How a business manager visa holder calls a family member with a dependent visa

1. Reason why foreign business owners wish to call their family with a dependent visa

In general, what are the reasons why business manager visa holders want to call their husbands, wives, or children on dependent visas?

In case where a husband has a business manager visa, he naturally wishes to call his wife so they can live together, which is a natural right of married couples.
Also, many busy business owners want to call their spouses from their home countries so they can take care of daily chores.
In addition, there is a risk regarding extension of a business manager visa if the applicant has been away from Japan for too many days. So, some people want to invite their spouse to Japan so they don’t have to be away from Japan to see their spouses.

Each foreigner has different reasons for calling his/her spouse to Japan with a dependent visa, depending on the family circumstances, etc., but most foreigners just want to stay with their spouse.

Next, what are the reasons why foreigners want to call their children to Japan?
Like spouses as stated above, the biggest reason for that is that they want to stay together as a family.

Another popular reason is that they want their children to receive Japanese education.
In fact, many of our clients have enrolled their children in private kindergartens and elementary schools. In a previous cases, we were asked to do research on educational institutions which our client was interested in.
We have an impression that the number of cases requesting a dependent visa for children’s education is increasing.

Please note that even if you have a business manager visa, your parents cannot be invited to Japan as they do not meet the legal requirements for a dependent visa.
We often receive inquiries from foreign business owners about calling their fathers and mothers to Japan, but unfortunately, business manager visas do not allow parents to be invited to Japan.

There are 2 exceptions about calling parents.

The first one is so-called designated activities visa for the support to elderly parents.
However, designated activities visas for the support to elderly parents require humanitarian reasons, and in practice, they are subject to extremely strict examinations.
If you are interested, please read，”【Case Study】Calling foreign parents to Japan (a designated activities visa for the support to elderly parents).“

Next method is to obtain a highly skilled professional visa in the field of advanced management and operation, and call parents to Japan.
However, since the following requirements must be fulfilled to call parents, the hurdles are quite high.
(1) When raising a child under the age of 7 of a highly-skilled foreign professional or his/her spouse.
(2) When assisting, etc. the pregnant spouse of a highly skilled foreign professional or a pregnant highly skilled foreign professional.

Furthermore, it is limited to cases where the annual household income of highly-skilled foreign professional is 8 million yen or more.
For details, please read “【Case Study】It’s a must-see! An actual case of permission for highly skilled professional visa.”

In the next section, let’s look at the requirements for those who have a business manager visa to call a family member with a dependent visa.

2. Requirements for a business manager visa holder to call a family member with a dependent visa

First, let’s look at the general requirements for a dependent visa.

In summary, if a spouse or child who is dependent of a business manager visa holder engages in daily activities, such activities fall under activities of a dependent visa.

We will add some explanations.
First, we will explain the meaning of “supported.”

Being “supported” is required to obtain a dependent visa.
Therefore, the business manager visa holder who is calling his/her family needs to have ability to support dependents.

Regarding the ability to support, the specific amount is not stipulated in the Immigration Act, but for example, in case where the husband has a business manager visa and his wife and 2 children are going to apply for dependent visas, if monthly executive compensation is 180,000 yen, it may not be sufficient to have the ability to support.

In the example case, the husband must have the financial base to support his wife and 2 children.
It depends on the amounts of rent and savings and other living environment, but it is safer to have at least 200,000 yen per month.

Next is about “spouse” and “child”.

The “spouse” here does not just mean a spouse in name, but must be a real spouse with substance.
To put it simply, “spouse” for a dependent visa is not someone who only completed marriage procedures.

There are various other issues regarding “spouse” and points to note.
・ Divorced spouses are not included.
・ Spouses of internal relationships (couples that are not recognized as legally married couples because they have not been legally married although their actual relationship is the same as married couples under the social standards) are not included.
・ Spouses of same-sex marriage are not included.

We have posted our past case of same-sex marriage, so if you are interested, please refer to “【Case Study】Relationship between same-sex marriage and status of residence.”

Next is about “child.”

“Child” here includes legitimate children (children born between a married couple) and illegitimate children (children born between an unmarried couple) with recognition. They fall under the scope of a dependent visa.

Simply put, “Recognition” means that the father recognizes a child as his child, which creates a legal parent-child relationship between them.

In addition, adopted children are included as well and they fall under the scope of a dependent visa.

Adoption includes ordinary adoption (creating a parent-child relationship with an adoptive parent while maintaining the relationship with the actual parent) and special adoption (creating a parent-child relationship with an adoptive parent while ending the relationship with the actual parent). They are both subject to dependent visas.

Another thing to note is the age of the child you call on a dependent visa.

Legally, there is no limitation on the age of a child.
However, since dependent visas require families to be supported, the examination generally becomes stricter as the child gains self-sustaining ability and reaches working age.

Therefore, in cases where a person with a business manager visa calls a child with a dependent visa, it is necessary to consider whether the permission is likely to be granted considering the age of the child.

3. Summary of how a business manager visa holder calls a family member with a dependent visa

In this article, we have seen how business manager visa holders can call their families with dependent visas.

There were some technical issues, but we cover necessary points to note when calling a family member with a dependent visa.

For other requirements for dependent visas, please see “【Case Study】How can a foreigner with a work visa call family to Japan?”

“I want to live with my family!”
We give supports to make such wish come true to realize the natural right of married couples.

If you have a business manager visa and have any question about calling your family with a dependent visa, please do not hesitate to contact Daiichi-Sogo Group.

We also provide services in Chinese, English, and Vietnamese, so please let us know if you wish to speak to our staff in those languages.