Since October of this year, it has become more difficult to obtain the “Business Manager” residence status in Japan.
The Business Manager status is a residence status category intended for foreign nationals who are primarily engaged in business activities in Japan as company managers or executives.
Holders of this status are allowed to bring their families under the dependent status and to enroll in the Japanese national health insurance system.
For these reasons, it has been particularly popular among Chinese nationals.
However, the requirements for obtaining this status have recently undergone a major change:
The required minimum capital, which had previously been set at 5 million yen, has been raised to 30 million yen, and at the same time, the employment of at least one full-time employee other than the manager has become mandatory.
This represents a very significant change.
It is true that some applicants may seek this status primarily in order to gain access to Japan’s relatively favorable health insurance system.
Furthermore, because the business activities can include property rental management, there are companies that generate income from real estate in Japan without operating any substantial business beyond that.
In the community of immigration specialists—such as certified administrative procedures legal specialists (gyoseishoshi), of which I am a member—there are opinions pointing out such issues (along with concerns that the number of Business Manager applications may decrease).
However, there are also many young foreign entrepreneurs with high aspirations who genuinely wish to start businesses in Japan—often those who first come to Japan as international students and aim to launch a startup here.
For these young people, it is often said, “While 5 million yen might be achievable, 30 million yen is impossible.”
Although restrictions on problematic applications are indeed necessary, there is concern that such uniform requirements may hinder entrepreneurship and innovation in Japan.
I am deeply worried.