Japan Business Manager Visa: What Is the Four-Month Period? Applying Before Incorporation and the Post-2025 Rules

1. The short answer: the four-month Business Manager period still exists

The Immigration Services Agency of Japan lists five years, three years, one year, six months, four months, and three months as possible periods of stay for the Business Manager status. The four-month period therefore remains part of the system after the October 16, 2025 revision of the landing criteria.
JETRO’s guidance on setting up a business in Japan explains that, while a work-authorized status generally cannot be obtained before establishing a business base, a four-month Business Manager status may be available before the base is established.
This does not mean that an applicant can qualify with only a brief business plan or that the review is lighter than an ordinary post-incorporation application. Before incorporation, the applicant must still show the substance of the proposed business, funding, staffing, office arrangements, required permits, and relevant background through concrete evidence.

2. Four months is a period of stay, not a separate visa category

The expression “four-month Business Manager visa” is often used informally. Legally, however, the status of residence is Business Manager. Four months is simply one of the periods of stay that may be granted for that status.
This distinction matters. The permitted activity and applicable criteria do not become different merely because a four-month period is requested. The planned activity must still qualify as managing a business in Japan or administering that business, and the application must satisfy the criteria in force at the time of filing.

3. Why the four-month route may help before company formation

A person living overseas may face a circular problem when forming a Japanese company. Capital payment, an office lease, company seals, incorporation registration, a bank account, staffing, and business permits can depend on one another. Completing every step from overseas can be difficult when the founder has no address or established support structure in Japan.
The four-month period may offer a route for addressing this preparation problem. It is not permission to apply with no preparations. Before filing, the applicant should have a specific company name and business model, a funding plan, ownership information, office candidates, a staffing plan, a timetable for permits, and a detailed schedule for the period after entry.

4. Basic process from planning to entry

The required documents and filing method vary with the applicant, corporate form, business, institutional category, and immigration jurisdiction.

5. Main tasks during the four months after entry

Four months is a short period. Waiting until arrival to design the sequence of work may leave insufficient time. The incorporation and business-launch schedule should therefore be planned before the immigration application is filed.

• Register the place of residence and establish the applicant’s local administrative base.
• Prepare and, where required, notarize the articles of incorporation; pay in capital; and register the company.
• Secure independent business premises appropriate for the planned activity and scale.
• Conclude employment arrangements and prepare labor and social-insurance procedures.
• File the required corporate notifications with national and local tax authorities.
• Apply for licenses or permits required for the business.
• Build evidence of operations through contracts, suppliers, customers, equipment, and other business activity.
• Preserve documents that will be needed for the next extension application.

6. Residence card, resident registration, and related procedures

People granted a period of stay of three months or less are generally outside the residence-card system. Because four months exceeds three months, a holder is normally treated as a mid- to long-term resident and receives a residence card unless another exclusion applies.
After deciding where to live, the holder must notify the municipality within 14 days. Once resident registration is completed, other local procedures, including seal registration where available, may be possible under the municipality’s rules.
From June 14, 2026, Japan also began operating the “Specified Residence Card,” which integrates residence-card and My Number Card functions. Applicants should confirm whether they need the integrated card and how the applicable procedure works.

7. A residence card does not guarantee a bank account

Having a residence card and resident record is not the same as being entitled to open a bank account. Each financial institution applies its own review concerning address, immigration status, remaining period of stay, transaction purpose, business substance, identity verification, and other risk factors.
Japan Post Bank, for example, instructs foreign customers whose remaining period of stay is three months or less on the application date to apply after renewing their period of stay. A person who entered with four months may therefore have only a very short practical window if other preparations take time.

8. Main criteria following the October 16, 2025 revision

A new Certificate of Eligibility application filed now should be designed around the revised criteria even when the requested period is four months. Key points include the following.

For applications filed on or after April 15, 2026, additional documents may be required depending on the category of the sponsoring organization or other circumstances. Check the latest Immigration Services Agency checklist immediately before filing.
For further background, see our Business Manager visa overview (Japanese) and guide to the 2025 revision (Japanese).

9. Extension from four months to one year is not automatic

Filing an application to extend the period of stay before the four months expire does not automatically result in a one-year period. The applicant must document that the planned preparations were carried out after entry and that the Business Manager activity can now be conducted in substance.

• Company registration and the condition of the capital or business assets.
• Securing and actually using independent business premises.
• Employment, payroll, labor, and social-insurance arrangements for full-time staff.
• Progress on contracts, transactions, licenses, and other elements of the business plan.
• Compliance with tax, social-insurance, and labor-law obligations.
• The applicant’s genuine participation in management or administration.

If preparations were delayed or the original plan changed, the reasons and revised outlook should be explained consistently with objective supporting documents.

10. Comparing an ordinary application, the four-month route, and a startup visa

11. When to consider the Yokohama Startup Visa

Under Yokohama’s program, the city reviews a startup preparation plan. If the city finds that the applicant is likely to satisfy the Business Manager requirements within one year, it may issue a confirmation certificate. After immigration review, Designated Activities status can support startup preparation for up to two years under the program.
The program is limited to specified fields, such as innovative AI or digital-transformation technology, health and medical care, knowledge-intensive or high-value-added activities, and businesses seeking to create new products, services, or business models. Yokohama explains that ordinary wholesale, retail, trading, food-service, accommodation, and general service businesses are outside the program.
Accordingly, establishing a business in Yokohama—or planning a conventional trading or used-vehicle export business—does not by itself make the applicant eligible. Advance consultation is required.

12. How to choose the appropriate route

Choose based on the actual project rather than the name of the program. The following sequence is useful.

1. Business: Does it require permits, a store or warehouse, inventory, import or export procedures, or specialized staff?
2. Funding: Can the applicant document at least JPY 30 million in qualifying capital or assets and explain the source and transfer route?
3. Staffing: When and on what terms can an eligible full-time employee be hired?
4. Japanese-language structure: Will the applicant or an eligible employee provide the B2-level evidence?
5. Background: Can the applicant prove the required management experience or relevant degree?
6. Preparation base: How will local support, an address, premises, and incorporation procedures be handled?
7. Regional program: Does an available startup visa cover both the location and the business field?

13. Pre-application checklist

• A detailed business plan is available in the necessary languages.
• Sales projections are supported by estimates, contracts, research, or comparable evidence.
• The source and transfer route of investment funds can be documented.
• A full-time employee candidate has been identified and eligibility to count that person has been checked.
• The person and evidence used to demonstrate B2-level Japanese have been determined.
• The applicant can produce evidence of the required experience or degree.
• Office candidates have been reviewed for permitted use, independence, and lease conditions.
• Required business licenses and their expected timing have been confirmed.
• A week-by-week schedule exists for the four-month period after entry.
• Evidence needed for the extension application will be preserved from the outset.

14. Frequently asked questions

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