To apply for a Japan work visa, your company submits a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) application to the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) via its online e-Application portal. Once the COE is issued, your employee applies for the visa stamp at a Japanese embassy or consulate in their home country, then enters Japan and completes municipal registration within 14 days of establishing their address in Japan. The full process typically takes three to five months, with the COE review stage accounting for most of that time.
Hiring a skilled professional into Japan requires the employer to lead the process, not the candidate. The work visa is not something an individual applies for alone: the company initiates everything by securing a Certificate of Eligibility on the employee’s behalf before a single embassy appointment is booked.
The good news for employers managing this from overseas is that the COE application stage can now be submitted online through the Immigration Services Agency e-Application system, removing the need to post physical documents to Japan in the early stages. The in-person element comes later, when the employee visits a Japanese consulate in their current country of residence to collect the visa stamp itself.
Which visa category should you choose?
Three categories cover the majority of corporate hires. The Engineer, Specialist in Humanities and International Services (EHI) visa is the most flexible and most commonly used: it applies to a wide range of professional roles, and employees can change employers relatively straightforwardly. The Highly Skilled Foreign Professional (HSP) visa uses a points-based assessment covering salary, qualifications and age, and offers a faster track to permanent residency for candidates who qualify. The HSP2 designation is an upgrade available to established HSP holders and grants indefinite residence status. The right category depends on the candidate’s profile, your role type and how much employer portability matters for your workforce planning.
The six-step application process
- Step 1 is document preparation, which takes roughly two weeks and is largely the employer’s responsibility: company registration documents, the employment contract, proof of the candidate’s qualifications and supporting evidence of the role’s relevance to those qualifications.
- Step 2 is submitting the COE application online via the ISA portal. Eligible employers or their registered agents upload the document set directly. Where an employer does not meet the eligibility criteria for self-submission, a licensed administrative scrivener can submit on their behalf.
- Step 3 is the COE review period, which is the longest stage and where most hiring timelines are underestimated. Processing can run from two to four months depending on category and current ISA workloads.
- Step 4 is the employee’s visa application at the Japanese embassy or consulate in their country of residence, typically resolved within two weeks of COE receipt.
- Step 5 is entry into Japan, at which point the employee receives a Residence Card at the port of entry.
- Step 6 is municipal registration, which must be completed within 14 days of establishing their address in Japan.
Building the timeline into your hiring plan is critical. A three-to-five-month lead time is realistic for most hires. Companies that begin document preparation only after an offer is accepted routinely face delays that push start dates back by months.
Supporting your Japan hiring with the right operational partner
GoGlobal supports companies across 85+ countries with entity management, payroll, accounting and tax compliance and HR support, as well as an Employer of Record service for companies that want to hire in Japan before establishing a local entity. Many clients begin with EOR as they validate their Japan market position, then transition to a locally incorporated entity as headcount and commercial commitment grow. GoGlobal manages that entire progression: from initial hire through entity setup, company secretarial and ongoing compliance, so your team leads the business while we run the operational infrastructure behind it.
