A shortcut for granting an investor visa in Japan

There are many foreigners who are interested in applying for an investor visa (business manager visa) after acquisition of real estate in Japan, but simply purchasing real estate property in Japan is not enough to grant a visa.

Following a revision of Japanese Immigration Law in 2019, the Immigration Services Agency continue to implement strict visa examinations, including both applications and renewals of business manager visa, leading to the prolongation of the application process and rejections of visa are frequent. Therefore, it is essential to explain the reason(s) for your visa application, and prepare a specific, reasonable, and feasible business plan to grant a business manager visa.

Requirements for business manager visa

Any of the following requirements must be met in order to grant the business manager visa.

1. Physical independent office space for the business must be found in Japan.
2. The company should hire at least 2 full-time employees who reside in Japan OR the business should be invested at least 5 million yen.
3. The business plan (written in Japanese) should be able to explain the stability and continuity of business of the company.
4. You must have at least 3 years of experience in business management and administration if working as a manager of the business (general manager, branch manager, or hired president who does not invested), and your salary must be equal to or more than that of Japanese employees who engage in the same field of your job duties.

Each of these requirements has a detailed set of practical screening criteria, so it is not enough if the requirements are met in appearance. For example, if you have a business office and a capital of at least 5 million yen, that is not enough to be granted a business manager visa.

As you can see, granting a business manager visa is very difficult, but after purchasing and owning real estate or establishing a company or branch office in Japan, it becomes relatively easy.

As an example, a client in his 50s from Taiwan formally met the requirements (a business office and capital of at least 5 million yen) and submitted an application in February last year, but the Immigration Services Agency kept repeating that the application was still under review, even though seven months had passed.

In contrast, a woman in her 30s from Hong Kong established her company after purchasing a total of 86 million real estate properties in Tokyo and Osaka. During her application of business manager visa, she attached a certified copy of real estate register and a statement of income, which lists up her expected income, including more than 4 million yen rental income per year from her properties in Japan, and more than 2 million yen sales of her business of import and sell smartphone accessories. As a result, a business manager visa was granted in 47 days (1 month and a half).

Of course, purchasing real estate does not guarantee that a business manager visa can be granted, but it is still true that it is easier to be granted if you can anticipate stable rental income by purchasing and owning real estate property rather than just establishing a company with 5 million yen.

Japan-Property and MIJ agents will introduce you a wide range of income-producing and high-yield investment properties, and experienced administrative scrivener partners to provide fully support from establishment of a company to the application for a business manager visa.