Japan

Business visit visa / Work visa

The general purpose of Japan's immigration system is twofold: 1) to permit visitors and immigrants to come to Japan to contribute to Japan's economy and 2) to regulate the stay of foreign nationals and their activities conducted in Japan.

Japan's system provides for business visits that allow foreign nationals temporary entry to conduct business activities. Some nationals are visa exempt for this purpose.

There are several types of work authorization—known as “statuses of residence”—including professor, journalist, engineer/specialist in humanities/international services, intracompany transferee, and business manager, among others. A Certificate of Eligibility (COE) application is filed by the sponsoring employer to obtain work authorization for its foreign employee.

There is also a process for temporary foreign workers to change their status to that of permanent residents.