Foreign nationals may engage in the activities authorized for the specified period of time under their visa only after obtaining the appropriate status of residence. Therefore, it is crucial that the applicant and their intended activities meet the criteria for at least one status of residence category, and that those fulfil the criteria required specifically by the status of residence for which they are applying.

Among the 36 types of status of residence allowed in Japan, holders of 23 categories thereof are allowed to engage in profit-making and paid activities. The four most common statuses of residence for employment are engineers, specialists in humanities or international services, intra-company transferees, and investors or business managers, as well as family members with dependent visa status.

This status of residence authorizes activities for personnel transferred to business offices in Japan for a limited period of time from business offices established in foreign countries by public organizations or private companies that have head offices, branch offices, or other business offices in Japan and where applicants’ work at these business offices is encompassed by the activities described in the engineers/specialists in humanities/international services status.

The applicant must be transferred from a business office located overseas to a business office in Japan, with both offices being of the same company, to engage in a job requiring skills or knowledge pertinent to:

• physical science, engineering or other natural science fields or
• knowledge pertinent to jurisprudence, economics, sociology or other human science fields or
• to engage in services that require specific training or sensitivity based on experience with foreign cultures.

The main difference between the intra-company transferee and engineers/specialists in humanities/international services status of residence categories is that an intra-company transferee status does not require the applicant to have a contract with public organizations or private companies in Japan. The applicant therefore may receive his salary from business offices overseas.

Transfers between offices of the same company include transfers between the parent company and its subsidiary, as well as a transfer between group companies that have a certain level of financial ties with each other. In addition, applicants for the intra-company transferee status of residence are different from applicants who are to operate or manage the operations of business offices located in Japan (who should apply for the business manager status).

Applicants must have been continuously employed at business offices outside of Japan for at least one year immediately prior to the transfer to Japan in a position that falls under the status of residence category of engineers/specialists in humanities/international services.

Furthermore, the applicant must receive a salary equal to the salary a Japanese national would receive for comparable work. The Immigration Services Agency does not announce the actual amount that satisfies this requirement; however, it is currently understood that a minimum of JPY 200,000 is to be paid as monthly salary.

This status of residence covers both the former Engineer and Specialist in humanities/international services statuses of residence. No major changes have been made to the required qualifications for this category. It still targets applicants who intend to engage in services which require knowledge and/or skills relevant to:

• the natural sciences (e.g., physical science, engineering) (engineers)
• the humanities (e.g., law, economics, social science) (specialist in humanities); or
• specific ways of thinking or sensitivity acquired through experience with foreign cultures (international services)

The law requires the activities to be based on contracts with public organizations or private companies in Japan. Therefore, the applicant must enter into an employment agreement, service contract or consignment agreement. The applicant’s employer must have an office located in Japan, and is, in many cases, required to arrange social and labor insurance for the applicant.

Applicants must:

• have graduated from or completed a course at a college or acquired an equivalent education majoring in a subject relevant to the skills and/or knowledge necessary for the proposed employment and have at least 10 years of experience (including the time spent studying the relevant skills and/or knowledge at a college or upper secondary school); or
• be coming to work in a job that requires skills or knowledge concerning information processing for which the applicant has passed an information processing skills examination designated by the Minister of Justice or has obtained the information processing skills qualification designated by the Minister of Justice

If the job requires specific training or sensitivity based on experience with foreign cultures, the applicant must have a minimum of three years of experience in the relevant field, except where the applicant will engage in a translation, interpretation, or language-related role.

In addition, the applicant must be offered a salary equal to the salary a Japanese national would receive for comparable work. The Immigration Services Agency does not announce the actual amount that satisfies this requirement; however, it is currently understood that a minimum of JPY 200,000 is to be paid as monthly salary.

This status of residence authorizes foreign nationals to operate or manage international trade or other businesses.

Further, if the applicant is to operate or manage that business, the following conditions must be satisfied:

• The office for the business must be located in Japan. If the business has not yet completed the start-up process, the location which will serve as its office must be in Japan.
• One of the following conditions should be satisfied:

• The business concerned must have the capacity to employ at least two full-time employees residing in Japan in addition to those who operate and/or manage the business. Full-time employees mentioned here exclude foreign nationals residing in Japan, except for foreign nationals with a status of residence as permanent resident, spouse or child of a Japanese national or spouse or child of permanent resident or long-term resident.
• The amount of investment in the business is at least JPY 5 million, which may vary depending on the size of the entire business operating in Japan.

If the applicant is to engage in the management of international trade or other businesses in Japan, the applicant must:

• have at least three years’ experience in the operation or management of the business (including the time during which the applicant majored in business operation and/or management at a graduate school) and
• receive a salary equal to a salary a Japanese national would receive for comparable work

This status of residence targets applicants who will engage in one of the following activities designated by the relevant Ministry of Justice ordinances as those offered by highly skilled professionals who are expected to contribute to Japan’s academic research and/or economic development:

• research activities, research guidance activities or education activities based on a contract with a public or private organization in Japan, and the same activities engaged in simultaneously with the aforementioned based on the business the applicant runs themselves or a contract with another public or private organization in Japan
• activities which require knowledge or skills related to the natural sciences or humanities fields based on a contract with a public or private organization in Japan, and activities related to operating a business which simultaneously engages in the aforementioned activities
• activities related to the operation of international trading or other businesses, management of such trading and businesses at a public or private organization in Japan designed by the Minister of Justice, and activities related to operating a business which simultaneously engages in the aforementioned activities

Applicants for the Highly Skilled Professional I category must first qualify for a status of residence other than Diplomat, Official or Technical Intern Training. The applicant’s intended activities in Japan must not be considered harmful to Japan’s industries or to the lives of its citizens.

A holder of highly skilled professional I status will be given preferential immigration treatment, including:

• permission to engage in multiple types of activities during his stay in Japan
• a five-year period of stay;
• relaxation of the requirements for the granting of permission for permanent residence in line with his history of staying in Japan
• preferential processing of immigration and stay procedures
• employment permission for his spouse
• permission to bring his parents into Japan and
• permission to bring a domestic servant that they employ

In addition, a qualified applicant must engage in activities categorized as academic research activities, advanced specialized/technical activities or business management activities, and earn 70 points or more under the points-based system to be recognized as a highly skilled foreign professional.

This status of residence targets holders of highly skilled professional I status who have lived in Japan for a period of three years or longer.

In addition to enjoying the above-listed types of preferential treatment granted to holders of highly skilled professional I status, holders of highly skilled professional II status will be allowed an infinite period of stay (as opposed to a maximum of five years for highly skilled professional I) and will be allowed to engage in a much wider variety of activities (practically any work activities authorized under any work-related status of residence).

This status of residence is for applicants whose daily activities are as the spouse or dependent children of foreign nationals who are staying in Japan with a status of residence other than diplomat, official, temporary visitor, pre-college student or designated activities.

A dependent spouse must be legally and substantively married to the principal applicant. The Immigration Services Agency does not recognize common-law or same-sex marriages. Dependent children include adult children (age 20 or above) and adopted children.

Permissible daily activities include non-profit-making activities that family members are reasonably expected to be engaged in, such as household duties or attending elementary and high schools. Profit-making activities and paid activities are excluded. However, job hunting is considered to be within a dependent’s authorized activities. Subject to obtaining special permission from the Immigration Services Bureau, a holder of the dependent visa status may engage in profit-making activities within the limit of 28 hours per week.