Capital Amount in Japan

December 25, 2019

Question:

I heard it is possible to incorporate a company with a capital of 1 Japanese yen. If such is the case, would it still be possible to be issued a Business Manager visa?

Answer:

Having a company incorporated with 1 Japanese yen in capital is not enough to be issued a Business Manager visa. One of the requirements for the issuance of the Business Manager visa is a capital amount of 5 million Japanese yen.

Explanation:

If talking only about the incorporation of a company in Japan, it is possible to do so with only 1 yen as the declared capital. However, if one will plan to apply for the Business Manager visa, the capital amount or total amount of investment needs to be more than 5 million Japanese yen.

Prior to the revision of the Immigration Act in April 2015, mention of the 5 million yen was only seen in the Immigration Bureau’s examination guidelines. The current version of the Ministerial Order to Provide for Criteria Pursuant to Article 7, paragraph (1), item (ii) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act clarifies that as a more substantial evidence of business scale, the Immigration Bureau requires a that the business have a capital of more than 5 million yen.

Also, while the Ministerial Order to Provide for Criteria Pursuant to Article 7, paragraph (1), item (ii) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act may be understood that if the business concerned employs at least two full-time employees in Japan, the stated capital or total amount of investment requirement of 5 million yen can be forgone. In practice, the Immigration Bureau finds that it is difficult to assess the business scale, stability, and continuity if only the company only 2 employees. As a result, it is commonplace to incorporate the company concerned with 5 million yen in capital for those intending to apply for the Business Manager visa.

The capital/investment requirement of 5 million yen asked for at the time of incorporation is expected to be maintained continuously; this means it is not necessary for an additional 5 million be invested into the company every fiscal year. The amount of capital is checked in the balance sheet during the renewal of the residence status whether the 5 million yen or more capital was maintained.