What is the number of years of residence required to apply for a Business Manager Visa for permanent residence?
In principle, a Business Manager Visa is a status of residence for foreign nationals who wish to establish or manage a company in Japan, manage its business, or invest in and operate the business.
How many years of residence are required to apply for permanent residence after obtaining a Business Manager Visa?
If you have a Business Manager Visa and are considering applying for permanent residence, please refer to the following information.
More than 10 years of residence in Japan and more than 5 years of work experience
In order to apply for permanent residence in Japan, you are required, in principle, to have resided in Japan for at least 10 years and to have spent at least 5 of those years in Japan with a work visa.
At first glance, this may seem difficult, but in the case of work status, any experience of working is acceptable for any status of residence.
For example, a total of five years, including two years in "Skilled Labor" and three years in "Business Manager," is acceptable.
It is a great point that you can change jobs.
Also, if you entered Japan as a foreign student, you can apply for permanent residence even if you worked in Japan for more than 5 years directly after graduating from school.
Please note that part-time work is not considered as work experience.
It is desirable for at least two years to have passed since you obtained a Business Manager Visa.
As mentioned above, it is possible to apply for permanent residence after obtaining a Business Manager Visa, but in that case, you should not apply until at least two years have passed since you started your business.
In this case, however, you should not apply for a permanent residence visa until more than two years have passed since you started your business.
It is recommended that you wait at least two years after starting your business to prove that your business is stable before applying for a visa.
Advantages and Privileges of Changing to a Highly Skilled Professional Business Manager Visa
Highly Skilled Professional visa holders can now apply for a permanent residence visa in as little as one to three years. However, what are the advantages and preferential treatment if I change my visa status to a Highly Skilled Professional Business Manager Visa?
Advantages of Changing to Highly Skilled Professional Business Manager
The Business Manager Visa for Highly Skilled Professionals is properly called the "Highly Skilled Professional(a)" visa.
What are the advantages of this visa compared to the regular Business Manager Visa?
Specifically, the following advantages are available
The examination time for a Highly Skilled Professional Business Manager Visa is shorter.
Five-year period of stay is granted from the time of initial application.
No need to worry about annual visa renewal even if the company is in the red, insolvent, or in poor business condition during the 5-year period
Preferential treatment for Highly Skilled Professionals can be applied.
Permanent residence application can be made in 1 to 3 years.
The above advantages are significant.
It is important to choose after considering whether you will apply for permanent residence in the future or for the purpose of business expansion.
Preferential measures are available even if you only meet the points for Highly Skilled Professional.
Highly Skilled Professionals receive preferential treatment when the total of their points reaches 70 or more.
The main preferential measures available are as follows.
Highly-Skilled Professional(i)
Permission to engage in multiple activities
Five-year period of stay is granted.
Relaxation of requirements for pr visa related to the history of residence
Employment of spouse
Accompanying a parent under certain conditions
Accompanying a domestic servant under certain conditions
Priority processing of immigration and residence procedures
In the case of Highly Skilled Professional （ⅱ）
In addition to the activities of Highly Skilled Professional(i), almost all activities of employment status can be performed.
Unlimited period of stay
Relaxation of requirements for pr visa related to residence history
Spouse's employment
Accompanying a parent under certain conditions
Accompanying a domestic servant under certain conditions
Highly Skilled Professional(ⅱ) is more preferential, since it is for those who have been active in Highly Skilled Professional(i) for more than 3 years.
Thus, various preferential treatment can be obtained just by fulfilling the points of Highly Skilled Professional, and should be considered once before applying for permanent residence.
Requirements for Applying for Permanent Residence after obtaining a Business Manager Visa
What conditions must be met to apply for permanent residence if you have already obtained a Business Manager Visa to start a business in Japan?
In general, the following requirements must be met
- Be of good conduct
- be able to earn an independent living
- Be in the best interest of Japan
- Have a guarantor.
- The company must be covered by social insurance.
- be covered by a pension plan.
The following is a detailed explanation of each of these requirements.Good conduct
Good conduct is important when applying for permanent residence.
You must not have been punished for wrongdoing.
You must not have been punished for a wrongdoing, or you must meet the following conditions
In the case of imprisonment: 10 years have passed since release from prison.
If you have been fined, detained, or fined: 5 years have passed since you finished paying the fine.
In addition, repeated minor violations of motor vehicle and bicycle violations may also be considered as poor conduct, so please pay attention to your usual behavior.
Ability to earn an independent living
The applicant must be able to earn an independent living, which is defined as "not being a burden on the public in his/her daily life and being expected to have a stable life in the future in view of his/her qualifications or Skilled Labor.
It means that a person should not fail in business and be a burden to the public, such as receiving public assistance.
In particular, the stability and continuity of the company is important for "stable livelihood in the future," and if the company is continuously in the red or has excessive debts such as large loans even if it is profitable, there is a high possibility that it will be judged as not meeting the requirements.
Salary is also an important factor for managers.
Although it is not clearly defined, if you do not have annual income of at least 3 million yen over the past five years, you are likely to be denied.
In addition to meeting these requirements, the following additional factors should also be taken into consideration when applying.
The applicant must have been in the black for at least two years with no loans as a business owner.
The border amount of salary will increase as the number of dependents increases.
Of these, pay particular attention to the number of dependents.
The aforementioned annual income of 3 million yen is only for a single person.
If the number of dependents increases after marriage, the annual income must be added.
As an approximate line, an increase in annual income of about 700,000 yen for each additional person would be ideal.
If you do not need a wife, the ideal annual income would be around 3.7 million yen, and if you have one child, around 4.4 million yen.
Keep this in mind.
What is in the best interest of Japan
Since you will obtain a permanent residence visa for Japan, you will naturally be judged on whether or not you will benefit Japan.
In this case, the following items will be checked.
The applicant must have resided in Japan for at least 10 years, of which at least 5 years must have been spent in Japan with a work visa.
Continuous stay" means that you have not left Japan for more than 100 days per year or for more than 3 months at a time during the 10-year period.
If you have, it is very likely that you will be judged as having no basis of livelihood in Japan.
In addition, you must have five years of work experience under the work qualification, but you can change jobs as many times as you like during the five-year period.
You can change jobs as many times as you like during the five years, but please make sure that the total period is five years.
Also, please note that although you are required to have worked, part-time work does not count as employment.
Fulfillment of official obligations such as tax payment
Tax payment obligations refer to the payment of taxes such as resident tax, health insurance, and pension.
Especially in the case of Business Manager Visa holders, this includes "corporate tax," "business tax," "corporate prefectural tax," and "consumption tax," which are taxes to be paid as a company.
If you have not paid your taxes on time, you should pay them promptly.
It is also advantageous to have a record of having paid your taxes on time for the last year before you apply for permanent residence.
The maximum period of stay for the status of residence currently held by the applicant
The maximum period of stay is set for a residence visa.
For example, if you are permitted to stay in Japan for a period of 3 years, 3 years will be considered as the longest period of stay.
If the maximum period of stay is 3 years, but the applicant tries to apply for 2 years, it means that the applicant does not meet the requirements.
There is no risk of being harmful from a public health standpoint.
What is considered harmful from a public health standpoint is the presence of chronic addictions such as infectious diseases, narcotics, and methamphetamines.
This is very understandable now that the new coronavirus is raging.
The person must be deemed not to be likely to commit acts that are significantly detrimental to the public interest.
Good conduct is also important.
Are they obeying the laws of Japan? Have they been punished by disciplinary action, imprisonment, or fines?
Also, you will be checked to see that you have not repeatedly committed violent or illegal acts.
In the case of traffic violations, it will be severe if the violation is more than a suspension.
As a precaution, if a family member is residing in Japan on a family visa and working part-time with permission to engage in activities other than those permitted under the status of residence, working beyond the limits will be judged as an illegal act.
In such a case, the family member living with you will be considered to be in breach of supervision, so please be careful not only for yourself but also for your family members.
Having a guarantor
It is also important to have a guarantor.
A guarantor who meets the following requirements is desirable when applying for a permanent residence visa.
A Japanese national or a foreigner who is a permanent resident.
Have a stable income of at least 3 million yen per year
∙ Fulfillment of tax obligations
A guarantor who meets all of these criteria should be requested.
As an example, foreign nationals staying in Japan with Business Manager status tend to ask a fellow business manager, a friend, or a teacher from their student days to act as a guarantor.
If you cannot find a guarantor, there are services that can introduce you to a guarantor, which you may want to use.
In this case, please be careful of malicious introduction companies.
We recommend that you ask someone you can trust as much as possible.
The company must be covered by social insurance.
If you have established a company, you are required to join the social insurance system.
When a company is incorporated, even if it has no employees, it must be covered by social insurance because the president of the company is compensated for his/her services.
Also, if you already have employees, they must be covered by social insurance.
Although you may be hesitant to purchase social insurance because it is expensive, you should be sure to purchase it because it will be subject to examination.
In the case of a sole proprietorship, if you employ five or more full-time employees, you are obliged to join the plan.Enrollment in a pension plan
After coming to Japan, you must be enrolled in some type of pension plan, such as the National Pension Plan or Social Insurance.
This is an important factor because in recent years, pension payments are strictly scrutinized.
If you have been a member of a pension plan from the time of your arrival in Japan to the present, there is no problem.
List of Required Documents when Applying for a Permanent Resident Visa
What kind of documents do I need to prepare when applying for a permanent residence visa?
First of all, the following documents are required in all cases and must be prepared.
Application form for pr visa
Passport Original
Statement of Reason for Application *State the reason why you need the pr visa.
Chronological table * Applicant's history of residence, education, employment, etc.
Certificate of residence *for all family members
A copy of the lease contract of the house
Certificate of registered matters *In case the applicant owns real estate.
Photographs of your home *Exterior, entrance, kitchen, living room, bedroom
Three photographs *Photographs of the family
Certificate of residence tax payment for the past 3 years
A copy of your bankbook
Copy of diploma or diploma of the last school attended
Certificate of registered matters
A copy of the company's articles of incorporation
Copy of business license
A copy of the company's tax return (for the past 3 years)
Company brochure
In addition to the above, prepare the following documents related to the guarantor.
Reference form
Certificate of residence
Certificate of residence tax payment *for the last 1 year
Gensen Choshuhyo (Certificate of Withholding Tax) *for the last 1 year
Statement of employment and salary
Document explaining the applicant's relationship to the guarantor
You will probably ask a Japanese or permanent resident foreigner to be your guarantor, so please ask him or her to prepare one for you.
If you have a family member with family residence status, additional documents are required.
If a family member has a status of residence, please check the additional documents.
