4 ms·

I'm currently going through the same process for a business investor visa. However, my lawyer claims that immigation office changed the requirements this decemb

I'm currently going through the same process for a business investor visa. However, my lawyer claims that immigation office changed the requirements this december to also require at least one (can be part-time) employee (other than yourself). Apparently this is something not stated anywhere, but a whim of the immigration office... Can anyone confirm?

patio11 10y ago
Individual regional immigration offices and the individual clerks at them have pretty substantial latitude with regards to how they interpret the regulations. Another similar issue is how much salary you need to have to "self-sponsor" one of the professional visas (which is a thing which isn't really anticipated in the written regulations per se but can be finangled out of Immigration). The amount can, depending on the whims of the examining clerk, be "3 million yen", "300k yen per month", "at least as much as a Japanese person in your line of work", "enough to not be a burden on the public purse", "at or above the average income in this prefecture", etc. (I will pause to say that if you'd trust an HN comment over the advice of your lawyer it is time to get a new lawyer.)
- archseer 10y ago
  My lawyer... is very japanese-esque inflexible. No other lawyer (or friends that recently acquired the same visa) mentioned this new requirement; but the lawyer refuses to check with the immigration office.
  - raleighm 10y ago
    Sounds like you need a new lawyer.
- laurieg 10y ago
  This flexibility can be a blessing or a curse. Usually it's the latter. A good immigration lawyer should know the ins and outs of your local immigration office and be able to tell you fairly confidently (not 100%) what will and won't work.
mikekchar 10y ago
patio11's reply is correct as far as I know, but I'll pitch in a little more. When I was researching setting up my business in Japan, I was told I would need to hire a resident to be a business manager in the case that I wanted to sponsor my visa through the company. So this may be what you are running into. In my case I was getting a spousal visa, and incorporating after immigrating, so I could be the resident if I wanted.
- archseer 10y ago
  I'm here on a study visa, arrived last year, so I do have a temporary residency status.
  - mikekchar 10y ago
    But the problem is that you can't change your study visa to a working visa (BTW, this is not legal advice! Make sure to check what I'm saying with a lawyer). So you will lose residency when you change visas. Potentially the easier way to go (assuming you are doing some high tech thing and you are getting an equivalent to an "engineering" degree -- CS should be fine) is to get a job and have the company sponsor your visa. At that point you can start your your company no problem and hire yourself. This is one way to avoid having to sponsor your own visa (which will have capitalisation requirements). I was in a similar situation before I got married. I was teaching English and I wanted to set up an IT consulting company. My visa was as an instructor and there was no way to switch it to an engineering or business person's visa. So I would have had to sponsor my own visa. As it turned out, I got married, moved to the UK for a few years and then set up my company when I returned. Edit: Even easier approach (though time consuming) is to get a job and stay long enough to get permanent residency. Then you have no issues at all. Minimum time frame is 5 years IIRC. Normally being married helps a lot, but I suspect if you have gone to school in Japan it will help equivalently.
    - nandemo 10y ago
      > But the problem is that you can't change your study visa to a working visa (BTW, this is not legal advice! Make sure to check what I'm saying with a lawyer). Sure you can, I have done it and I know tons of people who have too. Usually no lawyer required; assuming you have a degree (or is going to graduate soon) and you have a job offer, just apply at Immigration. http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/kanri/shyorui/02.html http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/kanri/shyorui/02.... Note that technically you don't "change visas" -- visa is something that's required in order to enter the country -- you change "status of residence". Usually people use the terms interchangeably, though.

patio11 10y ago

Individual regional immigration offices and the individual clerks at them have pretty substantial latitude with regards to how they interpret the regulations. Another similar issue is how much salary you need to have to "self-sponsor" one of the professional visas (which is a thing which isn't really anticipated in the written regulations per se but can be finangled out of Immigration). The amount can, depending on the whims of the examining clerk, be "3 million yen", "300k yen per month", "at least as much as a Japanese person in your line of work", "enough to not be a burden on the public purse", "at or above the average income in this prefecture", etc. (I will pause to say that if you'd trust an HN comment over the advice of your lawyer it is time to get a new lawyer.)

archseer 10y ago
My lawyer... is very japanese-esque inflexible. No other lawyer (or friends that recently acquired the same visa) mentioned this new requirement; but the lawyer refuses to check with the immigration office.
- raleighm 10y ago
  Sounds like you need a new lawyer.
laurieg 10y ago
This flexibility can be a blessing or a curse. Usually it's the latter. A good immigration lawyer should know the ins and outs of your local immigration office and be able to tell you fairly confidently (not 100%) what will and won't work.

mikekchar 10y ago

patio11's reply is correct as far as I know, but I'll pitch in a little more. When I was researching setting up my business in Japan, I was told I would need to hire a resident to be a business manager in the case that I wanted to sponsor my visa through the company. So this may be what you are running into. In my case I was getting a spousal visa, and incorporating after immigrating, so I could be the resident if I wanted.

archseer 10y ago
I'm here on a study visa, arrived last year, so I do have a temporary residency status.
- mikekchar 10y ago
  But the problem is that you can't change your study visa to a working visa (BTW, this is not legal advice! Make sure to check what I'm saying with a lawyer). So you will lose residency when you change visas. Potentially the easier way to go (assuming you are doing some high tech thing and you are getting an equivalent to an "engineering" degree -- CS should be fine) is to get a job and have the company sponsor your visa. At that point you can start your your company no problem and hire yourself. This is one way to avoid having to sponsor your own visa (which will have capitalisation requirements). I was in a similar situation before I got married. I was teaching English and I wanted to set up an IT consulting company. My visa was as an instructor and there was no way to switch it to an engineering or business person's visa. So I would have had to sponsor my own visa. As it turned out, I got married, moved to the UK for a few years and then set up my company when I returned. Edit: Even easier approach (though time consuming) is to get a job and stay long enough to get permanent residency. Then you have no issues at all. Minimum time frame is 5 years IIRC. Normally being married helps a lot, but I suspect if you have gone to school in Japan it will help equivalently.
  - nandemo 10y ago
    > But the problem is that you can't change your study visa to a working visa (BTW, this is not legal advice! Make sure to check what I'm saying with a lawyer). Sure you can, I have done it and I know tons of people who have too. Usually no lawyer required; assuming you have a degree (or is going to graduate soon) and you have a job offer, just apply at Immigration. http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/kanri/shyorui/02.html http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/kanri/shyorui/02.... Note that technically you don't "change visas" -- visa is something that's required in order to enter the country -- you change "status of residence". Usually people use the terms interchangeably, though.