If you want to start a business (such as exporting used cars from Japan) and make a new company in Japan as the director, the general process is like follows. (This is about the case when you don’t have your permanent visa.)
1. Come to Japan by short-term visa.
2. Find the office and the partner in Japan.
(You need a partner living in Japan because you need to open a bank account in Japan, and the Japanese bank doesn’t let you open a bank account if you only have a short-term visa.
3. Establish your company and hire people.
4. Get your investor/business manager visa
(you need to at least invest 5,000,000 yen to your company, and hire 2 people for the company).
5. Make the necessary report to the tax office; police office etc.
(depends on what business you start).
These procedures are very complicated for people who don’t speak or understand Japanese language, so it is suggestible to find a business partner in Japan (Japanese or someone with permanent residence visa), to make the procedure easier.
If you don’t have a partner in Japan, or if you want to do the business all by yourself, we suggest you to hire lawyers.
We can support you about establishing company in Japan and getting investor/business manager visa.
Cost for establishing the company in general cases
Actual cost (registering fee etc.): about 220,000 yen
Lawyer’s fee: more than 330,000 yen depending on the complexity.
Cost for getting the investor/business manager visa in general cases
Visa Lawyer’s fee: around 250,000 yen in most cases.
Note: We do not handle visa cases. We work with the affiliated visa lawyers when the visa application is required.
After establishing the company, you will have to consider about tax problems in Japan. We can introduce you to a tax accountant who can speak English, if required.