Bringing Employees from Overseas Headquarters or Branch Offices to Japan: Choosing the Appropriate Status of Residence

When a company with overseas headquarters or branches assigns foreign employees to a Japanese subsidiary, branch office, or other Japanese operation, it is important to select the appropriate status of residence based on the employee’s position, actual duties, employment relationship, and assignment structure.

The three most common options are Business Manager, Intra-company Transferee, and Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services.

Executives and Managing Directors: “Business Manager”

When an executive is dispatched from an overseas headquarters to Japan to serve as a representative director, director, branch manager, Managing Director (MD), or similar senior executive responsible for managing the Japanese business, Business Manager is often the primary option.

However, simply holding the title of “Director” or “Managing Director” does not automatically qualify a person for Business Manager status.

Immigration will consider whether the individual actually has substantial authority to manage the Japanese operation, including responsibility for matters such as business planning, personnel decisions, budgets, and important contracts.

In other words, the applicant’s actual management responsibilities and decision-making authority are more important than the job title itself.

Managers and Other Employees: “Intra-company Transferee”

When an employee who is already working at an overseas headquarters, branch, or other group company is transferred to Japan for a certain period, Intra-company Transferee is a typical option.

For example, this status may be appropriate for managers, engineers, consultants, finance professionals, marketing personnel, and other professional employees transferred from an overseas office to a Japanese group company.

As a general rule, the employee must have worked continuously for the relevant overseas headquarters, branch, or other qualifying office for at least one year immediately before the transfer.

In addition, not every type of work qualifies. The activities performed in Japan must generally fall within the scope of professional activities covered by Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services.

“Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” May Also Be an Option

The fact that an employee is transferring from an overseas group company does not necessarily mean that Intra-company Transferee must be used.

For example, where the Japanese company enters into a direct employment agreement with the individual, Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services may be available depending on the applicant’s academic or professional background and the nature of the proposed work.

Typical examples include:

• IT engineers
• Finance and accounting professionals
• Marketing professionals
• Corporate sales personnel
• Consultants
• Interpreters and translators

As a practical starting point, the categories can therefore be viewed as follows:

Business Manager
→ Executives, MDs, and other senior personnel actually responsible for managing the Japanese operation

Intra-company Transferee
→ Managers and professional employees transferred to Japan from an overseas group office for a certain period

Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services
→ Professional employees working under an employment or similar contractual relationship with the Japanese company

However, the appropriate status should ultimately be determined based not merely on the employee’s title, but on their actual duties, authority, employment relationship, and previous overseas work experience.

The Japanese Entity Must Prepare for the COE Application

When bringing an employee to Japan from overseas, the usual process is to first apply in Japan for a Certificate of Eligibility (COE). Once the COE has been issued, the employee generally applies for a visa at a Japanese embassy or consulate overseas before entering Japan.

The COE application does not focus solely on the employee’s qualifications and work experience. Documentation concerning the Japanese host company is also extremely important.

The Japanese subsidiary, branch, or other host organization may need to prepare documents concerning matters such as:

• corporate registration and company information;
• financial statements and other financial documents;
• employment or assignment terms;
• the employee’s proposed duties in Japan;
• the organizational structure in Japan; and
• the capital, corporate, and organizational relationship between the overseas headquarters and the Japanese entity.

For a Business Manager application, additional explanations may be required regarding the Japanese operation’s business activities, office premises, organizational and staffing structure, and the applicant’s management responsibilities and authority.

In other words, a COE application is not a procedure that can be completed solely by the foreign employee coming to Japan. The Japanese host entity must actively participate in preparing the application.

Coordination Between Global Headquarters, the Japanese Entity, and Immigration Professionals

In international personnel transfers, it is not uncommon for the overseas HR department to first decide that an employee will be transferred to Japan and only afterward begin considering Japanese immigration requirements.

However, Japanese immigration status is not determined solely by an internal corporate job title.

For example, an employee called a “Managing Director” may require a different status depending on their actual authority. Similarly, an employee with the title “Manager” may be better suited to Intra-company Transferee or Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services depending on their previous overseas employment and actual responsibilities in Japan.

For this reason, the overseas headquarters’ HR team, the Japanese HR or administrative team, the receiving business unit, and an immigration professional such as a Gyoseishoshi should ideally coordinate from an early stage to determine:

Who will be transferred to Japan, in what position, under which contractual arrangement, to perform what duties, and from what date?

This becomes particularly important when dispatching executives to a newly established Japanese subsidiary, establishing a new Japanese branch, or transferring multiple employees to Japan at the same time. In such cases, immigration planning should consider not only each individual employee’s eligibility but also the consistency of the applications with the overall business, organizational, and staffing plan of the Japanese operation.

When transferring personnel from overseas headquarters to Japan, it is therefore advisable not to treat immigration as an issue to address only after the personnel decision has been made.

Planning the personnel assignment and the appropriate Japanese status of residence together from the outset can make the relocation process significantly smoother.