The published standard processing period (標準処理期間) for a Certificate of Eligibility (在留資格認定証明書交付申請) is 1 to 3 months, but Japan's Immigration Services Agency (出入国在留管理庁) reported an actual average of 114.5 days for Management Visa (経営・管理) approvals in October 2025, and the trend has lengthened since. Budget carrying costs against the observed figure, not the published one.
What Is the Official Processing Time for a Management Visa?#
The official figure most guidance repeats is 1 to 3 months for the Certificate of Eligibility (COE) stage of a Management Visa (経営・管理) application. This is the standard processing period (標準処理期間) that the Immigration Services Agency (出入国在留管理庁, ISA) publishes as a general benchmark across residence status categories, not a status-specific measured average. It is the number applicants see quoted in most public sources, including many immigration briefings, and it sets the baseline expectation before an applicant looks at actual outcomes. The full requirement package behind this status, including entity formation, capital, and the qualifying employee, is covered in the Business Manager Visa October 2025 reform guide; this post covers only the timeline and the carrying-cost consequence of it.
How Long Does ISA's Own Data Say It Actually Takes?#
ISA publishes its own monthly residence examination processing period (在留審査処理期間) statistics broken out by status of residence, and for the 経営・管理 (Management/Business Manager) status specifically, the figure recorded for approvals granted in October 2025 of the Reiwa 7 calendar (令和7年10月許可分) was 114.5 days to COE issuance. That is roughly 3.8 months, already past the top of the published 1 to 3 month range, and ISA's own series shows the trend lengthening in the months since. This is ISA's own published statistic, not a broker estimate or a client anecdote, and it is the number an applicant should plan around rather than the general 標準処理期間 figure. The gap between the two numbers is the entire reason a carrying-cost budget, not just a headline timeline, belongs in the planning conversation.
Why Did the Wait Get Longer After the October 2025 Reform?#
The reform effective October 16, 2025 raised the minimum paid-in capital requirement for the Management Visa (経営・管理) from JPY 5,000,000 to JPY 30,000,000 under the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (入管法), and the heavier scrutiny that has followed the reform tracks with the lengthening processing figures ISA has published since. A larger capital threshold means a larger sum sitting exposed during the examination window, which raises the financial stakes of every month the COE application is pending. Existing holders who filed and were approved under the pre-reform standard are not automatically exposed to the new threshold; the transition rules for that group are covered separately in the grandfather renewal rules guide. Anyone filing new after October 16, 2025 is filing under the higher threshold and the longer observed timeline at the same time, which is the combination that makes carrying-cost planning matter more now than it did before the reform.
How Long Does the Consulate Visa Step Take After COE Approval?#
COE issuance is not the end of the process; the applicant still takes the certificate to a Japanese consulate abroad for actual visa issuance, and that step runs approximately 1 to 2 weeks separately from the COE wait. The two stages should be budgeted as distinct timeline segments rather than folded into one number, because the consulate step is comparatively short and predictable while the COE stage is where the real variability sits. An applicant scoping total runway should therefore plan on roughly 114 days plus 1 to 2 weeks as the realistic floor, not the 1 to 3 months the published standard implies. Applicants pairing this filing with a newly formed or acquired entity should also confirm the entity itself will not create separate delay; a shelf or dormant company brought in to shortcut formation can work against the visa timeline rather than for it, as covered in the shelf and dormant company post.
How Should You Budget Carrying Costs During the Wait?#
Because the COE wait now commonly runs well past 3 months, the applicant needs a carrying-cost budget that covers the full observed window, not the published one. Three cost lines run continuously during that wait regardless of outcome, and all three are structural requirements of the status itself rather than optional expenses.
Key points:
(a) The qualifying full-time employee's salary: the Management Visa (経営・管理) requires at least one qualifying full-time employee hired in addition to the applicant, generally hired before or around filing, and that salary runs from hire date through however long the COE examination actually takes.
(b) The Japan office lease: commercial premises are a requirement of the status, virtual offices are not accepted, and the lease obligation continues through the wait whether or not the COE has been issued yet.
(c) The JPY 30,000,000 minimum paid-in capital: this capital sits frozen and undeployed in the business for the duration of the examination window, which is a materially longer opportunity-cost period at the post-reform threshold than it was at the pre-reform JPY 5,000,000 level.
Applicants structuring the entity with more than one foreign founder should also confirm how the capital threshold applies per manager before filing, since that affects how much capital sits idle and for how long; that question is addressed in the two foreign co-founders capital post. For a full walkthrough of how the entity, capital, employee, language, business plan, and office requirements fit together as one package, see the immigration service page.
Frequently Asked Questions#
Is the 1 to 3 month processing time for a Management Visa still accurate in 2026?
It is still the published standard processing period (標準処理期間), but it is not what ISA's own status-specific data shows for actual approvals. The Immigration Services Agency's own residence examination processing period (在留審査処理期間) statistics for the 経営・管理 status recorded 114.5 days for the October 2025 approval cohort, and the trend has been lengthening since, so applicants should plan against the observed figure rather than the published range.
Does the 1 to 2 week consulate step happen before or after the COE wait?
It happens after. Certificate of Eligibility (COE) issuance from ISA is the first and longer stage of the process, and once the COE is issued the applicant takes it to a Japanese consulate abroad for the separate, shorter visa issuance step, which runs approximately 1 to 2 weeks.
Why does the capital carrying cost matter more now than before the October 2025 reform?
Because the minimum paid-in capital requirement for the Management Visa (経営・管理) rose from JPY 5,000,000 to JPY 30,000,000 under the October 16, 2025 reform, at the same time the observed COE processing window has lengthened past the published 1 to 3 month range. A larger sum sitting undeployed for a longer examination period is a materially larger carrying cost than either factor alone would produce.
Conclusion#
The published 1 to 3 month figure for a Management Visa (経営・管理) COE application is not wrong, but it is not what ISA's own 114.5-day statistic for October 2025 approvals shows in practice, and the gap has been widening. Applicants filing under the post-reform JPY 30,000,000 capital threshold should scope their qualifying employee salary, office lease, and frozen capital against the observed processing window, then add roughly 1 to 2 weeks for the separate consulate visa-issuance step.
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.