How Japan’s Engineer/Specialist Visa Makes Immigration Easier Than the Business Manager Visa
On wide shows, they only focus on the “Investor/Manager Visa”The real engine of increasing foreign immigrants: the “Engineer/Humanities/International Services Visa”
“If you even graduate from a Japanese university, you automatically get a visa.”
“It’s more cost-effective to send your child to a Japanese university.”
—Such sweet whispers have recently been circulating on Chinese social media and among study-abroad agents.
Recently, the media and politicians have been fussing over the “Investor/Manager Visa.” This visa is a residency status for foreigners who start businesses in Japan. It has been raised as a concern that it might be misused or abused to send children to Japanese schools or to receive medical care. Indeed, the footage reported on wide shows of a 40-room building registering over 100 Chinese paper companies, a ghost building, was striking.
However, with the enforcement of the ministerial ordinance revision on October 16, 2025, the requirements for obtaining an Investor/Manager Visa have become stricter. The capital requirement was raised from 5 million yen to over 30 million yen, at least one full-time employee is mandatory, and either three years of management experience or a master’s-level degree plus expert verification of the business plan is now required.
But what if there exists a visa that is obtained by roughly ten times as many foreigners as the Investor/Manager Visa and is the true engine of increasing foreign immigrants—and is being left unchecked?
That is the visa introduced at the beginning: “Status of residence for foreigners who graduate from a Japanese university, or who receive equivalent or higher education, and who engage in activities related to technology, humanities, and international services in Japan”—abbreviated as the “Engineer/Humanities/International Services Visa”.
The Engineer/Humanities/International Services Visa was created on April 1, 2014, with the amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, at the same time as the Investor/Manager Visa.
In the past five years, holders of this visa have increased by 170,000 people—about 20 times the number of Investor/Manager Visa holders (approximately 8,000). This clearly reflects how Japanese universities have become diploma factories. As mentioned above, the Investor/Manager Visa now requires capital of 30 million yen, at least one full-time employee, and three years of experience, a very high—or rather cumbersome—bar. Going forward, following the Chinese saying “If the policy goes above, the countermeasures go below,” it seems likely that people will prefer the Engineer/Humanities/International Services Visa as the safer, more reliable option.
Employment paths for graduates of F-rank universities
“Our university, fortunately or unfortunately, had largely been ignored by Chinese students but we might see an increase again.”
says Professor A, an active faculty member at a university commonly referred to as an “F-rank university.”
“Nepalese, Myanmar, and Vietnamese international students work desperately and study diligently. Chinese students, on the other hand, don’t work part-time, so it’s obvious. Almost all are barely passing. Their lack of effort in studies is comparable to Japanese students on sports scholarships.
Such students don’t improve their Japanese at all. As a result, they don’t understand classes and fall further behind in a vicious cycle. When their promotion to the next year becomes uncertain, their parents fly in from China, speaking in full dialect, and plead tearfully at the school: ‘It’s our fault our child has no education. We want to make them graduate from a Japanese university.’ Our school isn’t exactly a university where you need to spend six years paying nearly 10 million yen to graduate”
Their post-graduation paths are similar to those of other F-rank universities. Professor A showed some data that had been removed from the university website this year.
Of approximately 100 international students per grade, about 50 were Chinese.
About 20 graduates (40%) found jobs in Japan
About 20 graduates (40%) returned home
About 10 graduates (20%) found jobs overseas
Professor A’s wry explanation reveals a troubling reality:
“In the past two years, only one Chinese student of mine has been able to secure a full-time job at a mid-sized Japanese company. Data shows that about 70% of mainland Chinese are NEETs due to a tough job market. Whether those in Japan actually find stable work is uncertain. The domestic employment group may account for 40%, but only companies run by Chinese residents in Japan will pick them up. We can’t disclose the employers—not because we won’t, but because we simply can’t. Even I don’t know the company names.
The Engineer/Humanities/International Services Visa is only renewed if the student is employed as a full-time or contract employee in a job relevant to their major. But relevance to the major is only signed off by the international student office. Employment proof is a single company certificate. Immigration doesn’t verify the university quality or the work itself.
Originally, almost all Chinese students were NEET prospects (and their parents) who studied abroad without knowing they were attending an F-rank university. They graduate, get a residency visa, but then often leave Chinese-run companies within 1–2 years and move between jobs.”
Under the Takaichi administration, a tough stance on foreigners issues is promoted as one of its key policies—but how will it deal with the “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa”?A huge loophole fueling increased immigration
Moreover, the real darkness lies in the route leading to permanent residency. The Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa obtained after graduating from an F-rank university is itself a work visa, and while it has a limited period of stay, changing one’s status from student to this visa is the orthodox route for long-term settlement in Japan.
By following this route, one becomes eligible to apply for permanent residency after generally meeting a 10-year residency requirement. During that time, one can bring over a spouse and children (under a dependent visa). Unlike the Business Manager visa, which requires economic contribution, the conditions here are comparatively lenient. This allows new graduates to bring family members from their very first year of employment. Spouses and children are permitted to work part-time for up to 28 hours per week.
If necessary, the entire family can work for a compatriot’s company, and by receiving wages in cash, they can effectively reduce their tax burden without even needing permission for activities outside their visa status. There are also cases where, after bringing family members to Japan, the main visa holder resigns and lives on unemployment benefits while the entire family supports themselves through part-time work.
While such loopholes remain untouched, there is also a special route that allows permanent residency applications in as little as one year. This is done by switching from the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa to the Highly Skilled Professional visa. The requirements include factors such as academic degree and annual income, with a total of 70 points required (80 points allow application for permanent residency in as little as one year). The hurdle is by no means low.
• New graduate full-time employee with zero work experience (employment certificate only): +10 points
• Annual income of 10 million yen: +40 points
• Age 29 or younger: +15 points
• Passing JLPT N1: +15 points
This totals 80 points. However, earning 10 million yen as a new graduate with no experience is extremely rare—limited to major listed companies or certain foreign firms—and virtually impossible. Most ordinary companies start salaries at around 3 to 5 million yen annually. That leaves the total at only 50 to 60 points. And yet, a backdoor trick exists.
Beyond simply padding income by working at a compatriot-owned company, some individuals are officially employed by companies set up by relatives or acquaintances, pay income tax and social insurance on paper, and then return the remaining cash to the company. In short, as long as one can maintain the appearance of a 10-million-yen annual income, applying for permanent residency in as little as one year becomes possible.
Of course, this constitutes fraud, and immigration screening has become stricter year by year. Still, for such unscrupulous individuals, the main remaining hurdle is Japanese-language proficiency. The motivation and demand behind recent incidents of impersonation and cheating in language exams—attempts to solve everything with money—lie precisely here.
Are F-rank universities visa-issuing institutions?
In any case, the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa effectively functions as a visa promoting long-term residence and settlement, and is a major factor behind the increase in the foreign population. In reality, increases in family accompaniment have intensified competition for public housing, and publicly funded daycare centers and kindergartens are exceeding capacity—issues already reported in Saitama and Chiba.
If children of families on this visa are raised through the public system from ages 0 to 18, receiving the same education and medical care as Japanese citizens, they gain benefits amounting to at least several million yen (education costs: mostly free; medical expenses: infant subsidies; child allowance: 2.1 million yen paid).
Enormous amounts of public funds are being poured every year into the education, healthcare, and allowances for children of families holding this visa.
Seen in this light, the 8,000 holders of the Business Manager visa begin to look insignificant. If one truly seeks reform without sacred cows, the real core of the immigration issue lies with F-rank universities that have effectively become Engineer/Specialist visa issuing institutions.
However, it is Japan itself that has welcomed increased immigration through subsidies and institutional design once these students were accepted as university students. Without self-reflection, merely changing tactics while continuing to dig one’s own grave cannot be denied.
If total-volume restrictions are to be implemented swiftly, the quickest solution would be to close the biggest hole—foreign students and universities that cannot survive without subsidies. Otherwise, the Japanese public’s wallet will be exhausted.
Interview and text by Yukio Kitagami： Yukio Kitagami
Yukio Kitagami has been working in Hong Kong since early 2000 as a field manager in charge of Japanese companies' entry into the Chinese market and human resource strategy. After managing cross-border support at a local law firm, he joined the market research division (Roubaix) in 2023. He is a strategic partner in charge of HR and organization building and business intelligence for Japanese global companies.
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PHOTO： Photo Library (1st photo) Tsuyoshi Kinugawa (2nd photo)