Japan Visas

Japan's immigration system is administered by the Immigration Services Agency (ISA, an external bureau of the Ministry of Justice) and operates around a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) workflow. For almost every long-stay route — work, study, family, business — a sponsor in Japan first applies to the local Regional Immigration Bureau for a COE, and only then does the applicant take the COE to a Japanese consulate abroad to convert it into a visa. The COE step usually takes longer than the visa stamp, and most refusals happen at this stage.

Most foreign workers fall under one of the three salaried-employee Status of Residence categories: Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services (the most common); Highly Skilled Professional (HSP), an 80-point system that opens up a fast-track to permanent residence; and Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) in industries with documented labour shortages. Students enter on a Student status with university-issued COEs; spouses of Japanese nationals or permanent residents fall under Spouse or Child of Japanese National. Each status has its own permitted activity scope, and changing scope outside the permission requires either a status-of-residence change or an Activity Outside Status authorisation.

Japan stands out for two reasons. First, almost every administrative step inside Japan is tied to a Residence Card (Zairyū card), issued at the airport on arrival for stays longer than three months. Second, the Highly Skilled Professional system rewards high-income, English-speaking, and STEM-credentialed applicants with Permanent Residence in as little as 1 year (J-Skip route, introduced 2023) or 3 years on the standard HSP track. The guides in this hub focus on the COE evidence, point-test optimisation, and city-level address-registration steps that most influence outcomes.

Each route hinges on a sponsor in Japan filing a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) with the Regional Immigration Bureau before any consular visa can be stamped. The COE step is where most refusals happen, not at the visa stage; once the COE is issued, the consular interview is largely a verification step. After arrival, every long-stay foreigner must register their address at the city or ward office (shiyakusho or kuyakusho) within 14 days, enrol in National Health Insurance, and obtain a My Number tax ID — the My Number is now required for most employer onboarding, bank account opening, and tax filings.