Japan Business Manager Visa: Legal Approaches to Proving Franchise (FC) “Independence” and Avoiding “Store Manager” Designation

This article is written by a Japanese local.

An increasing number of foreign investors aim to acquire the Business Manager Visa and start businesses by joining prominent domestic franchises (FCs), such as convenience stores and restaurants. Because FCs have already established business models, it might seem easier to prove business stability and appear advantageous in the visa screening.

However, in actual screenings by the Immigration Services Agency, joining an FC is an extremely high-risk format. There is a constant stream of denials based on the fatal suspicion that “there is no management independence (the applicant is merely a hired store manager).” This article explains the objective legal procedures to make Immigration recognize you as a “true business manager” under the unique environment of an FC business.

1. The Biggest Minefield: The Risk of Being Deemed a “Mere Manager (Laborer)”

[Summary] The intense control of an FC contract is the primary factor causing Immigration to judge you as a “laborer without management discretion.”

The Business Manager Visa is strictly granted only to the top tier who “manage and administer” a business.

However, in a typical FC contract, everything from business hours, sales prices, designated suppliers, and services provided, down to the hiring manuals for part-timers, is placed under the intense control of the FC headquarters (HQ). Reviewing the entire contract, the Immigration examiner will conclude: “The applicant is merely moving according to HQ’s instructions and has no independent management discretion = They are not a manager, but merely on-site labor (a store manager).” The moment this “laborer designation” is made, the visa is definitely denied.

2. Three Legal Approaches to Prove “Management Independence”

[Summary] Even under FC HQ’s control, you must objectively prove that you are in a position to make independent management decisions.

To refute this strong suspicion, you must scrutinize the contract with the FC HQ and prove that the applicant “controls the business with their own responsibility and authority.”

① Clarifying the Location of Discretion (Scrutinizing the FC Contract)

It is dangerous to simply submit the FC contract to Immigration without context. You must accurately pick out clauses that leave “freedom of management” independent of HQ—such as “Are independent marketing and promotional measures tailored to local characteristics permitted?” or “Does the applicant have the authority to determine personnel evaluations and employee salary structures?”—and strongly assert them in your statement of reasons.

② Complete Separation of Fieldwork and Management Duties

When an FC store first opens, owners tend to work the register or cook (fieldwork) to cut labor costs, but this is a fatal blow in the Immigration screening. In the business plan, you must prove that “a sufficient number of part-timers and full-time employees are hired, and a system is in place where the applicant completely focuses on ‘management duties’ such as shift management, financial analysis, and marketing.”

③ An “Original Business Plan” Not Reliant on HQ’s Template

You must not submit the template business plan (sales forecasts, etc.) provided by the FC HQ directly to Immigration. You need to reconstruct the business plan by adding your original management elements and figures to the uniform nationwide data provided by HQ, such as “the applicant’s unique financing plan” or “inbound marketing strategies unique to a foreign owner.”

3. The Heavy Financial Burden of the Legal Revision (30M JPY Requirement) and FC Business

[Summary] In addition to FC franchise fees and royalties, the fixed costs of 30 million JPY capital and full-time employees squeeze cash flow.

With the legal revision in October 2025, the Business Manager Visa requires “a capital of 30 million JPY or more and the employment of at least one full-time staff member.” This revision weighs extremely heavily on FC businesses.

When joining an FC, you must pay expensive “franchise fees” and “deposits” to HQ in a lump sum, which quickly depletes the prepared capital (30 million JPY). Furthermore, even after opening, “royalties” are siphoned off to HQ from monthly sales. From the remaining profit, you must cover everything: “salaries and social insurance for full-time employees,” “expensive store rent,” and “your own executive compensation.” Without a precise cash flow forecast that can turn this harsh P&L model profitable, business continuity will not be recognized.

4. Practical Q&A (FC-Specific Troubles and Avoidance)

[Summary] Unraveling misunderstandings regarding the “owner’s obligation to work on-site” hidden in FC contracts and the brand power of major companies.

Q. There is a clause in the FC contract stating “The owner must engage in store operations for at least XX hours a week.”

A. This is an extremely dangerous clause in the visa screening. Immigration views this as an “obligation of fieldwork (labor)” and uses it as grounds for denial. You must negotiate with the FC HQ to remove the personal obligation for fieldwork, amend it to a corporate contract where a hired “store manager (full-time employee)” fulfills those hours, or construct a document that reasonably explains to Immigration that this is “strictly a measure only during the initial training period right after opening.”

Q. If I join a major, universally known convenience store franchise, will HQ’s brand value give me an advantage in the screening?

A. It will not give you an advantage. In fact, because major FCs have strictly packaged manuals and controls on the HQ side, the hurdle to prove the individual applicant’s “management independence and discretion” becomes overwhelmingly higher. You are required to objectively prove your financial foundation as a corporation yourself, without relying on the size of the brand’s signboard.

Conclusion: Prove Your Independent Management Foundation Without Relying on HQ’s Package

The idea that “the visa will be easily granted because I have the backing of a major brand” is the most dangerous illusion in Immigration practice. In some aspects, the screening for a Business Manager Visa in an FC business has a higher hurdle in terms of “proving independence and discretion” than starting an independent business from scratch. The deciding factor is how well you can assert “independent management rights and financial stability” within the rigid system of a franchise.