I’ve been working out of the states for the past 9 months, but prior to that lived in Japan for 5 years. A consultancy I’ve been working with for a long time now would like to formally bring me on as a business partner. As such, I would like to move back to Japan.
The problem is, the consultancy is very much in a startup phase, and isn’t familiar with sponsoring visas. The founder has been very successful just ‘winging it’– even received considerable press recognition– and has meaningful connections. It’s not a resource problem, but a know-how problem.
**What are our options here?** Can the business manager visa be applied, or is that only for founders?
The business is a registered KK with only 1 or 2 formal employees. I have experience self-sponsoring a visa before using an amalgamation of freelance work I was doing as a sole proprietor, but this seems like it could be a different ball game.
2 comments
>Can the business manager visa be applied, or is that only for founders?
Unless you have a financial stake in the business, no, the BMV is not going to be an option. It’s entirely possible that if you buy in you *can* get the BMV, but the logistics of that (How much investment, etc) are pretty firmly in “Immigration Attorney” territory, not randos on Reddit.
Are you going to be a full-time employee? If so, the easiest solution would be one of the standard working visas, probably the “Engineer” visa. Have the company consult an immigration attorney.
Actually, pretty much all the advice can be tl;dr’ed into “Consult an immigration attorney”. They’re not that expensive, and they make the process infinitely easier than trying to DIY it.
>I have experience self-sponsoring a visa before using an amalgamation of freelance work I was doing as a sole proprietor, but this seems like it could be a different ball game.
Unfortunately you can’t self-sponsor your initial entry. You’ll need a “regular” visa, then you can shift to self-sponsor at renewal.
So if your plan is to be a contractor/consultant rather than a full-time employee… It might not be possible.
Nice