What is a Certificate of Eligibility?
It is the procedure for bringing family or employees from abroad to Japan. The certificate is issued in Japan and passed to the person abroad, who then applies for a visa.
Normally the family or receiving company in Japan handles the procedure. The person abroad applies for a visa after receiving the certificate (by post if on paper, or by forwarded email if issued electronically).
- I want to bring my spouse or children from abroad to Japan
- I want to hire employees from abroad
- We have married, but my partner is still abroad
- I do not know where to start
How someone comes to Japan
- Applying for the certificateNormally the family or receiving company in Japan applies to the Regional Immigration Services Bureau. We do this on your behalf.
- Issue of the certificateIf the examination is passed, the Certificate of Eligibility is issued.
- To the person abroadA paper certificate is posted; one received by email is forwarded.
- Applying for the visaThe person applies for a visa at the Japanese embassy or consulate general covering where they live.
- EntryAfter landing examination, they enter Japan and receive a Residence Card.
Even after the certificate is issued, the visa and the landing examination on entry are decided separately.
Requirements and points examined
The certificate concerns someone who is not yet in Japan. No one can meet the person to check, so how well the circumstances are conveyed on paper decides the outcome.
Bringing family (Spouse or Child of Japanese National, Dependent, etc.)
What matters most is the reality of the marriage for a spouse, and the parent-child relationship and support for a child. Permission does not follow just from completing the prescribed forms. In circumstances such as the following, the facts may be examined closely.
- The couple do not live together
- A short relationship before marriage
- A large age difference
- Unstable employment of the supporting person (type of employment, income, means)
- A complicated history of divorce
- Relatives do not know of the marriage
- Insufficient communication in a shared language
- An improper residence record in the past
These are examples. If anything might look doubtful from outside, it is important to explain it accordingly. At this stage the couple live in different countries, so how they came to marry and their contact since (whether they travel to meet, whether the families know each other) are considered.
Bringing employees
The examination covers the size of the company and continuity of the business, whether the person’s education and work history fit the job, and whether pay is at least equal to that of a Japanese employee.
Cost and timing
| ① Our Professional Fee (incl. tax) | From 88,000 yen |
|---|---|
| ② Government fee (Actual Expenses) | None |
| ③ Cost of obtaining documents, etc. (Actual Expenses) | Issuing fees for residence certificates, tax certificates, etc., and postage |
| What you pay, as a guide | ① + ② = from 88,000 yen (plus ③) |
As a rule, you do not need to go to the Regional Immigration Services Bureau yourself. The process from consultation to the result is set out on the Status of Residence page.
About consultations
If your application was refused
Even if you applied yourself and were refused, we may be able to propose a way to obtain permission if you consult us. Before you give up, please tell us about it.
We check the reasons for the refusal and then consider a new application or other steps.
Knowing the following 3 points speeds up the consultation. Tell us as much as you know.
- Your relationship to the person (spouse, child, employee, etc.)
- Their nationality and the country where they live now
- The situation in Japan (workplace, income, housing)
Write a consultation emailOpens with the subject and items filled in
- Consultation and quotations are free. We work in Japanese, Chinese and English by email, and in Japanese and Chinese by telephone and in person.
- We cannot guarantee permission, and there are matters we cannot legally take on (What we can and cannot take on).
- For our telephone number and hours, see How to reach us.