Wishing to run your own business in Japan?: BUSINESS MANAGER visa

In this page, we are providing tips to obtain Business Manager visa (or BM visa) to those who are applicable to the situation below;

  • you are currently living in Japan and holding a Residence Card with 6 months or more period of stay.
  • you want to set up your own company; you will be both the 100% owner and the representative director/member of the company.

Before you read this article, go to our webpage for Business Manager via and check the requirements etc. >> BUSINESS MANAGER VISA

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BE CAREFUL with TIMING

There is no problem that you prepare for setting up a company and business operation while you keep engaging in the activity allowed under your current visa status until you apply for Change of Visa Status to Business Manager visa and get approved of it. You can keep working at the current workplace if you are on FOR-WORK type visa. You can keep going to language school or university if you are on Student visa or Cultural Activities visa. It would be better to confirm with your employer whether it doesn’t violate your current employment contract.

If you want to quit your current activity to focus on the preparation of your business rather than to keep engaging in it, you should be aware of REVOCATION of VISA STATUS. It is not good idea not to do the activity allowed under your current visa status for 3 or more months.

Be careful with the timing to start.
Requirements and process for Business Manager visa are complicated, you will need time and money during the process. You should give yourself extra time to plan it as much as possible by the date of expiry of current visa status.

Note that you cannot apply for Change of Visa Status after the expiry date of your current visa status. Furthermore, in case that you apply for Change of Visa Status to Business Manager visa right before your current expiry date and the Immigration Office are unable to finish the screening within the EXCEPTION PERIOD (GRACE PERIOD / 特例期間), you will need to withdraw your Business Manager visa application once and change your visa to 31-days Designated Activities, then re-apply for Change of Visa Status to Business Manager while you are on the Designated Activities visa.

As you see on our page for BUSINESS MANAGER visa, you will need to apply for it after you set up a company and your company is ready to start business right away. You have to set up a company and arrange things based on the requirements for BM visa. Necessary business license/permit has to be obtained before/during the screening of the BM visa application.

Take enough time to consider the following issues and plan well before you start setting up business; requirements for BM visa, necessary documents/procedures to start the business including company registration, the process you need to take, necessary preparatory period and costs/expenses etc.

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THINGS to CONSIDER

Consider following items before you actually start the preparation for your own business and Business Manager visa application;

  1. Type of business
    You should decide types of business you want to run mainly and consider whether you can find vendor/supplier and buyer soon and what type of office space you need etc. Especially, you must check in advance whether the business requires a business license/permit or not. Some of the license/permit impose requirements with which it would be difficult for you to satisfy. JETRO website: Incorporating Your Business
  2. Necessary information to set up a company
    Investigate overall procedures for the company registration and necessary items to decide. Types of company (KK or GK), corporate name, directors/members, initial capital, business purpose, fiscal year-end, and so on. It would be good for you to register your personal hanko/seal at the city/ward office, you will need the certificate. You cannot open a corporate bank account until the company registration and related notification for taxes are completed.
  3. Resource of start-up capital and costs/expenses
    Estimate how much money you need for the preparation period as well as the initial operating expenses for the business. During the process for the company registration, investor(s) must transfer money for the initial capital of the company to a personal bank account of either one of the following; the representative director, one of the directors or the proxy appointed by the representative director. For BM visa application, you will need to explain the source of the money you invest into your company and provide the proof documents (e.g. copies of bank statement etc.)
  4. Office
    You need a physical independent office space dedicated to the company’s business, and it is necessary to be stated in rent contract that the space is rented for the business use. You will need to decide the office space before proceeding with the company registration – the office address is necessary for the registration. Also, the rent contract must be signed in the corporate name, not you as an individual for BM visa application – you should ask the landlord or the real estate agent how to process the contract in order to do so.
  5. Information and knowledge regarding taxes, human resource management, business licenses etc.
    There are a medium- or large-scale firm which provides back-office services for you. However, it costs high. Even though the Japanese administrative system is complicated, it is possible to do it yourself to some extent until you hire several employees if you hire some specialist. To run your business, it is important to know what types of administrative procedures are required for corporate entities. To learn laws and regulations in Japan, utilized the website of JETRO below;
    JETRO website: Visas and Status of Residence
    JETRO website: Taxes in Japan
    JETRO website: Human Resource Management
    Then, look for some local specialists in the field of company registration, taxes, labor/employment matters and visas.
  6. [In case you need to hire employees]Recruitment
  7. Timing of leaving your current job (if any)

Note that you cannot receive any salary from your company until you receive the Residence Card for BM visa status.

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POSSIBILITY of ELIGIBILITY for HSP

In case you think you can get 70 points or more on either one of HSP-a, HSP-b or HSP-c point tables and you want to run a business related to your career and background as HSP, it is possible to apply for one of the HSP instead of BM visa status. If your eligibility for HSP is acknowledged, you can run your own business under HSP visa status.

Check the requirements of HSP >> HSP (Highly Skilled Professional)

Different from BM visa which is usually issued with 1-year period of stay at first, you can obtain HSP visa status with 5-years period of stay if you get approved of HSP application. There are other preferential treatments for HSP status, so holding HSP visa status is more advantageous than BM visa.

However, note that you still need to satisfy the requirements for BM visa (e.g. initial capital, office space etc.) at the same time of obtaining enough HSP score.

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WE ARE HELPING WITH Business Manager VISA APPLICATION

If you are already living in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama and Shiga under FOR-WORK type visa as an employee, Student visa, Cultural Activities visa etc. and wishing to change visa to Business Manager visa to run your own business in Japan, we are happy to help you.

>> Contact Us

Please be sure to explain your intended business briefly.

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