An administrative scrivener explains how to change from a student visa to a business manager visa!

1. From a student visa to a business manager visa -FAQ

In this section, we summarize frequently asked questions from international students who aim to change from a student visa to a business manager visa.

For general requirements for a business manager visa, please refer to
“Business Management Visa Requirements (1): Eligibility for Status of Residence” and
“Business Management Visa Requirements (2): Ministerial Ordinance on Criteria for Landing Permission.”

(1)Is an office necessary to get a business manager visa?

In order to obtain a business manager visa, it is necessary to secure an office.
Such office can be a rental property, but must need to meet requirements for business manager visas to obtain a business manager visa.

So, what are the requirements concerning an office?
The following contents are the main points to note about an office.
・Spaces rented by monthly basis for a short term do not meet the requirements.
・Stalls, etc. which can be easily disposed of do not meet the requirements.
・The purpose of use must be business such as using as a workplace, commercial store, office, etc.
・The name of the lessee in the lease contract must be the name of the business owner (in case of a company, the name of the company).
・In case of using part of own residence as an office, the consent of the lender is required as well as a room specially dedicated to the business use.

(2) How to prepare capital

In order to obtain a business manager visa, one of the following requirements must be met:

・ To have 2 or more full-time employees residing in Japan;
・ The total amount of capital or investment is 5 million yen or more; or
・ To be recognized as having a scale equivalent to the above.

It is rather rare to hire employees since the start-up of a company due to financial reasons.
Therefore, it is common to aim for fulfillment of the requirement that “The total amount of capital or investment is 5 million yen or more.”
However, even if you have 5 million yen in cash, it’s not the end of the story.
From the perspective of preventing money laundering and show money, the source of 5 million yen will also be examined by the immigration bureau.

Sometimes, we see international students who try to obtain a business manager visa by the 5 million yen earned by working more than legally permitted hours, but such working violates the Immigration Act.
So, it is not possible to obtain a business manager visa with the capital of 5 million yen earned by working illegally.

In relation to the above, we are sometimes asked if it is okay to borrow money to prepare the capital, but it actually is okay to use 5 million yen you borrowed.
Having said that, the repayment plan will also be examined to check if a stable livelihood foundation can be maintained, so it is important to make a repayment plan that will not affect the livelihood balance.

(3) Is it necessary to obtain a license before obtaining a business manager visa?

As a general rule, you need to obtain the necessary licenses to carry out your business before applying for a business manager visa.
However, there are some licenses that cannot be obtained with a student visa, so please be careful about such licenses.

In such case, after obtaining a business manager visa, it is necessary to make a pledge to obtain licenses necessary for business execution. And at the time of applying for a business manager visa, you must explain to the immigration bureau why the license cannot be obtained.

(4) Can a sole proprietor obtain a business manager visa?

Many people may consider the incorporation of a company is an essential requirement for obtaining a business manager visa. In fact, it is not, and sole proprietors can obtain a business manager visa.

However, for sole proprietors, since there is no concept of capital, it is necessary to show that the total investment amount is 5 million yen or more in order to meet the requirements for business manager visas.

Because of such demonstration of the investment amount, it is more difficult for sole proprietors to obtain a business manager visa, comparing to company owners.

(5) How to choose an administrative scrivener

When international students want to start business, the first issue they face is the visa issue.
If you search on the internet for the change from a student visa to a business manager visa, you will find a wide variety of administrative scrivener offices.

You may wonder which administrative scrivener office to appoint, but in our opinion, the following points are important.

・Whether the administrative scrivener has sufficient experience and achievements in business manager visas;
・Whether the administrative scrivener office specializes in international matters;
・Whether the roles until obtaining a business manager visa (whether the administrative scrivener will go through procedures on behalf of you or you have to do it on your own) are clear; and
・The scope of work with the estimated amount.

The following is a brief introduction of our company.

・We are an administrative scrivener corporation that receives nearly 3,000 consultations a year, including ones about business manager visas.
・We are an administrative scrivener corporation specializing in international matters such as the visa application and naturalization application.
・Since we put importance on minimizing our clients’ burden so they can concentrate on preparation for opening, we will fully explain our services when accepting a case.
・We list up all services in our quotation.
・We provide our services in English, Chinese, and Vietnamese, so you can consult in your native language.
We provide free consultation services for those who are aiming to obtain a business manager visa, so please feel free to contact us.

(6) Do I need a consulting tax accountant?

If you set up a company and obtain a business manager visa, you will be obliged to report the financial results once a year.

You can prepare financial statements for your company on your own, but we recommend that you entrust to a tax accountant from the following reasons.

・When a problem is revealed in a tax investigation later, additional tax payments may occur unexpectedly, depending on how you handle such investigation.
・It is better to settle accounts while consulting with a tax accountant about future financing.
・There will be no need to pay any extra tax by accurately calculating corporate taxes, etc.
・It is a waste of time to prepare tax returns that are not related to the business.

We recommend you to meet many tax accountants to find one you feel compatible with for business success after you obtain a business manager visa.
For our clients, we can introduce a tax accountant free of charge, so if you are interested, please let us know.

(7) Do I need to join a social insurance?

As a general rule, the following business entities are obliged to join social insurance.
Please note that this is not “voluntary,” but “obligatory.”

・Companies and juridical persons such as national and local governments, etc. with 1 or more staff including the business owner;
・A private office with 5 or more full-time employees, except for some industries.

If you are a company, you need to join social insurance in principle, and if you are a sole proprietor, you need to join social insurance when you have 5 employees or more.

From the announcement by the Immigration Services Agency, you can see that the enrollment in social insurance is given considerable weight not only when obtaining a business manager visa but also when extending the visa.

Many people may feel social insurance premiums are too much burden when they newly incorporate a company.
However, as mentioned above, it is a legal obligation.
If you do not join social insurance, such fact will be a negative factor in the examination related to the business manager visa; therefore, if you wish to obtain a business manager visa and are obliged to join social insurance, please be sure to take necessary procedure to join social insurance.

2. From a student visa to a business manager visa -common problems

In this section, we will describe common problems for those who wish to change from a student visa to a business manager visa.
The issues stated here is only a part of consultation of Daiichi-Sogo Group.
If you have any other issues, please do not leave the issues as they are, and we would be appreciated if you contact us as soon as possible.

(1) I have worked more than permitted hours.

As a general rule, student visas only allow to work part-time within 28 hours per week.
However, there are some international students who do not follow this rule and are work more than permitted hours.
International students who have history of working more than permitted hours are likely to have difficulty in passing immigration examination for the change from a student visa to a business manager visa.

If you have history of working more than permitted hours, you have 2 options: returning to your home country or staying in Japan to try to change to a business manager visa. In recent years, the regulation on working overtime has become stricter in immigration examination. Depending on the degree of violation, recovery is difficult regardless of your intension.
In some cases, you may be urged to return to your home country because of your poor behavior during school years in Japan, so please be properly manage hours of your part-time work.

If you wish to change from a student visa to a business manager visa, the basic idea is the same as the procedure for changing from a student visa to a work visa, so please refer to “Procedure to change from a student visa to a work visa” for more information.

(2) I can’t graduate from school.

If an international student was expelled or struck off and cannot graduate from a Japanese educational institution, it is much harder to change from a student visa to a business manager visa.

In the immigration examination, the important point is why the applicant could not graduate in the first place.
If the reason is working overtime as described above or not going to school, in many cases applicants are found to be in violation of the Immigration Act and have to leave Japan.

When changing from a student visa to a business manager visa, applicants tend to focus only on the requirements for a business manager visa, but in fact, in immigration examination, the current activity status, which is the activity with the student visa, is also important.

(3) It’s been a while since graduation.

Applicants who have graduate from educational institutions in Japan need to be careful when changing from a student visa to a business manager visa after a considerable period of time.

Article 22-4, paragraph 1, item (vi) of the Immigration Act, which stipulates the cancellation of the status of residence.

To summarize the above, if an international student applies for a business manager visa after more than 3 months have passed since graduation from a Japanese educational institution, his/her application will be treated as an application with a ground for revocation of the status of residence.

In practice, it is unlikely that your student visa will be actually revoked in such case, but your application will be treated as an application with a ground for revocation of status of residence.
Therefore, if you want to change from a student visa to a business manager visa, please apply for a visa within 3 months after graduating from a Japanese educational institution.

(4) Continuity of the business is suspected

One of the points that are valued in the immigration examination concerning a business manager visa is whether the business will be carried out stably and continuously.

Most of the international students have no experience in business management.
Business manager visa will not be granted if the immigration bureau concludes that the business will not continue in a stable manner.

To avoid such situation, it is extremely important to concretely demonstrate how to carry out the business with some supporting materials.

When preparing a business manager visa, it is significant to prepare contracts with business partners and to make a business plan as specifically as possible.

3. Summary of how to change from a student visa to a business manager visa

I hope this article helped you to understand how to change from a student visa to a business manager visa.
There are some difficult points, but the points mentioned in this article are all essential, so please make sure to fully understand them before preparing to apply for a business manager visa.

If the change from a student visa to a business manager visa is rejected, you will have to give up in the middle of your dream.
To prevent that, it is extremely important to proceed deliberately and to acquire correct information.

Among those who have studied in Japan, there are many people who have succeeded after starting their own business.
Next is your turn!

We accept free consultation from international students seeking to obtain a business manager visa.
Please feel free to contact us, Daiichi-Sogo Group.

We hope that this article will serve as a reference for as many international students as possible.