\u2460 It is necessary to employ at least one full-time employee.<\/strong> \u2461 For corporations, the capital amount must be set at 30 million yen or more.<\/strong> \u2462 Either the applicant or a full-time employee must possess a considerable level of Japanese language proficiency.<\/strong> \u2022 Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N2 or higher<\/p>\n \u2022 400 points or higher on the BJT Business Japanese Proficiency Test<\/p>\n \u2022 Resided in Japan for 20 years or more as a mid-to-long-term resident<\/p>\n \u2022 Graduated from a Japanese university or other higher education institution<\/p>\n \u2022 Completed Japanese compulsory education and graduated from high school<\/p>\n \u2463 Requirements for fulfilling background (academic and work history)<\/strong> \u2022 Three or more years of experience in business management or administration (including the period of activities based on the \u201cDesignated Activities\u201d status of residence, such as securing a business office and other preparatory actions necessary to commence trade or other business operations (startup preparation activities).<\/p>\n \u2464 The business plan submitted at the time of residence status determination requires prior confirmation by a Small and Medium Enterprise Management Consultant (\u4e2d\u5c0f\u4f01\u696d\u8a3a\u65ad\u58eb\uff09, Certified Public Accountant (\u516c\u8a8d\u4f1a\u8a08\u58eb\uff09or Tax Accountant (\u7a0e\u7406\u58eb).<\/strong> For example, excessive outsourcing or prolonged absences from Japan are highly likely to be judged negatively as lacking substantive direct management.<\/p>\n Furthermore, since the Highly Skilled Professional Type 1-c \u9ad8\u5ea6\u5c02\u9580\u8077\uff11\u53f7\u30cf\uff09(status also presupposes meeting the Business Manager [management\/administration]) \uff08\u7d4c\u55b6\u30fb\u7ba1\u7406\uff09residency qualification requirements, it is explicitly stated that if an applicant obtains 80 or more points under Highly Skilled Professional Type 1-c and applies for permanent residency after one year of residence, permanent residency will not be granted if they do not meet the revised approval standards. (Permission to change status from \u201cHighly Skilled Professional Type 1-c (\u9ad8\u5ea6\u5c02\u9580\u8077\uff11\u53f7\u30cf)\u201d to \u201cHighly Skilled Professional Type 2\uff08\u9ad8\u5ea6\u5c02\u9580\u8077\uff12\u53f7\uff09\u201d must also meet the revised criteria.)<\/p>\n It is explicitly stated that combining the workplace and residence is generally not permitted, and that verification of tax payment obligations will be conducted.<\/p>\n Application for Renewal of Residence Status \u201cBusiness Manager (Management\/Administration)\u201d<\/p>\n For individuals already residing under \u201cBusiness Manager (Management\/Administration)\u201d status who apply for renewal of their management\/administration residence period between now and the date three years after the new standards take effect (October 16, 2028), renewal may still be granted even if they do not meet the revised standards, provided their business situation is deemed satisfactory and there is a reasonable expectation they will meet the revised standards. In some cases, applicants may be required to submit written evaluations or opinions regarding their management from professionals such as certified public tax accountants.<\/p>\n However, applications for renewal of the period of stay submitted after the three-year period following the effective date must comply with all the revised standards. If the business situation is sound and obligations such as corporate tax payments are being properly fulfilled, and it is judged that the new criteria are likely to be met by the next renewal application, renewal may be granted after comprehensive consideration of other residency circumstances. However, if stable business continuity is desired, preparations to establish a system capable of meeting the new criteria should begin promptly.<\/p>\n To conclude\u2026<\/strong> In some cases, companies may consider options like M&A. Many firms will face difficult choices whether to abandon or continue their business.<\/p>\n I personally find these amendments very stringent. That said, I also feel the requirement to employ full-time staff proficient in Japanese is necessary for conducting business operations. Considering that the ability to communicate in Japanese is often a requirement even when opening a corporate bank account, I believe this revision to the permitting criteria reflects the public sentiment expressed in the public comment period.<\/p>\n How do you view this revision, which places even greater emphasis on the \u201csubstance, stability, and continuity\u201d of the business?<\/p>\n Disclaimer:<\/strong> While utmost care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information in this article at the time of publication, it is not intended to serve as legal advice as each individual situation will vary. Should you require further advice or wish to delve deeper into the topics discussed, please reach out to the author<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Text by: <\/strong>Masayo Boston (Certified Administrative Procedure Legal Specialist), November 2025 The approval criteria for the \u201cBusiness Manager (Business Management\/Administration) \u7d4c\u55b6\u30fb\u7ba1\u7406 residence status were revised in mid-October 2025…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29305,"featured_media":174294,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?p=174293&lang=en","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2024],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","location-fukuoka-prefecture","en-US"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/fn_boston-legal-column-nov-unsplash_2025_cl.jpg?fit=1400%2C933&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174293"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174299,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174293\/revisions\/174299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"New](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/fn_boston-legal-column-nov-unsplash_2025_cl.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&ssl=1\")
Photo by Luca Bravo<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\u203b Employment of full-time staff holding Japanese nationality or residence statuses such as \u201cPermanent Resident\uff08\u6c38\u4f4f\u8005\uff09,\u201d \u201cSpouse or Children of Japanese National\uff08\u65e5\u672c\u4eba\u306e\u914d\u5076\u8005\u7b49\uff09,\u201d \u201cSpouse or Child of Permanent Resident\uff08\u6c38\u4f4f\u8005\u306e\u914d\u5076\u8005\u7b49\uff09,\u201d or \u201cLong-term Resident\uff08\u5b9a\u4f4f\u8005\uff09\u201d is required.<\/p>\n
\nFor individual businesses: The total amount invested as necessary for business operations, including securing the business premises for one year, salaries for employed staff, and equipment investment expenses.<\/p>\n
\nFor individuals other than Japanese nationals or special permanent residents, one of the following must be met:<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Doctorate, master’s, or professional degree in a field related to the technical skills or knowledge necessary for business management or the operations of the business for which the application is made (including degrees awarded abroad)<\/p>\n
\nThere are other points to note regarding the application.<\/p>\n
\nThe stricter requirements for the \u201cBusiness Manage (Management\/Administration)\u201d residence status may make it difficult for some foreign business owners to continue to operate their companies. While there are several methods for capital increases, I will omit mentioning them here. Naturally, if a company decides to cease operations, it must responsibly complete the dissolution and liquidation process. I hope Japanese society won’t see widespread cases where companies are simply abandoned, tax obligations ignored, and the foreigner simply leaves the country when their residence period expires.<\/p>\n
\nLegal Associates Office Boston<\/a> (Fukuoka City)
\nClick here<\/a> to contact by email
\nWebsite: https:\/\/www.admin-legal.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"