Greeting

Tomoko Shimoda's recent photograph.

Welcome to the page of Bulan Legal Support Office VISA counseling center.

I am Tomoko Shimoda, Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialists.

My first non-Japanese client for alien employment was in trouble renewing his work visa even though he’s been working in Japan more than ten years.

A lot of non-Japanese people might have faced those situations, but I felt strange about it as Japanese. Also, I learned it is very hard for them to move to and make their life in Japan.

Fortunately, the client still lives in Japan with his family. However, if he couldn’t make it, his life would be totally different.

Applying for visa is something can change people’s life, so I have started up this website to help all people willing to get visa in Japan and make their life happy.

The process to get visa might be just the passing point for you, but it is a great pleasure for me to help a part of your life. I am looking forward to any contacts from you.

Tomoko Shimoda 下田朋子

Friends and Tomoko Shimoda

About Tomoko Shimoda  

Tomoko Shimoda was born in Kawasaki city, Kanagawa. She graduated from elementary and middle school in Japan, but she spent 5 years of her grade between 1st to 9th years in Lumajang, Jawa, Indonesia because of her father’s job assignment.

After she graduated from Hosei University and got Bachelor’s degree, she worked for the restaurant industry and experienced many positions like a manager and a supervisor.

At the age of 31, she was examined the intractable disease, idiopathic necrosis of femoral head and decided to leave the company and studied for Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialists.

In May 2013, she passed the exam and opened her own office.

From her experience, she mainly specializes in establishing and supporting the food-service business and the adult entertaining business, but she also consults on employment of non-Japanese people.

News & Topics

To work in Japan

For International Students who would like to work in Japan

Honestly, it is not easy for international students to get working visa in Japan. (“Working visa” here means Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services defined in the status of residence.)

Although you could find a job in Japan, you won’t be able to work without work visa. Thus, before you start the job-hunting, it is important to understand what kind of job helps you changing your visa status.

Immigration Bureau will check the applicant’s educational background or professional experience (more than 10 years) are matched with the work position at the company. Also, the position must be those contents below;

VISAJob DetailsJob Examples
Specialist in Humanities /
International Services
Those who are engaged in the field of law, economics, sociology, humanities or/and international and intercultural profession Interpreter, translator
Foreign language teacher
Regular position at general Japanese corporations
EngineerThose who are engaged in the field of science, engineering Engineer
Programmer
System engineer
Skilled LaborThose who are engaged in skilled profession Cook of foreign cuisine
You can also check them at the website of Immigration Bureau.
http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/

Also, we support to help you preparing all materials, including Statement of Reasons, to change your status of residence.

It is important to explain why Japanese company need to hire non-Japanese people and that might affect to the screening.

【 Generally, they are what you need to bring;】
①Original passport
②Original residence card
③Resume
④Original diploma, transcript of your Alma school
⑤A certificate of tax exemption
⑥Receipts if you pay health insurance or pension

⑤ and ⑥ are optional, but we ask our clients to bring if they have.

【 A sponsor company need to bring; 】
Those documents of the new company;
  1. A copy of a company resister (issued in 3 months)
  2. A copy of financial statement of the last fiscal year (Business Plan if the company is established in a year.)
  3. Brochure of the company
  4. Legal Record Total Table (a copy with certified seal)
    Employment contract, Notice of employment
    Statement of Reasons for the employment

    More materials might be required by cases.You can also refer the website of the Ministry of Justice.

    For Applicants who would like to change the job.

    *

    This page is for people who already have work visa, but think of changing their job.

    The process is called the application for certificate of qualification for employment.

    Let's say there was a foregin worker who worked for Japanese company with his work visa (Specialist in Humanities / International Services.)

    He still had 2 more years until his current visa expires, and he's changed his job and worked for a new company.

    The company doesn't know about hiring non-Japanese people, and he thought he could apply to renew his visa two years later.

    However, his new job wasn't engaged in the field of his status of residence. In this case, he cannot renew his visa and he would be considered he worked in other field without permission.

    This case will be huge damage for both employees and employers. Applying for certificate of qualification for employment prevents from such problems and helps work visa holder to change their job smoothly.

    Material needed;
    The application form for certificate of qualification 
    Passport
    Residence card 
    Those documents of the new company; 
    1. A copy of a company resister (issued in 3 months) 
    2. A copy of financial statement of the last fiscal year (Business Plan if the company is established in a year.)
    3. Brochure of the company
    Resume
    One of these materials (copy is acceptable)
    • ①Employment contract 
    • ②written appointment
    • ③Notice of employment
    • Documents that can be replaced to ① to ③
      Certificate of retirement
      Certificate of income and withholding tax

      Please come visit us if you are concerned getting work visa at the new company.

      About visa and retainer

      Visa

      There are some types of visa that a lot of applicant receives, as each applicant has different background and job choice.

      Retainer

      Please check below for your reference. Retainer might be different from each cases, and decided by negotiation.

      Retainer is normally paid in advance. (Half as startup fee, half when the process is done. Details are negotiable.)

      We usually re-apply until the application is accepted without additional charge unless the application is denied by some particular reasons which cannot be helped. (E.g. false declaration)

      type of requestretainerstamp fee
      Certificate of Eligibility for Resident Status 200,0000This is applied to invite non-Japanese people to Japan regardless of type of visa.
      Business Manager 200,000Explan at consultationType of visa issued when non-Japanese people established their company or become an officer in a company.
      Work Visa/Permit 150,0004,000Type of visa when non-Japanese people need to get to work permit.
      Certificate of Qualification for Employment80,000900This is for non-Japanese people who already have work permit and considering changing their job. This helps them renewing their visa without problems.
      Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident150,0004,000For non-Japanese people married Japanese resident.
      Permanent Residence200,0008,000This is actually difficult to receive, but it has a lot of benefits.
      Naturalization250,000Explan at consultationThis is to apply for Japanese citizenship. It takes long time and actually harder than permanent residence to be accepted. Also, this is handled by the Ministry of Justice, unlike other visa or permit.
      Changing the status of residence150,0004,000For non-Japanese people who already have visa and would like to change the status.
      Extension of status of residence60,0004,000It can be applied three months before current visa will be expired. All process should be done before it expires so early preparation is recommended.
      Temporary Visitor
      (Extension is included)
      60,0000For people from some specific country which needs to apply for temporary-staying permit in Japan. It might take time to finish the process in Japan so it is better to apply in their home countries. If the extension is needed for some special reasons, you can apply for extension and stay another 6 months maximum.
      Statement of Reason40,000-Sometimes the application is denied because applicant cannot explain enough why they need to stay in Japan. If Statement of Reasons is needed, we help making it with counseling.
      Retainer includes the fee for changing status or inviting non-Japanese people from their home countries.
      It doesn’t include tax.
      We will charge the fee to issue legal certificates or translating documents written in languages besides Japanese (if needed.)

      Counseling fee

      *

      First counseling (before making a request) is free of charge if it is held at our office.

      We charge \5,000 as a deposit and transportation fee if it is at outside.

      The deposit will be returned when you decided to request to us after the counseling.

      Process

      1. Please make an appointment for first counseling.
      2. We suggest an estimate from the counseling.
      3. Collect materials needed, and also make applications.
      4. When all materials are ready, we go to the Immigration Bureau with your passport and original residence card.
      5. We will inform you if the Immigration Bureau asks us some additional materials.
      6. When the Immigration Bureau finished the screening, we will visit them and give you back your passport and the residence card.
      • Payment is checked at the process 3 and 6.
      • We give you a copy of your passport and the residence card with our official seal when we keep them.

      Internships for Foreigners

      Internships are a part of the educational program that allows current students to experience a work environment before entering the workforce. Of course, this system (internship) is not limited to Japanese university students, but also allows foreign university students to gain work experience as internship students at Japanese companies and earn credits at foreign universities. Foreign universities = educational programs that offer a bachelor's degree.

      Through this work experience, foreign university students will not only improve their Japanese language skills, but also learn about Japanese culture and etiquette as a member of society. After completing the internship, they return to their home country to graduate from university, but many students hope to use their language skills to find employment in Japan or with Japanese companies in their home country.

      Additionally, with the globalization of human resource recruitment, more and more Japanese companies are looking to hire non-Japanese employees. However, it is understandable that companies are concerned about hiring foreigners out of the blue. Therefore, we would like to provide an opportunity for companies to hire foreign university students as interns to broaden their human resource recruitment.

      More and more companies are using the internship program to promote their companies to young, promising foreign university students, to connect them to future employment, and to promote internal revitalization and internationalization through cross-cultural exchange. Should this be of interest to you, please consult with us when considering using this program.

      Types of VISAs available for accepting foreign students as internship students

      In the case of internships for foreign university students, the status of residence most frequently applied for is one of the following:

      * *

      *The above amount includes the checking of documents prepared by foreign universities (Japanese translations), the formulation of training implementation plans, and other preparatory work for almost all the information required for the application.

      Contact Us

      Input > Check > Completion

      Name*
      Phone Number
      E-mail Address*
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      We will respond by phone only for Japanese number and only talk with Japanese language.
      In principle, we will send an e-mail in Japanese.

      Office

      Office nameBulan Legal Support Office
      Businessabout VISA
      get license to start Restaurant,Real estate business,Construction business,Pawnsh and others.
      adviser of HALAL food business
      Translator of Indonesian
      RepresentativeTomoko Shimoda
      location1-4-9 Higaxshi-Gotanda,Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo,
      141-0022, Japan Gotanda-SKy-Heights Rm 404
      Tel03-6875-8237
      FAX03-6431-9019
      URLhttp://bulan-solicitor.com/
      Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/bulan.legal.support.office/
      03-6875-8237