Business Manager Visa Requirements ~in case of restaurant operation~

Business manager visa

Business manager visa is a type of work visa and allows foreigners to run a company, etc. or work as a manager (i.e. director, auditor, general manager, branch manager, factory manager, etc.) in Japan. The period of stay is 5 years, 3 years, 1 year, 6 months, 4 months, or 3 months.

The Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (hereinafter referred to as the “Immigration Control Act”) defines business manager visa as a status of residence that is granted to “Activities to operate business of international trade or other businesses, or to engage in the management of those businesses, in Japan.” (see Appended Table I (2) of the Immigration Control Act).

In above definition, “international trade” is mentioned, but this is only an example of “businesses,” and does not mean to limit the type of industry to trade. As long as the business is legal, there are no restrictions on the type of business, and restaurant operation is included in the “businesses.”

(However, certain legal and accounting services are excluded from the target business (see Appended Table I (2), parentheses of the Immigration Control Act.)

For an overview of business manager visa, please refer here.

General requirements for business manager visa

Regardless of the type of business, the following requirements must be fulfilled in order to obtain a business manager visa:

1. Eligibility for the status of residence; and
2. Compliance with the landing permission criteria.

Let’s take a look at each requirement!

Eligibility for the status of residence

Eligibility for the status of residence means that the content of the activities that a foreigner intends to carry out in Japan falls under the activities of the applicable status of residence set forth in the Immigration Control Act.

For business manager visa, the foreigner’s activities must fall under “activities to operate business of international trade or other businesses, or to engage in the management of those businesses, in Japan.” (see Appended Table I (2) of the Immigration Control Act)

For restaurant operation, it is necessary that it falls under “activities to operate … businesses.”

Compliance with the landing permission criteria

Foreigners who wish to enter Japan must meet one of the statuses of residence listed in the Immigration Control Act, but for the actual entry to Japan, the Ministry of Justice ordinance provides specific conditions called the landing permission criteria. These are extremely important because, in principle, if you do not meet the criteria, you cannot enter Japan.

The criteria for the business manager visa are stipulated as explained below.

(See the “Business Manager” section of the “Ministerial Order to Provide for Criteria Pursuant to Article 7, Paragraph (1), Item (ii) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act”).

Requirements for business office (item 1)

“A business office for the purpose of engaging in the business pertaining to the application exists in Japan; provided, however, that if the business has not yet commenced, facilities to be used as a business office for the purpose of engaging in the business have been secured in Japan.”

A “business office” must be a base for providing continuous services at a certain location, so mobile stores and stores rented on a monthly basis will not be recognized as a “business office.”

(Reference: “Regarding clarification, etc. of the status of residence of Business Manager”)

For more information on “business office”, please see this article.

Requirements for the scale of the business (item 2)

“The scale of the business of the applicant meets any of the following requirements.

(a) The business concerned employs at least two full-time employees in Japan (except for foreign nationals residing in Japan with a status of residence listed in the left-hand column of Appended Table I of the Act) other than those who operate or manage the business.

(b) The amount of the stated capital or the total amount of the contribution is at least 5 million yen.

(c) The scale of the business is recognized to be equivalent to the scale set forth in (a) or (b).”

In order to obtain a business manager visa, a certain level of business scale is required. The scale of business can be measured by “employees (a)” or “capital (b)” (or a mixture of both (c)).

If you select the “employees” requirement, you will need “at least two full-time employees.” In this case, it is important to note that foreigners residing in Japan on activity-based visas (i.e. “aliens residing under a status of residence listed in the left-hand column of Appended Table 1 of the Immigration Control Act”) are excluded. In other words, “employees” must be Japanese nationals or foreigners with status-based visas (e.g. permanent residents).

Next, in case that you select the “capital” requirement, 5 million yen of capital/contribution is just the minimum scale of the business, so it does not mean that the applicant himself/herself must invest.

Having said that, since the applicant needs to have management rights/voting rights or be employed as a manager in order to obtain a business manager visa, it is more common for the applicant himself/herself to invest more than half of the capital, or the majority of the capital, an amount close to 5 million yen, when starting a new business.

If the business entity is a company, it is relatively easy to prove the fulfillment of the 5-million-yen requirement by showing the amount of its capital. On the other hand, it is more difficult to prove that in case of sole proprietors, so please be careful.

For more information on “capital,” please refer to this article.

Requirements for experience and remuneration (item 3, only for managers)

“If the applicant intends to manage the business, the applicant has at least 3 years’ experience of operating or managing a business (including any period where the applicant majored in the operation or management of a business at a graduate school), and, receives no less remuneration than would a Japanese national for comparable work.”

This item stipulates a requirement for the “management” cases (i.e. directors, auditors, general managers, branch managers, etc.), so we will not cover it here.

Matters to note regarding a business manager visa for restaurant operation

When you are opening a restaurant, not only regarding visa matters, but you may also be concerned about other matters, such as, “Where should I open a restaurant? What kind of equipment will I need to install?”, “Do I need to obtain any permission for the business?”, “When should I incorporate a company?”, “I need to find someone to help me…”, etc.

So, let’s look at the matters specific to restaurant operation in the next chapter. (Here, we will focus on cases of companies, not sole proprietors.)

Conclusion of real estate lease contract

You may be thinking, “Where should I open a restaurant…? I want to take my time to find the best place.” Yet, let’s secure the business place first!

This is because you will need a “head office address” to incorporate a company

At this point, you may be wondering, “Umm…? What about the contracting party? The company hasn’t even been incorporated yet.” Your concern is actually correct. In fact, a company before its incorporation registration does not yet have legal personality and cannot be a contracting party. In addition, incorporators do not have the authority to sign a lease agreement on behalf of the company to be incorporated (see Article 28 of the Companies Act).

Now what should we do?

In general, a real estate lease agreement is concluded in the name of the incorporator or the collaborator who is a permanent resident, Japanese national, etc.

However, as mentioned above, since the incorporator does not have the authority to conclude a contract on behalf of the company, the contract will not be automatically transferred to the company after its incorporation. As a countermeasure, a special clause stating that the contracting party will be changed from the incorporator/collaborator to the company after its incorporation should be added to the lease agreement.

In addition, the lease contract will be submitted to the Immigration Bureau as one of evidence regarding the “business office,” so the contents of the lease contract should not contradict the “business office” requirements. For example, the purpose of use should not be entered as “residential.”

This business office must be a place where business can be actually conducted, so a virtual office is not acceptable.

Also, the business office should be suitable for obtaining a business license, which will be described later.

(For information about our group’s service for preparation of a lease contract, please see here. Our group also helps you find a property, so please feel free to contact us if you need any help.) 

Incorporation of a company

Once you have signed a real estate lease contract, the next step is the incorporation of a company!

You may be worried, thinking, “It’s risky to incorporate a company before receiving a business manager visa. It may turn out to be a waste of time and money…,” but let’s incorporate a company!

It is true that incorporating a company in advance is not a mandatory requirement for a business manager visa. In some cases, a business manager visa can be granted before the incorporation.

However, the situation is a little different for restaurant business. As explained later, to run a restaurant business, the owners need to obtain a business license in the name of the company in advance, so they can start business as soon as they receive a business manager visa. In other word, it is necessary to incorporate a company and secure a business office in the first steps, so a business license can be obtained before the visa acquisition.

To incorporate a company, you need to submit a registration application to the Legal Affairs Bureau that has jurisdiction over the location of the head office of your company.

If you have selected the capital requirement (b) for the business scale requirement, please be sure to make the company’s capital 5 million yen or more. Regarding investment, please refer to the explanation above.

Business license for restaurant business

Once the company is incorporated, let’s obtain a restaurant business license in the name of the company (see Article 55 of the Food Sanitation Act).

When applying for a business manager visa, you must show the Immigration Bureau that the business you plan to do is legal. If you have a business license, you can at least say that you are not violating Article 55, paragraph 1 of the Food Sanitation Act, and this helps to demonstrate the legality of your business.

In order to obtain a business manager visa, you must be in a state where you can start and operate business immediately, so it is better if you have obtained a business license by then, but you must at least complete the application for a business license.

The detailed requirements for a restaurant business license differ from prefecture to prefecture, but basically, there are requirements regarding ceilings, walls, kitchens, water supply places, partitions, structure, equipment, etc., and the health center will check whether the requirements are met through an on-site inspection.

Therefore, before applying for a business manager visa, you will need to secure a place of business and install equipment, etc.

Moreover, in order to obtain a restaurant business license, you will need to be qualified as a food sanitation supervisor, so you should take a course to obtain the qualification in advance. In some cases, you will need to have a fire prevention supervisor as well, so you should check.

One of the key points for the application for business manager visa are whether your income and expenditure plan fits the size of the restaurant; and whether the operator’s income is sufficient to maintain a living in Japan (specifically, about 3 million yen or more), so choosing a suitable place is very important.

Securing employees

“I want to cook and serve my country’s cuisine!” “I like talking to people, so I want to serve customers!”

Unfortunately, this is not allowed with a business manager visa.

Only “activities to operate business” are permitted, so if you cook or serve customers, you will not fulfill the requirement of eligibility for the status of residence. (However, if temporary, such activities may be recognized as an incidental act of operating business.)

Nevertheless, when running a restaurant, operational activities such as cooking and serving customers are always required. Therefore, it is necessary to secure employees who will engage in those operational activities.

In case that you hire employees before applying for a visa, you can prove your engagement in management activities by submitting specific shift schedules, employment contracts, etc. to the Immigration Bureau.

Having said that, it may be difficult to secure employees before opening a restaurant. In that case, you will need to explain to the Immigration Bureau that you will hire employees without delay after opening a restaurant in an employment/personnel plan.

Please note that if the requirement of 5-million-yen capital is met, the employees here do not need to meet the employee requirement (item 2), so they can be foreigners staying in Japan on activity-type visas. In that case, please be aware that there are restrictions, such as the limit of part-time job by international students to 28 hours per week.

Preparing a business plan

Even if a business manager visa is successfully granted, if the business goes bankrupt or closes down soon after, all the hard work of the applicant will be for nothing. Plus, it does not meet the purpose of the business manager visa, which is to increase the number of foreign owners and managers in Japan. Therefore, it is necessary to show the stability and continuity of the business to the Immigration Bureau through a business plan.

A business plan must be a coherent and persuasive. In a business plan, the applicant’s career, management philosophy, business content, business partners, fundraising, etc. shall be described without contradiction. This is an important document specific to the business manager visa application.

We are experienced in application for business manager visas. If you are worried about what to pay attention to when writing a business plan or wonder how to write a persuasive business plan, please feel free to contact us.

For an example of how to write a business plan, please see here.

Summary

The business manager visa aims to promote the acceptance of foreign managers and business owners by removing the foreign capital requirement from the previous “Investor/Business Manager” visa. Nevertheless, you can still call it a high-hurdle visa, as it requires the incorporation of a company, a capital of 5 million yen, etc.

In particular, running a restaurant requires a lot of preparation, such as investment in equipment in advance, so it is important to carefully consider whether you have the prospect of obtaining a business manager visa or whether there are other visas that are more suitable.

We are Yanagi group, which have offices in Osaka (Abeno and Tennoji), and our affiliated offices in Tokyo (Shibuya and Ebisu) are also available for an on-site consultation. We have handled many applications for permanent residence permits, naturalization permits, work visas, college student visas, management visas, etc., as well as visa renewal procedures related to the status of residence with the Immigration Bureau (Immigration Bureau) as a one-stop service. Our experienced administrative scriveners are also available to help you with any problems you may have.

We also have staff members who can speak each of the native languages and can assist you in obtaining a visa.

※If you wish to be consulted in Nepali or Bengali, please inform us in advance via our website or social media, and the translator will contact you ahead of time.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about your status of residence or visa, even if they are trivial.

Toll free number: 0120-138-552 

For English speaker: 080-9346-2991

For Chinese speaker: 090-8456-6196