A Management Visa (経営・管理) does not lapse the instant a qualifying employee resigns. The risk surfaces at the one-year renewal, when examiners check payroll records and social insurance contributions for a continuous qualifying employee. Since the October 16, 2025 reform made that employee mandatory alongside JPY 30,000,000 in paid-in capital, a documented gap is a leading renewal-failure reason.
Is the Qualifying Employee a One-Time Filing Requirement or an Ongoing Condition?#
It is an ongoing condition, not a box checked once at filing. Before October 16, 2025, applicants could satisfy the standard with capital of JPY 5,000,000 or two or more employees; that either/or test is gone. Under the current rule, JPY 30,000,000 in paid-in capital and at least one qualifying full-time employee are both required at the same time, for as long as the status is held. That means the employee has to be on payroll not only when the initial application or the last renewal was filed, but continuously in between, because the next renewal looks back at the intervening period. For the criteria a candidate employee has to meet, see who counts as a qualifying employee.
Who Counts as a Qualifying Employee Under the Post-2025 Rules?#
Only employees in a specific list of statuses count, and a foreign national on a work visa is not on that list. The eligible categories are Japanese nationals, Special Permanent Residents, Permanent Residents, Spouse or Child of a Japanese national, and Long-Term Residents. A skilled foreign hire on Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services status, for example, does not satisfy the requirement no matter how central the role is to the business. This is a narrower list than founders typically assume, and it is worth confirming against a candidate's actual residence card before treating a hire as solving the employee condition.
What Does Immigration Actually Check at the One-Year Renewal?#
Renewal review looks for documentary proof of active operation, and payroll and social insurance records for the qualifying employee are central to that proof. The evidence set includes tax filings, payroll records, social insurance contributions, and customer invoices, all pointed at demonstrating the business is genuinely operating rather than dormant. "No qualifying employee on payroll, or qualifying employee not in the eligible status-of-residence list" is listed among the common reasons a renewal fails, alongside capital shortfalls and an uncertified business plan. A founder who hired correctly at initial filing but let the position sit vacant for part of the review period is exposed on exactly this check, even if the visa itself was never touched during the vacancy.
What Happens If the Qualifying Employee Quits or Is Terminated Mid-Cycle?#
Nothing happens to the visa on the day the employee leaves; the exposure accrues in the gap between departure and a documented replacement hire. Once the position is vacant, the company is, from that point, operating without the second mandatory condition, and every day in that state is a day that will show up as a gap when the next renewal's payroll and social insurance records are examined. There is no published grace-period day count in the current guidance, and none should be assumed; the mechanism that matters is continuity of the underlying record, not a countdown clock. The practical response is to treat the departure as an active filing event: begin recruiting a replacement in an eligible status immediately, put the new hire on payroll and enroll them in social insurance without unnecessary delay, and retain the employment contract, enrollment proof, and any transition documentation in case the vacancy period falls inside the window a future renewal reviews.
Key points:
(a) The qualifying employee and the JPY 30,000,000 capital are both continuous conditions after the October 16, 2025 reform, not one-time filing thresholds, so the position has to stay filled between renewals, not just at the last one.
(b) Only Japanese nationals, Special Permanent Residents, Permanent Residents, Spouse or Child of a Japanese national, and Long-Term Residents count as qualifying employees; a foreign employee on a work visa does not, regardless of role or seniority.
(c) Renewal evidence is payroll records, social insurance contributions, tax filings, and customer invoices together; a vacancy that leaves a gap in payroll and social insurance history for the qualifying-employee position is one of the documented top rejection and renewal-failure reasons.
A company relying on a single qualifying employee has a single point of failure on this condition. Where headcount and budget allow it, carrying a second employee in an eligible status, or cross-training so a departure does not leave the position visibly vacant on payroll, reduces the odds that an unplanned resignation collides with a renewal window. Two-founder structures carry a related but distinct trap worth checking separately: see how the capital and employee requirements interact when two foreign co-founders each hold a Management Visa. Founders currently renewing under the pre-reform standard should also note that a lost qualifying employee undermines the grandfather path in the same way it undermines a post-reform renewal; see how the transitional grandfather renewal actually works.
For founders structuring an entity and a Management Visa together from the start, coordinating the incorporation, capitalization, and staffing plan as one engagement is the more resilient sequence than hiring reactively after a filing is already in motion. Aplash's Management Visa and market-entry service covers that coordination.
Frequently Asked Questions#
Does my Management Visa get revoked the moment my qualifying employee resigns?
No. Resignation or termination does not trigger an automatic revocation of the status. The exposure is at the next renewal, when payroll records and social insurance contributions are reviewed for a continuous qualifying employee, and an unfilled gap in that record is one of the documented renewal-failure reasons.
Can I satisfy the requirement by hiring a foreign employee on a work visa instead?
No. The eligible categories are Japanese nationals, Special Permanent Residents, Permanent Residents, Spouse or Child of a Japanese national, and Long-Term Residents. A foreign national holding a work visa such as Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services does not count toward the qualifying-employee condition, regardless of the role.
What should I do first if my qualifying employee gives notice?
Start recruiting a replacement in one of the eligible statuses immediately, and get the new hire onto payroll and enrolled in social insurance as promptly as possible to minimize any documented gap. If a renewal is approaching, assemble the payroll, social insurance, tax filing, and customer invoice records covering the full review period so the transition is fully evidenced rather than left implicit.
Conclusion#
The 2025 reform turned the qualifying employee from a filing detail into a standing operational obligation, and renewal is where that obligation gets tested against payroll and social insurance records rather than against the original application. A founder who treats the hire as a one-time box to check is the founder most likely to be caught by a resignation at the wrong moment. Planning a replacement path before it is needed, and keeping the underlying records current rather than reconstructing them at renewal, is the difference between a routine staffing change and a renewal-failure risk.
This article is informational only and does not constitute legal, tax, or regulatory advice. Consult a qualified advisor before acting on the content. Last updated: September 2026.