The Japan Business Manager Visa (経営・管理)

The Business Manager visa (経営・管理, keiei-kanri) is the status for people who come to Japan to start, invest in, or run a company rather than work as an employee. It covers operating a trade or other business, or engaging in its management — the status behind founders, company directors, and senior managers. As of 16 October 2025 the bar to qualify rose sharply: a revised ministerial ordinance lifted the capital benchmark to ¥30 million, added a mandatory employee, and introduced experience, education, and Japanese-language tests that did not exist before.

This guide explains what the status covers, exactly what changed in October 2025, how the old and new rules differ, and the practical path — office, capital, business plan, periods of stay, and fees — for anyone applying now or renewing an existing visa.

What changed in October 2025

For years the Business Manager visa was one of the more accessible routes into Japan for entrepreneurs: a real office, a credible plan, and either ¥5 million of capital or two full-time employees would clear the bar. Immigration concluded that this was being used to obtain residence through paper companies with no genuine operation, and the October 2025 revision is the response — it is explicitly designed to admit only founders running a business with real substance.

The employee rule has a catch worth reading carefully: the full-time worker who satisfies it must be a Japanese national, a special permanent resident, or someone holding a status-based residence — Permanent Resident, Spouse or Child of a Japanese National, Spouse or Child of a Permanent Resident, or Long-Term Resident. A person on a work status such as Engineer / Specialist in Humanities can be an employee, but they do not, on their own, satisfy the requirement.

What immigration checks

The review turns on whether your business is genuine and viable. Five things carry the weight.

• Capital. The ¥30 million benchmark is paid-in capital for a company, or — for a sole proprietor — the total funds invested as necessary to run the business. This is the number most first-time applicants now have to plan a company around.
• A real office. You need an actual, dedicated business premises (事業所) that can plausibly host continuous operations. A home address, a co-working hot desk, or an easily-dismantled space such as a stall does not qualify. Sign the lease before you file.
• A full-time employee. At least one, meeting the nationality/status rule above.
• Experience or a degree. Either three or more years managing a business, or a master's, doctoral, or professional degree in a field such as business administration, economics, or accounting.
• A credible, verified business plan. Realistic revenue and costs, and a clear account of how the company sustains itself. Under the new rules the plan is expected to be specific and, in practice, checked against professional scrutiny rather than taken at face value.

What counts as a genuine business

The recurring theme across every requirement is substance — immigration wants a company that actually operates, not a legal shell built to secure a visa. Two areas decide most cases.

The office is scrutinised more than people expect. The business premises (事業所) has to be a space where goods or services are genuinely produced or provided, with the personnel and equipment to match. A purely residential address, a mailbox service, or a stand that can be packed away in an afternoon will not clear the bar. A signed commercial lease, photographs, and a floor plan are the kind of evidence that does.

The business plan is now expected to be specific and, in practice, backed by professional scrutiny rather than accepted at face value. Realistic revenue and cost projections, a clear account of customers and suppliers, and a coherent explanation of how the ¥30 million of capital will be deployed are what make a plan credible. Vague ambitions attached to a freshly-registered company are the classic reason a first application fails.

Whether you operate as a company (株式会社, kabushiki-kaisha) or as a sole proprietor changes the paperwork but not the standard: for a company the ¥30 million is paid-in capital, while for a sole proprietor it is the total funds invested as necessary to run the business. Either way, the office, the employee, the experience-or-degree requirement, and the Japanese-language test all apply.

Periods of stay and the application path

The period of stay immigration grants is 5 years, 3 years, 1 year, 6 months, 4 months, or 3 months, decided case by case. A first-time founder is almost always given 1 year — treated as a trial period to see whether the business actually trades — and renewals move toward 3 and then 5 years as the company builds a record of real, taxed activity.

The standard path looks like this:

1. Set up the company. Incorporate (or establish as a sole proprietor), pay in the capital, and secure the office. Most of the work happens before you ever touch an immigration form.
2. File the Certificate of Eligibility. Like other long-term statuses, the case usually runs through a Certificate of Eligibility (在留資格認定証明書, COE), which is free to file and confirms in advance that you meet the requirements. If you are already in Japan on another status, you instead file a change of status of residence.
3. Get the visa and enter. With the COE, the embassy visa step abroad is a quick formality; on arrival your 在留カード (residence card) is issued.
4. Renew before it expires. File an extension of period of stay each time, showing tax filings, financial statements, and that the business is solvent.

Fees, renewals, and the transition for existing holders

The COE itself is free. You pay only when a permit is granted inside Japan: since the April 2025 fee revision, a change of status of residence or an extension of period of stay costs 6,000 yen in person or 5,500 yen online, up from the old flat 4,000 yen.

Renewals are where the Business Manager visa is genuinely tested. A company that never earns revenue, falls behind on taxes, or cannot show it is solvent is the most common reason an extension is refused. Done well — real trading, clean tax records, a stable office and staff — the status can be held for years and can build toward permanent residency and eventually naturalization.

If you already held the Business Manager status before 16 October 2025, the transitional measures matter: until 16 October 2028 your renewals are assessed under the pre-revision standard (the ¥5 million benchmark), provided your business remains sound. That gives existing founders a three-year runway to grow capital, hiring, and documentation up to the new thresholds before they apply. The sensible move is to treat that window as a deadline rather than a reprieve — raising capital toward ¥30 million, bringing on a qualifying full-time employee, and lining up the experience or language evidence well before the first renewal that falls after the transition ends, rather than scrambling in 2028.

When a different status fits better

The Business Manager visa is the right answer only if you genuinely run the company. If you are joining a Japanese company as a professional employee rather than steering it, the Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services work visa is the status designed for that, and it carries none of the capital or office requirements. High earners and holders of advanced qualifications should look at the Highly Skilled Professional (高度専門職) route, which offers a faster path to permanent residency. And whichever status you start on, a stable, tax-compliant business is what eventually opens the door to permanent residency and, for those who want to become citizens, naturalization.

This is general information only and not legal advice.