Hi,
I am a Highly Skilled Professional (point wise for the visa) with 6 years of experience in big tech firms. However, I don't want to work for any company any more and want to start my own company.
I have a business plan (of some sort) and have the 5 million yen ready. But I want to check my logic is correct before moving and starting this journey:
I plan to leave for JP in Sept 2025 on a tourist Visa ( 3 months as am a UK national)
During these 3 months, I plan to travel around JP to see where I would like to settle to start this business.
Q1) Could I switch to a StartUp visa while in JP? or must I travel outside the country and apply from there?
Once on the StartUp visa, I plan to rent an office and start setting up the necessary things before applying for the Business Manager Visa
Q2) Can I at this stage sponsor someone's visa from abroad to join me as an employee of my company (e.g. my mother who s also considered as a Highly Skilled Professional )
After a year, I plan to apply for PR which is where my next Q comes in:
Q3) can I apply to the fast track PR from Business Manager Visa (I already have 80 points on it so I can apply after one year as a fast track)
Mind you, all the above is subject to me hiring a JP assistant as my JP is very limited (hello, thank you, introductions and directions- and food ofc).
I do have the option to keep my current job and work remotely with the caveat I travel back to the UK once every 4 months
Q4) Is it possible to leave JP while on Business Manager Visa without it impacting my visa? how long for? I read some details on the website but its very unclear.
I will of course reach out to an immigration/legal councillor but this is just me trying to gather some information and forming a clear picture before then. I appreciate any input and sorry for the essay above.
by ProgrammerLanky1894