the table in Article 1, paragraph 1, each item of the ministry ordinance concerning highly-skilled professional; and
(6) Companies that meet certain conditions, etc.

Category 2:

Groups/individuals with withholding tax amount of 10 million yen or more in the total table of tax withholding slips for income in the legal record total table for tax withholding slips, etc. for the income of previous year.

Category 3:

Groups/individuals (excluding those of Category 2) who have submitted the legal record total table such as the tax withholding slip, etc. of income of the staff for the previous year.

Category 4:

Groups/individuals not falling under any of the Categories 1 through 3.

[Required documents common to all Categories]

(1) Application for Change of Status of Residence;
(2) Photograph (4 cm x 3 cm, taken within 3 months); and
(3) Present your passport and residence card.

[Required documents in case of belonging to an organization that falls under category 1]

(1) A copy of the quarterly corporate report (shikiho) and copies of document certifying the fact of being listed on the Japanese stock exchange;
(2) A copy of the document certifying that the incorporation permission has been given by the competent authority;
(3) A document certifying that the company is a target company (innovation-creating company) stipulated in (a) or (b) in the middle column of the row of special addition in Article 1, paragraph 1, each item of the Ordinance of the Ministry Regarding Highly Skilled Professionals (e.g. a copy of the notification of grant of subsidies); and
(4) A document certifying that the company is “(6) Companies that meet certain conditions, etc.” as stated above (for example, a copy of the certificate, etc.).

[Required documents in case of belonging to an institution that falls under Categories 2 or 3]

(1) A copy of the legal record total table such as the withholding slip of the employee’s salary income for the previous year (copy of the one with the reception stamp).

[Required documents for Categories 3 and 4]

(1) Certificate of registration of the company;
* If the company registration has not been completed, please submit a copy of the articles of incorporation and other documents clarifying that the company is about to start the business.
(2) A copy of the articles of incorporation;
(3) A copy of the list of shareholders;
(4) A copy of the notification concerning incorporation of a company (submitted to tax offices, municipalities, and prefectures);
(5) Written business plan;
(6) Materials to support proving that the applicant can carry out business continuously and stably such as business cards of business partners and contracts if the applicant has already started business negotiations with business partners;
(7) A copy of the contract for leasing the office (in the name of the company);
(8) A photograph of the office;
* Photos of exterior of the building, the entrance, office mail box, signboard, and inside of the office
(9) A) In the case of business with capital of 5 million yen or more
⇒ Documents clarifying the source of the capital of 5 million yen or more
B) In the case of business for which two or more full-time employees work
⇒ Employee list, etc. indicating nationality, residence card number, salary, etc.;
(10) A copy of minutes of extraordinary general meeting of shareholders/general meeting of members in which executive renumeration was decided; and
(11) A copy of a permit or license in case any permit or license is required for the business to be conducted.
* If you cannot prepare the permit etc. at the time of application, a copy of the application form for such permit.

* In the case of an existing company, it is necessary to submit the following documents in addition to the above documents.
(1) Financial statements for the most recent year; and
(2) Legal record total table such as withholding slips for salary income for the previous year.

The above are the least documents you need to prepare to apply for a business manager visa, and required documents differ depending on the circumstances until the start of business. In addition, among the above documents, “Documents clarifying the source of the capital of 5 million yen or more” and “Written business plan” are especially important when applying for a business manager visa, so please prepare them carefully.

3. Required documents in the case example

Let’s go back to the abovementioned case.

Mr. A wanted to incorporate a stock company, so we started with incorporation of a joint-stock company. The capital was 5 million yen, and Mr. A was the only shareholder and officer.
The incorporation was completed successfully, and the next step was to prepare for immigration application. It was necessary to prepare all documents corresponding to category 4 since it was a newly established company and it was not possible to submit the legal record total table such as the withholding slip of salary income of the staff of the previous year.

We prepared documents related to the company (i.e., a copy of the corporate register, articles of incorporation, and shareholder list), documents related to the office (i.e., the lease contract), and documents related to the business contents. Regarding documents related to the business contents, Mr. A had no management experience, so we described the business plan in detail and collected materials concerning business partners and contracts to support the plan. In this regard, Mr. A made good use of his work experience at a trading company and collected a lot of materials.
As a result of preparing materials and applying for permission for the change of status of residence, Mr. A received permission to change to a business manager visa.

4. Conclusion

In this article, we explained the procedures from the incorporation of a company to the application for a business manager visa. On the website of the Immigration Services Agency, required documents for a business manager visa application are listed, but submitting such listed documents is not sufficient. You must understand the requirements for obtaining a business manager visa and prove the fulfillment of such requirements by submitting relevant documents. You occasionally need to prepare a written explanation as well.

We will listen carefully to understand the situation of each client who plans to apply for a business manager visa. We will then examine which documents are necessary, considering each situation, and propose them to customers. If you have any problems about applying for a business manager visa, please feel free to contact us.