Osaka Startup Visa for foreign entrepreneurs: eligibility and renewal

Begin with the Foreign Entrepreneur Support Desk and check whether the proposed Osaka City business fits a listed field and the current plan-confirmation conditions. Osaka City's review includes, in principle, a face-to-face interview with the applicant. An applicant who does not speak Japanese arranges the interpreter. If Osaka City confirms the plan and issues a certificate, immigration still applies its current criteria in a separate examination. The initial Designated Activities residence period is one year. Continuation requires renewal examinations in six-month units, with a combined maximum of two years that also counts time used under the former special-zone scheme. Renewal is not automatic.

Who it is for

• The applicant is a foreign entrepreneur planning, ordinarily within one year, to start a new business in Osaka City, carry out the startup preparation in the city, and establish the business office there. The applicant resides in Japan during preparation. This does not extend the business or office location to anywhere in Osaka Prefecture, and it does not require residence specifically in Osaka City.
• The business must fit one of exactly five fields: growth manufacturing; Fourth Industrial Revolution-related business; green and energy; healthcare and life sciences; or tourism, sports, culture, and community development.
• For plan confirmation, the plan must show that, ordinarily within one year, all three expected conditions will be in place: at least one qualifying full-time employee under the public notice, total business-use property of JPY 30,000,000 or more, and an office in Osaka City. This one-year horizon belongs to the plan's expected state; it is not the residence period actually granted by immigration or the renewal interval.
• At the time of application, the applicant must have at least one year of business management or administration experience OR a relevant doctoral, master's, or professional degree. Both branches are not required together. This experience-or-degree test is a startup-preparation plan-confirmation condition, not the complete final criteria for Business Manager residence status. Immigration applies its current criteria separately.
• The confirmation review is, in principle, a face-to-face interview with the applicant. If the applicant does not speak Japanese, the applicant must arrange an interpreter. Attending the interview or receiving city confirmation does not guarantee immigration approval, a renewal, or business success.

Points to note

• The ordinary one-year plan horizon and the initial one-year Designated Activities period have different roles. The first concerns the expected staffing, business property, and Osaka City office; the second is a residence period granted only after immigration examination.
• JPY 30,000,000 or more is the total business-use property required in the plan-confirmation branch. It is not money paid or lent to a foreign entrepreneur by Osaka City, and the program is not a cash grant.
• Osaka City confirms the startup-preparation plan, while immigration separately examines residence status. The city certificate is not itself a visa or residence permission, and renewal is never automatic.

Plan confirmation keeps several matters together: business preparation and the office in Osaka City, residence in Japan during preparation, one of the five listed fields, the expectation that at least one qualifying full-time employee, JPY 30,000,000 or more in business-use property, and the Osaka City office will all be in place ordinarily within one year, plus at least one year of management experience OR a relevant doctoral, master's, or professional degree at application. That ordinary one-year horizon is not a granted residence period. The initial period is one year; each continuation is examined in six-month units; and the combined maximum is two years including former special-zone use. Submit the certificate to Osaka immigration within three months of issuance. Monthly progress interviews begin only after residence status is acquired. Confirm the current materials, intake status, and individual renewal outcome with the responsible official offices.

How it works

1. Contact the Foreign Entrepreneur Support Desk. Confirm which of the five fields fits the business, the conditions expected ordinarily within one year, and the current application method, requested materials, and intake status. This article does not provide a complete document list or a universal filing deadline.
2. After receiving advance plan-preparation support from the Foreign Entrepreneur Support Desk, submit the required materials at that desk for Osaka City plan confirmation and attend the in-principle face-to-face interview. If you do not speak Japanese, arrange your own interpreter. Osaka City confirms the plan; it does not grant residence status.
3. Submit the confirmation certificate to the Osaka Regional Immigration Services Bureau within three months after issuance and undergo the separate residence-status examination. When acquisition or renewal of residence status is decided, promptly report it to the Foreign Entrepreneur Support Desk. Then attend one progress interview each month at that desk. For continuation, follow the city and immigration procedures for each six-month renewal examination.