Business Manager Visa (経営・管理) — The Complete Guide for Foreign Founders (2026)

The Business Manager Visa (経営・管理) after the October 2025 reform: ¥30M capital, a full-time employee, Japanese B2, experience or a degree, an expert-checked plan, renewals, the HSP route and the pitfalls.

Updated October 2026: the Business Manager rules were rewritten on 16 October 2025. The minimum capital went from ¥5 million to ¥30 million, and a full-time employee, Japanese at B2 level, management experience or a degree, and an expert-checked business plan are now all required. This guide now follows the new rules, including the transition period for people who already hold the visa.

What changed on 16 October 2025

For years, the Business Manager Visa (経営・管理, keiei kanri) was the "bring ¥5 million and an idea" visa. No employer, no marriage, just your own company. That version is gone. Since 16 October 2025, the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) applies much stricter criteria, and the old shortcut of hiring two people instead of putting in capital no longer exists.

It's still a real path to living in Japan on your own terms, just for people running a real business, not a one-person shell. Here's what you need.

The hard requirements (since 16 October 2025)

Here's the official before/after, straight from ISA's summary of the reform:

1. ¥30 million. For a company, this means the registered paid-in capital (資本金) of a KK, or total contributions to a GK. Capital reserves and retained earnings don't count, and you can't add salaries or rent on top to reach the number. For a sole proprietor, it's the total actually invested in the business: office, one year of staff salaries, equipment and so on.
2. One full-time employee. This person must be Japanese, a special permanent resident, or a foreigner with a residence-based status: permanent resident, spouse of a Japanese national, spouse of a permanent resident, or long-term resident. Someone on a work visa doesn't count for this rule. "Full-time" means things like at least 30 hours a week and enrollment in employment insurance. Dispatched or seconded staff and contractors don't count.
3. Japanese at B2 level. Either you or a full-time employee (here, a work-visa holder can count). For a foreign national, proof is JLPT N2 or higher, BJT 400+, 20+ years living in Japan as a mid- to long-term resident, a degree from a Japanese university or vocational school, or Japanese compulsory education plus high school.
4. Experience or a degree. 3+ years managing a business (time spent preparing a startup on a "Designated Activities" status counts), or a doctoral, master's or professional degree in management or in the field of your business. Foreign degrees count.
5. An expert-checked business plan. A Japanese-licensed SME management consultant (中小企業診断士), certified public accountant or tax accountant must confirm your plan is specific, reasonable and doable. Foreign licences don't count, and neither does an officer or employee of your own company. An outside advisor is fine.

Two more rules from the ISA guideline: your home can't double as your office (in principle), and the office has to fit the size of the business. And if you outsource most of the work and aren't actually running things day to day, ISA won't treat it as Business Manager activity at all.

The setup process, step by step

Good to know: if the company isn't registered yet, ISA's document list lets you submit the articles of incorporation instead of the company register. If a licence can only be obtained once you have the visa, you explain why in writing and show it at your next renewal. And only lawyers (弁護士) and gyoseishoshi (行政書士) may prepare immigration filings for a fee.

The biggest gotcha: opening a corporate bank account

You need a bank account to pay in the capital, and banks are cautious with founders who don't live in Japan yet. With ¥30 million at stake now, plan for this step to take time. What helps:

• A co-founder or director who already lives in Japan and can handle the bank and the paperwork in the company's name.
• The Startup Visa. The government's foreign entrepreneur programme (特定活動 44号, tokutei katsudo, the "Startup Visa") lets you enter Japan to prepare your business. Heads-up: if your confirmation certificate from the certified organisation was issued on or after 16 October 2025, the new criteria apply when you switch to Business Manager.

Common business types that work for this visa

• Restaurants and cafes: need a permit before they can open, and Immigration now asks for proof.
• IT consultancy or software development: low overhead, but you must be really running it, not passing the work to subcontractors.
• Trading / import-export: the classic "trade and other business" the visa was written for.
• Translation and language services: works if the business can carry ¥30 million in capital and a full-time salary.
• Tourism services, beauty salons, real estate: many of these need a licence or registration first. Check before you sign anything.

What Immigration actually checks at renewal

The visa comes for 3 months, 4 months, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years or 5 years. At each renewal, ISA now checks:

• Labour insurance: employment insurance and workers' accident insurance enrollment and payments.
• Social insurance: health insurance and employees' pension enrollment and payments.
• Taxes: for a company, withholding tax, corporate tax, consumption tax, corporate inhabitant tax and enterprise tax.
• Labour law: things like minimum wage. Problems here count against you even if the business is doing well.
• Licences your business needs.
• Time abroad: if you spent more than half of your last period of stay outside Japan without a good reason, that counts against you.
• A written account of what you actually did to manage the business during your last period of stay.

The HSP fast-track path

If your business grows, you can look at Highly Skilled Professional (i)(c), "advanced business management activities". It's points-based, and under ISA's current PR guideline:

• PR after 3 years at 70+ points, or after 1 year at 80+ points
• Points come from annual salary, business experience, your position, education, Japanese level and bonuses. Check yours on our HSP/PR calculator

The catch: HSP (i)(c) also assumes you meet the Business Manager criteria. And since 16 October 2025, ISA won't grant permanent residency from Business Manager, HSP (i)(c) or HSP (ii) based on business management, nor a switch from HSP (i)(c) to HSP (ii), unless you meet the new criteria.

Realistic income for Business Manager Visa holders

There's no fixed number: it depends entirely on your business. But the new rules bring fixed costs every founder now carries from day one:

• A full-time salary for your employee, at least the local minimum wage, plus the employer's share of social and labour insurance.
• Your own pay as director, with health insurance and pension on top.
• An office that isn't your home.
• Accounting and tax filings, since Immigration checks your tax certificates at every renewal.

Model your own salary on our take-home calculator before you decide how much the company pays you.

What can go wrong

• The employee doesn't count: hiring only work-visa holders doesn't meet the employee rule.
• Home office: in principle not accepted.
• Plan without the expert check, or checked by your own officer or employee.
• Missing licences for a regulated business.
• Unpaid insurance or taxes: checked at every renewal.
• Long stays abroad: more than half of your period of stay outside Japan without good reason.
• Outsourced management: if you don't really run the business or don't know its finances, it doesn't count.

Who this works best for

• You can put ¥30 million into the business, plus cash to run it
• You've managed a business for 3+ years, or hold a relevant master's, PhD or professional degree
• You have JLPT N2 (or equivalent), or you'll hire someone who does
• You're ready to hire at least one full-time employee who is Japanese or holds a residence-based status
• You plan to actually live in Japan and run the company day to day

Already on this visa? Renewals filed until 16 October 2028 won't be refused just because you don't meet the new criteria yet. ISA looks at how the business is doing and whether you're likely to meet them, and may ask for an expert's assessment. After that, you're expected to meet them, though ISA can still weigh the whole picture if business is good, taxes are paid and you're likely to comply by the next renewal. Applications received before 16 October 2025 were judged under the old rules.

Cost comparison: Business Manager vs. other paths

• Business Manager Visa: ¥30 million capital, plus incorporation (¥50,000 notary + ¥210,000 registration tax for a ¥30 million KK), an office and a full-time salary. PR from this status requires meeting the new criteria.
• HSP via a job offer: no capital. PR after 1 year at 80 points or 3 years at 70.
• Spouse of a Japanese national: under the PR guideline, 3 years of real married life and 1 year living in Japan.
• Digital nomad: 6 months, not renewable, needs ¥10 million+ annual income. A trial run, not a path to settle.

Useful resources

• Immigration Services Information Center: 0570-013904 (from overseas or IP phones: 03-5796-7112) for questions about forms and documents.
• Tokyo One-Stop Business Establishment Center (TOSBEC): one place for articles certification, company registration, tax, social security and immigration filings, with interpretation.
• JETRO's Invest Japan Business Support Center: support for foreign companies setting up in Japan.
• A gyoseishoshi (行政書士) or immigration lawyer for the filing, and a Japanese CPA, tax accountant or SME consultant for the business-plan check.

Sources

• ISA — Revision of the Business Manager landing criteria (16 October 2025) and Q&A
• ISA — Guidelines on the revised Business Manager criteria (PDF)
• ISA — Summary of the Business Manager reform, before/after (PDF)
• ISA — Status of residence: Business Manager (documents, periods of stay)
• ISA — Certificate of Eligibility: fee and standard processing period
• ISA — Guidelines for permanent residence
• ISA — Designated Activities (digital nomad)
• National Tax Agency — Registration and license tax rates (No.7191)
• e-Gov — Notary Fee Order (article 35, certification of articles of incorporation)
• Tokyo Metropolitan Government — Tokyo One-Stop Business Establishment Center
• JETRO — Invest Japan Business Support Center