Hey there,
36 year old American out in Nagano looking for some advice. I’ve searched the sub, spoken briefly with a lawyer, done a bunch of reading online and for the life of me still can’t figure out what my best option is. In four months I’ll be finishing up my 18 month stint at my language school and my student visa is set to expire. I’m almost positive I just passed N2 and am preppring hard for the next step.
While I have interviews set up, none of the salaries on offer match my experience or wage history, because, well, Japan. I’d be fine with taking that hit but there’s one other factor.
I’ve already developed an online business dealing with Chinese clients as a passive form of income that grew to be more than any offer I can feasibly imagine myself recieving from a standard job that comes with a work visa. I’m paid in Chinese RMB and change the currency and send it over to my Japanese Postal Bank whenever necessary.
I know, it’s not exactly legal on the student visa but it beat spending the limited 28 hours working at a conbini just to make ends meet and I had the ability and connections.
While I have the capital to start my own business here I’ve run into lots of conflicting information. I have some hobbyist history with fiberglassing, molds and welding- but nothing on my resume reflects that. I’ve worked professionally mostly in the curriculum design fields for large educational firms in China. So while I was was originally just planning on getting myself a little workshop and making puttering around with custom fiberglass and welding jobs my “Japanese Business”, I’ve been told that would seem incredibly suspicious.
Which brings me to the clarifications I need regarding the process of aquiring the Business Management Visa and how it works afterwards:
Do you need to hire other (Japanese) employees?
I can’t seem to get a straight answer on this. My other friend opening up her own business swears that you don’t, but everything I find online and even in other threads here seems to say that you do.
Next, how successful does your business generally have to be to continue renewing your visa every year?
Will it matter when applying that nothing in my professional history has anything to do with fiberglass, molds or welding?
Do I have to rent office space, or can I just buy property to run a workshop out of?
Last, are there any ACTUAL ways or proven examples of times people running online business completely outside of Japan from within Japan got burned? I’d make my business legit and rent an office in Japan in a heartbeat to run it out of, happy to pay taxes, the whole shebang, but apparently seeing as how I’m being paid by Chinese people IN China that’s not really possible.
It just seems daft that my choices are either to leave the country or throw away this successful business I’ve created because there’s no way to legitamately operate it from within Japan. I considered getting a standard job here and then still operating my business, but studying while running it almost killed me and I know Japanese nine-to-five’s are seldom actually nine-to-fives.
Any advice is welcome
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1 comment
Wow lots of points to go through here, let me go through them bit by bit as much as i can but try to consult with a lawyer again if you can.
– Your friend is correct, as far as i know, you are not required to hire Japanese employees to qualify for a Business Management Visa.
– There isn’t a specific financial requirement for visa renewal, but immigration generally wants to see that your business is operating and contributing positively to the local economy. Having a solid business plan, financial records, and evidence of tax payments will be very very important.
– Immigration are more concerned with the viability and legality of your business. You will have to provide them a great business plan which can mitigate their concerns.
– Having a physical location, workshop or office, is expected. Renting office space is common nowadays but better check withyour local immigration office.
– No idea about operating a business dealing with foreign clients while in Japan. But i know for sure that you will have to pay taxes because now you are a permanent tax resident.
I hope this helps. Good luck.