How I obtained a business manager visa in Japan
tokyodev.com
tokyodev.com
It's actually better in practice because the state puts maximum prices on all kinds of procedures, and IIRC there is also a maximum annual amount that you can be charged. IOW it's easy to ensure your care costs are bounded.
This is a bit of a misconception, at least by East-Asian standards: much easier than China, (surprisingly) easier than South Korea, and similar (maybe slightly stricter) to Taiwan.
To me, the most important part about why Japan continues to approve his visa extensions: He income is high enough and he pays local + national taxes. Paying your taxes is the number one reason why Japan will extend your visa! Even if you earnings are overseas, but you declare them while living in Japan and pay Japanese taxes, they will grant you visa extensions.
On a more personal note: It is interesting that he wrote "I have recently remarried, to a Japanese national". The term "~ national" is quite specific in North American English, as it implies the person's origin (and original nationality) is different than the country. For example, Canadian national, but born in Jamaica. This implies, at some point, that the person nationalised as a Canadian.
The main issues Vancouver seems to face are:
Affordability and Housing Crisis: Tokyo is a remarkably affordable city given its status. There’s housing stock at pretty much every price level.
Homelessness and Street Disorder: not a problem in Tokyo
Drug Addiction and Overdose Crisis: not a problem in Tokyo
Traffic Congestion and Transportation: public transportation is stellar in Tokyo. Traffic can get pretty crazy at rush hour, but I hear that’s been the case for a long time and it’s not much of a problem if you use the aforementioned fantastic train system.
FWIW, I left San Francisco after close to 15 years due to the issues above. Tokyo has its problems, but they don’t seem to be in the same category.
And while I agree that public transportation is excellent, commuting every day on crowded trains, which can take an hour or more for many people, would be hell for me personally.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/surging-tokyo-property-...
> My visa has been renewed four times now, with the most recent renewal being for three years (the first three were one-year renewals).
Having to renew every year sounds pretty inconvenient. How bad was the renewal process for the Business Manager visa, in terms of time and cost? Also, is it possible to apply for permanent residence after a certain number of years?
> Also, is it possible to apply for permanent residence after a certain number of years?
10 years generally; there's also a fast-track points system. (You can also naturalize after 5 years, but you have to renounce any other citizenships for that).
This struck me as a case of bureaucracies operating the same way everywhere (though I could be wrong).
The magic key to documents submitted to governments: don't say anything that requires denial.
So less is often more and it is critical to use the right words and not their apparent synonyms even when the synonyms mean pretty much the same thing.
I.e. if you plan to paint your shed green, don't mention that in your building department application. It doesn't help and can only hurt.
It's even worse for an unusual visa like this, where a lot is left to interpretation. You may get a different officer this year who is going to nix what the previous one allowed last year, and appeals are uncertain, cumbersome and may require you to leave the country.
Renewals in Japan are guaranteed if you meet the requirements. Japan foreign worker visa rules are very straightforward. The number one cause for concern would be if your business generates insufficient revenue to pay your a minimum salary required by the visa rules. And the minimum is rather middle class. Before you reply very quickly saying: "What if they business has a bad year?" ... please answer from the perspective of other highly advanced, wealthy nations: Do they want to allow people to stay who are running weak/failing businesses? Probably not.
> in Singapore during COVID ... suddenly announcing that spouses of employees could no longer apply for work rights
This is the reason that I never recommend to live in Singapore as a foreigner, unless you are working as a senior manager for a very large corp.
> Countries can and do summarily change the rules for work visas all the time
Not in Japan. In the last 50 years, they have universally become more liberal about allowing highly skilled people to live and work in Japan.
In other countries there's a lot of attention on "fraudulent" visas, and it's often vague what "fraudulent" means. I'd be worried that some of the 'tricks' in here (the admission that the business doesn't really need to be in Japan, the office arrangement, etc.) could make immigration authorities revoke the visa if they feel it was done under false pretences.
They clearly keep you on a short leash with the yearly renewal requirements to ensure you are paying taxes, following laws, and are unlikely to become a burden on society.
They may change the requirements in the future, but in a country facing severe population decline, just paying taxes, supporting the health care and social security systems, and spending money with local businesses may be sufficient to justify handing out the visa.