Stricter Visa Rules Impacting Foreign Business Owners in Japan

Huge Spike in Required Capital

In October 2025, Japan’s Immigration Services Agency tightened the business manager visa requirements, citing the rising number of foreign nationals using shell companies and other opaque entities in order to acquire residency in Japan. Under the previous criteria, companies only needed to fulfill one of two requirements for the visa—either by having ¥5 million in capital or employing two or more full-time workers. The new requirements mean that companies now need to have a minimum capital of ¥30 million, a sixfold increase, and to also meet all other criteria, including a specified number of staff members, Japanese language ability, as well as proof of educational background and managerial experience.

In a survey aimed at foreign business owners, conducted by Tokyo Shōkō Research between March 31 and April 7, with 299 responses received, 135 companies, nearly half of the total, stated that they would be “impacted in some way.” Asked how they planned to move forward (with multiple responses possible), 82 “will increase their capital and take other measures to meet the requirements,” 35 were “considering selling or merging the business,” and 19 “will transfer the management rights.” A further 16 companies were “considering ceasing operations.”

The companies were also asked which of the new criteria would be the most challenging for them. Of the 45 that responded, the largest group of 20 cited the difficulty of “increasing capital.” In addition, while the requirement to have two or more full-time employees had previously been waived if the minimum capital requirement of ¥5 million was met, now that companies must employ “at least one full-time staff member,” 16 companies stated this would be an obstacle.

According to Tokyo Shōkō Research, of the 143,367 companies established in Japan in 2024, 90% had “capital of less than ¥10 million.” Despite the majority of Japanese companies being small businesses, the new residency requirements for foreign business owners pose a significant hurdle.

It is reported that the number of new applications for Business Manager Visas has fallen from 1,700 on average in the five months prior to the requirements coming into effect to 70 on average in the five months following; a massive 96% drop.

Data Sources

• Data from survey on business manager visas (Japanese) from Tokyo Shōkō Research
• Information on criteria for the business manager residence status (Japanese) from the Immigration Services Agency

(Translated from Japanese. Banner © Pixta.)