Obtaining a long term visa for foreign company branch.

Just like everyone else here I am trying to find a way to work in Japan for a while. After a few visits I really enjoy the country and want to see more.

I work remotely for a foreign company but am aware there isn’t really a visa I can easily obtain this way. However I was wondering if the company was to decide to open a branch in Japan, could it be possible to self sponsor the visa?

For a company to open a branch they are required of have a resident representative, this is the info I can find.

‘In order to be a representative of a branch office in Japan, any individual, regardless of his or her nationality, can act as a representative of a branch office in Japan.

It is important, though, to know that, if you want to open a branch company in Japan, at least one of the company’s representatives has to be a Japanese resident, under a valid long term visa.’

So basically if I already had a long term visa we could open a branch, but is it possible to open a branch, & obtain a working visa for myself to become the resident representative? Perhaps under ‘Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services’

Any knowledge on this subject would be appreciated!

3 comments
  1. If your company wanted to open a branch office and have you work there, they could most likely sponsor you for an appropriate visa and designate you as the office representative.

    Most likely though they would work with a domestic legal firm and/or accounting firm and name someone from there as the representative unless you yourself are fluent in Japanese and familiar with Japanese regulations and business practices.

  2. Just wanted to thank you for doing your due diligence and asking specific questions. You’d be shocked how often people fail to even do the most preliminary research. Best of luck finding a way to work here.

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