This article is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails. Read the Japanese original（日本語版を読む）
As a rule, the fact that a full-time employee has resigned during screening must be reported promptly to the Regional Immigration Services Bureau, by submitting a correction or supplementary material.If you do not report it and it comes to light through an investigation on the authorities' own initiative or a request for additional documents, it may be treated as a false application, and the risk of denial becomes extremely high. In practice it is an iron rule that the report is made together with material showing your next move.
The only full-time employee, taken on just before the extension was applied for, has resigned while the application is being screened.
Because screening is carried out on the facts as they stand at the moment permission is granted, and because a resignation is very likely to be picked up from notification data.
Residence screening is carried out on the facts as they stand at the moment permission is granted.
At the time of the application on 18 May, it was a fact that 1 full-time employee was on the books, and the documents were filed on that basis, so there was nothing wrong with the application itself at that point. Once that premise was lost partway through screening, however, a gap opened up between the current situation and the documents already filed.
As a legal duty too, the company must submit the 「中長期在留者の受入れに関する届出（契約終了）」 (notification concerning the acceptance of a mid- to long-term resident, on the end of a contract) within 14 days of the resignation. Screening officers can view this data on the system at any time, so even if the company holds back from reporting, the resignation is very likely to be picked up.
Saying nothing, and then explaining that the employee has in fact left only after a request for additional documents arrives asking for the current state of social insurance enrolment (the list of insured persons), badly damages the screening officer's impression of you. That is why, in practice, it is an iron rule to make a voluntary report together with an account of your next measures.
It does not mean denial at a stroke, but the greatest damage is that the business plan becomes less credible.
In the operation of the amended law, managers who are already in place are not denied outright the moment they fall short of the amended criteria. Instead, weight is placed on the reasonableness and feasibility of the business plan going forward, and measures allowing some grace are taken, such as watching how things develop over a period of stay of 1 year.
The greatest damage is that the ground beneath the business plan you filed, which said that you would take people on and grow the business, gave way during screening. It becomes a reason for careful screening, with questions such as whether this company's employment and management arrangements really are sound, and whether the plan can be carried out.
Transitional measures are in place for an 在留期間更新許可申請 filed up to the day on which 3 years have passed from the date the amendment came into force.
Where a person already residing under 「経営・管理」 files an 在留期間更新許可申請 up to the day on which 3 years have passed from the date the amendment came into force (16 October 2028, 令和10年10月16日), the decision whether to permit is made in the light of the state of the business and the prospect of coming into line with the criteria for permission as amended, even where those amended criteria are not met.
During screening, you may be asked to submit a document that has been assessed by an expert in business management.
An 在留期間更新許可申請 made after 3 years have passed from the date the amendment came into force must meet the criteria for permission as amended.
Alongside the written report, present evidence that you are already moving on one of these: recruiting the next full-time employee, increasing capital, or moving premises.
Simply reporting that the employee has left may leave nothing but a negative impression. At the same time as you submit the written report (上申書), please present evidence that you are already moving on one of the following measures.
Start advertising for the next employee at once, through Hello Work, job websites, recruitment agencies and the like.
Show with objective data that, although the previous holder of the post left because of unforeseen trouble, you are recruiting again immediately in order to place a full-time employee as the business plan provides, and that you intend to leave no gap in the running of the company.
If you have room in your funds to hand or in remittances from your home country, starting the procedure to increase capital to 30 million yen (3,000万円) is a strong option. Submit a certified copy of the register or the minutes showing that you have begun (or completed) the increase in order to put the business on a firmer footing.
Note that, under the criteria for permission as amended, capital or total contribution of at least 30 million yen (3,000万円) and the employment of at least 1 person as a full-time employee are not alternatives: both are required.Increasing capital does not remove the need to secure a full-time employee, so please pursue this alongside Measure A.
If you stay in premises that double as your home, it may be pointed out that there is no space to employ a full-time employee on a settled basis. Reporting at the same time that you are looking for the next property (a tenancy) is also material showing how serious you are about the business.
Set out 3 points plainly and without exaggeration: the fact of the resignation, a brief explanation of the cause, and your plans going forward.
Trouble with employees and sudden resignations are real problems that even Japanese managers cannot avoid. What matters is how quickly and how honestly you report as a manager when unforeseen trouble occurs, and how well you can make your next move.
This resignation makes it more likely that your next period of stay will be 1 year rather than 3 years, but if you handle matters properly you can avoid the status of residence itself being denied. First carry out the paperwork for ending the employment contract accurately (issuing the separation certificate, and the 中長期在留者の受入れに関する届出), and start action on the next recruitment or on increasing capital in parallel.
If it comes to light through an investigation on the authorities' own initiative or a request for additional documents, it may be treated as a false application, and the risk of denial becomes extremely high. The company is also under a duty to notify the end of the contract, so the resignation is very likely to be picked up.
The company must submit the 「中長期在留者の受入れに関する届出（契約終了）」 within 14 days of the resignation.
It does not necessarily mean denial. For managers already in place, transitional measures are in place for an 在留期間更新許可申請 filed up to 16 October 2028 (令和10年10月16日), and the decision whether to permit is made in the light of the state of the business and the prospect of coming into line with the amended criteria.
Besides the 上申書, attach a copy of the job advertisement or the letter of informal appointment showing your next recruitment, a certified copy of the register or the minutes if you are increasing capital, and details of properties if you are considering moving premises.
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This page is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails.