CASE STUDY

Foreign companies and individuals wishing to expand the business into Japan or start a new business in Japan should consider Japanese administrative system and domestic laws and regulations regarding incorporation, taxation, business lisences, employment (HR), and insurance as well as immigration system. Also, you will need to make a rental/lease agreement for the office space as well as to open a bank account for the business. In this page, you find a list of what you should consider mainly to set up a business in Japan for the first time. For further detailed assistance, you may contact JETRO, the government related organization which is providing services to expand your business into Japan >> JETRO: SETTING UP BUSINESS IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH VISA PROCEDURES IN JAPAN, JUMP TO INTRODUCTORY PAGES BELOW FIRST: INTRODUCTION WHAT IS VISA STATUS? LIST OF VISA STATUS BUSINESS LOCATION Decide your business location. In major cities such as Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, there would be incentive packages/programs available for foreign companies and individuals to encourage investment outside Japan and start the business in the area. In case that you intend to apply for BUSINESS MANAGER visa status based on your business, you need to find ...

In order to work in Japan, you need to obtain an appropriate visa status for the work. Basically, you are allowed to work full-time in Japan if you hold a visa status in the following categories on LIST of VISA STATUS; RESIDENTIAL STATUS and PERMANENT RESIDENTThese visa status allow you to work in Japan without limit. So, we don't include these visa status in discussion here. ACTIVITY BASED STATUSVisa status listed on FOR WORK and DESIGNATED ACTIVITIES category allows you to engage in a particular work activity with pay. To obtain visa status in FOR WORK category, you should find out whether there is a particular visa status for your intend work/job. In addition, your background/career and employer-to-be (company/organization in Japan) also need to satisfy the criteria and requirements of the visa status. IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH VISA PROCEDURES IN JAPAN, JUMP TO INTRODUCTORY PAGES BELOW FIRST: INTRODUCTION WHAT IS VISA STATUS? LIST OF VISA STATUS TO WORK FULL-TIME in JAPAN In order to work full-time in Japan, you should consider whether your intended job is applicable to a specific visa status first. Next, you need to check the criteria and requirements for the visa status and whether ...

Basically, you should start job hunting or preparing for business startup while you are still in university/college if you are on STUDENT visa status and wishing to work in Japan after graduating from university. Immigration Office would deny your application for CHANGE of VISA STATUS to any FOR WORK visa status if you don’t engage in job hunting or preparing for business startup after graduation. IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH VISA PROCEDURES IN JAPAN, JUMP TO INTRODUCTORY PAGES BELOW FIRST: INTRODUCTION WHAT IS VISA STATUS? LIST OF VISA STATUS TO ENGAGE in JOB HUNTING In case you wish to be hired as an employee in Japan In case you wish to be hired as an employee in Japan, your intended job/work must be listed in FOR WORK visa category in the LIST of VISA STATUS. In addition, your academic background must satisfy requirements of the visa status. If you find a job before graduation and make prospective employment agreement with a company which is willing to be your visa sponsor, you will move on to apply for CHANGE of VISA STATUS to work before you actually start working there. You cannot engage in working before your application is approved ...

Some people might heard of so called “self-sponsored” visa, however, there is no such a visa status in Japan. People often mention about "self-sponsored" visa when you wish to apply for a visa status as a freelance. Please note the principle – VISA STATUS is to be granted when you need to stay in Japan to engage in a specific work or to live with your family in Japan etc. In case that your job/work is not listed in FOR WORK visa category on the LIST of VISA STATUS and your job/work is deemed to be unnecessary to be done in Japan, your application will not be approved. If your freelance work has been performed mainly outside Japan without reasonable grounds, the immigration office would deny your renewal application depending on the case. IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH VISA PROCEDURES IN JAPAN, JUMP TO INTRODUCTORY PAGES BELOW FIRST: INTRODUCTION WHAT IS VISA STATUS? LIST OF VISA STATUS SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS Based on the premise that your freelance activities in Japan and your background/career satisfies meet requirements for a particular visa status, your contract(s) with a company/individual (or companies/individuals) in Japan has to satisfy the following items; Number of contract: one ...

Have you ever considered a possibility for PERMANENT RESIDENT (PR) application based on HSP score even though you don’t obtain HSP visa status at this moment? You would possibly be eligible for PERMANENT RESIDENT in case you satisfy all items below even though you don’t currently obtain HSP visa status; you currently obtain 3-years or 5-years of period of stay under FOR WORK type of visa status you satisfy other requirements for PR except the “10-years residence requirement” you can possibly get enough score on HSP Point Table both at present and at the time of specific year(s) ago. Of course, this scheme is also applicable to those who currently hold HSP visa status. If you don't know about HPS point scheme or what is HPS visa status, check the webpage for HSP >> HIGHLY SKILLED PROFESSIONAL (HSP) Download the HSP point table from the Immigration Office website >> HSP Point Calculation Table Before you read the below, you should know about details of PR APPLICATION; basic criteria, requirements and required documents etc. >> PERMANENT RESIDENT (PR) IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH VISA PROCEDURES IN JAPAN, JUMP TO INTRODUCTORY PAGES BELOW FIRST: INTRODUCTION WHAT IS VISA STATUS? LIST OF ...

Unfortunately, same-sex marriage has not been legalized in Japan yet even though the number of countries legalizing the same-sex marriage has been increasing globally. In the Constitution of Japan (日本国憲法 / NIHONKOKU KENPO), there is an article which refers to the marriage. It says; 第二十四条　婚姻は、両性の合意のみに基いて成立し、夫婦が同等の権利を有することを基本として、相互の協力により、維持されなければならない。Article 24. Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained through mutual cooperation with the equal rights of husband and wife as a basis. Some High Courts have judged the denial of the same-sex marriage is as "unconstitutional" then the government decided to grant a visa to same-sex couples since then, however, it would need to revise the Constitution and other laws such as the Civil Law and the Family Registration Law etc. to legalize the same-sex marriage in Japan and to treat the same-sex marriage in the Japanese administrative system totally lawfully. Therefore, visa status based on civil status as "spouse (husband/wife)" is not be applicable to same-sex spouses. However, there is a possibility to bring your same-sex spouse if both of your countries legalize same-sex marriage and you and your spouse registers marriage officially and lawfully in each of your countries. IF YOU ARE NOT ...