1. How Visas Are Issued
Foreign nationals who wish to enter and stay in medium- to long-term in Japan are required to obtain a visa issued by the Japanese diplomatic missions abroad (embassy / consulate-general / consulate) located in his/her country.
A Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is a document issued by the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) of Japan. It announces to the Japanese diplomatic mission that there is no problem to issue a visa for med- to long-term residence to the foreign national who presents this certificate.
After a visa is issued by the Japanese diplomatic mission, the foreign national presents the visa to an immigration officer upon entry into Japan. As a result, the already approved status of residence and period of stay are granted, and a Residence Card is issued.
2. Application Agency Service
To obtain a Certificate of Eligibility (COE), the foreign national who intends to enter Japan and reside for a medium to long period, or the employer or family member who wishes to invite the foreign national to stay in Japan, must submit the application with evidences to prove that the foreign national has the adequate experiences, qualifications and/or abilities for the intended status of residence.
The Immigration Services Agency (ISA) publishes lists of required documents for each status of residence. However, applicants who are unfamiliar with the procedures may mistakenly submit incorrect documents, provide inaccurate information, or fail to prepare an appropriate statement of reasons or supporting materials. As a result, applications that should be approved may be denied.
The role of our office is to prevent such mistakes and to support our clients so that applications that deserve approval are properly approved.
Our office is an application agency qualified by ISA. When we submit the application to ISA, we notify that we are acting as an application agency on behalf of the applicant. Then, ISA can recognize that the application has been carefully reviewed and properly prepared by a certified administrative procedures legal specialist (gyosei-shoshi).
3. Types of Status of Residence
Our office frequently handles applications for the following statuses of residence: Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services (Gi-jin-koku), Intra-company Transferee, Artist, Skilled Worker, Dependent, Designated Activities, Long-Term Resident, etc.
The Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services status is generally intended for so-called white-collar professionals. When foreign students graduate from a university or vocational school in Japan and continue to stay by securing employment, most of them apply for this status. However, in many cases, it is difficult to prove the relationship between what was studied at school and the actual job duties at the place of employment.
Our office has also handled the following applications: the Artist status for dance masters, the Skilled Labor status for ethnic cuisine chefs and sports instructors, the Designated Activities status for job-seeking after graduation from a university or for the employment eligibility of spouses of highly skilled professionals, Long-Term Resident status for children of spouses of Japanese nationals, etc.
4. For Those Who Wish to Start and Manage a Company in Japan
As widely reported in the media, the requirements for the Business Manager status of residence (Keiei / Kanri) were significantly tightened in October 2025. In particular, the minimum capital requirement for a newly established company by the applicant of this status was raised dramatically from JPY 5 million to JPY 30 million, along with other conditions also tightened.
Even if an applicant invests JPY 30 million to establish a company, there is no guarantee that the Business Manager status of residence will be granted. Therefore, rather than prioritizing the acquisition of a status of residence, we recommend foreign entrepreneurs to find a reliable business partner in Japan for the first thing, then launching the business, and putting it on a stable operation.
It is important to remember that you can establish a company in Japan and assume an executive position without residing in Japan. In this case, there is no minimum capital requirement. What matters most must be the success of the business itself, doesn’t it? You can remotely manage the business through online and time-to-time trips to Japan without living in Japan.
5. You Can Apply by Yourself while Staying in Short-Term
In most cases, the applicant for a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is the person or entity that intends to invite the foreign national to Japan, such as the owner of a company wishing to employ the foreign national, or a family member who already resides in Japan.
However, there are certain exceptions. For example, when a foreign national establishes a company independently without support by a business partner in Japan and applies for the Business Manager status of residence, when a foreign national enters Japan alone to apply for a collage or a vocational school and then is permitted at once to enter the school applies for the Student status of residence, or when an elderly parent is invited to Japan under Temporary Visitor status and an application is filed to change to Designated Activities (non-notified type) during his/her stay, the foreign nationals themselves may act as the applicants.
As in the cases mentioned above, it is possible for a foreign national oneself to file an application personally while staying in Japan under Temporary Visitor status. In such cases, however, it may be difficult to obtain a COE during the short-term stay. As a result, the applicant may need to return to their home country, receive the COE there, and then re-enter Japan at a later date.
6. Processing Time for the Certificate of Eligibility, Responding to Requests for Additional Documents
The issuance of a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is regarded as a non-discretionary administrative disposition. This means that, as long as the statutory requirements are satisfied, the administrative authority is not permitted to exercise broad discretion and must make its decision strictly in accordance with the laws and regulations.
In other words, if the requirements set forth in the Ministerial Ordinance Prescribing the Standards under Article 7, Paragraph 1, Item (ii) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (commonly referred to as the Landing Criteria Ordinance), as well as other relevant laws and regulations, are fully satisfied, the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) is obliged to issue the COE.
When it is clear that all requirements are met and ISA finds no negative factors at all, a COE may be issued surprisingly quickly. In cases handled by our office, the shortest processing time on record was 13 days.
On the other hand, if it is unclear whether the statutory requirements are satisfied, or if they are satisfied but ISA appears reluctant to grant approval, the examination period may be prolonged without justification. In one case handled by our office, the processing time extended to ten and a half months. According to other certified administrative procedures legal specialists, there have been cases that took more than one year.
In such situations, ISA will typically send a Request for Submission of Additional Documents some months after the application is filed. It asks the applicant to submit supplementary materials or provide explanations regarding the points that ISA is concerned with.