VisaChiefYour Japanese visa,
done right.
Prepared and lodgement-ready in days, not the weeks of silence everyone else makes you wait through - for a fraction of agent fees. No chasing.
Three paths. One fast way through.
Study, work, or stay for good - the right visa is rarely the obvious one. The Chief finds yours.
From first semester to PR.
Three moments decide whether you get to stay in Japan - and each has a deadline. Pick where you are right now:
"My visa expires in months. I can't afford to get this wrong."
Sponsorships stall on technicalities. Skills assessments fail on missing evidence. The Chief nails every requirement for your occupation; your registered agent leaves nothing to chance.
- Engineer / Specialist in Huma...Engineer / Humanities
- Highly Skilled ProfessionalHSP (i)
- Specified Skilled WorkerSSW Type 1
"I just want to stay. Why does it have to be this complicated?"
Points, nominations, relationship evidence - a maze, with your future at stake. The Chief finds the fastest route that fits your life; a registered agent lodges it under their own name.
- Permanent ResidentPermanent Resident
- Spouse or Child of Japanese N...Spouse of Japanese
- Long-Term ResidentLong-Term Resident
The expert who's always got time for you.
Knowledgeable, thorough, always on your side. The Chief prepares and checks your application; a certified scrivener reviews and lodges it. Available any time, calm when you're not, honest about where you stand.
"You're not the first person who's felt overwhelmed by this. Let's take it one step at a time."
"I've seen what causes refusals. None of them are going to be in your application."
Done right. Done fast.
Your application is prepared to the highest standard and handled by certified administrative scriveners (gyoseishoshi).
The highest standard
Done rightEvery requirement met, every document evidenced, every detail consistent - nothing left in that causes avoidable refusals.
In days, not weeks
Done fastYour full application mapped, built and lodgement-ready in 24-48 hours. No appointments, no chasing, no months in limbo.
Expert help with your visa.
At a price you can actually afford.
From "I don't know where to start" to lodged - in days.
Tell the Chief your situation. Walk away with a clear path, a complete application, and a registered agent behind it - faster than a single agency appointment.
Tell us your situation
Where you're from, what you want, where you are now. Thirty seconds, no account.
We prepare it
The right pathway, every form, and your full document checklist - prepared for you.
Every detail is checked
Every form, document and statement checked for completeness and consistency.
A registered agent lodges it
A certified scrivener reviews and lodges under their own registration. You get confirmation - and peace of mind.
Everything you dread about migration agents - engineered out.
Thousands paid, then silence. We took the six biggest agent complaints and removed every one.
*The government's visa application charge is set by the the Immigration Services Agency of Japan and is non-refundable. The fee-back guarantee applies to VisaChief's service fee only and is subject to eligibility and our terms.
Everything an agent does - faster, for a fraction, or your fee back.
Agents charge $2,500-$7,000+, book you weeks out, and go quiet after you pay. Same registered-agent standard, none of the wait, none of the price tag - and you only pay if it works.
- No expert review
- No accuracy check
- No registered agent
- No guarantee
- You keep control
- Expert review
- No structured quality-check process
- Registered agent lodges
- Rarely a fee-back guarantee
- They hold your file
- certified scrivener reviews & lodges
- Complete application preparation
- Multiple quality checks before lodgement
- You keep control of your file
The government's visa application charge is separate and non-refundable.
One fixed fee, set before you start.
No hourly billing, no surprises. The government charge is set by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan; our service fee is fixed and shown up front. Every common visa, in plain numbers.
| Visa | Government charge* | Typical agent fee | VisaChief |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary Visitor Temporary Visitor | ~¥3,000 | ¥48,000 | |
| Student Student | ~¥4,000 on grant; Certifi... | ¥98,000 | |
| Engineer / Specialist in Huma... Engineer / Humaniti... | ~¥4,000 on grant | ¥98,000 | |
| Spouse or Child of Japanese N... Spouse of Japanese | ~¥4,000 on grant; Certifi... | ¥128,000 | |
| Permanent Resident Permanent Resident | ~¥10,000 on grant | ¥155,000 |
*Government Visa Application Charge (primary applicant, 2025-26), set by the the Immigration Services Agency of Japan - payable whoever prepares your application, and non-refundable. Typical agent fees are representative market figures (professional service only) and vary by case. VisaChief's price is the service fee only and is approximately half a typical agent's. All amounts in JPY and indicative - confirm current government charges on the Immigration Services Agency fee pages before lodging.
Free to start. No account needed to see your strategy. You only pay when you're ready to lodge - and it comes back if you're refused.
Start your application →All of the outcome. None of the overhead.
Premium care, without the agency overhead. No city offices, no layers of staff, no hour-long appointments - just precise, thorough work and a price a fraction of an agent's. You save on overhead, never on quality.
Pick your destination country
584 visa & immigration routes across 21 countries - explore who each visa is for, eligibility, costs, processing times and the pathway to permanent residence.
Japan visas, explained.
Filter by who you are. Tap any visa to open the console with it in mind.
Student
No direct PR; graduates typically switch to a work status, which then counts toward PR.
Cultural Activities
Not a PR route; switch to a work or family status to progress toward PR.
Designated Activities
Not a PR route; switch to a work status to build toward permanent residence.
Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / I...
Counts toward the 10-year residence rule for permanent residence (shorter via Highly Skilled points).
Highly Skilled Professional
Fast-track permanent residence after 3 years (1 year if scoring 80+ points).
Specified Skilled Worker
No family sponsorship and a 5-year cap; progress toward PR by upgrading to SSW (ii).
Permanent Resident
This is permanent residence; you may later apply for naturalisation.
Spouse or Child of Japanese National
Eligible for permanent residence after about 3 years of marriage and 1 year of residence.
Long-Term Resident
Renewable freely and counts toward permanent residence (often after ~5 years).
Everything you need to lodge with confidence.
Most refusals aren't about eligibility - they're a missing document, a contradictory answer, a wrong date. And a refusal can bar you from re-applying onshore. We make sure none of it is in your application.
Visa eligibility & strategy
The pathway that actually fits you, in the smartest order - mapped.
Complete document checklist
Exactly what your visa needs, organised and explained - so nothing is missing when it matters.
Professional review before lodgement
Checked and lodged by a qualified migration professional - your safety net against the small mistakes that cause refusals.
Your documents stay yours
Encrypted, private, never sold. Track your status any time and take everything with you whenever you like.
"I finally felt like someone actually had my back."
Real applicants. Real outcomes. The feeling they describe most? Relief.
"I'd been putting off my partner visa for almost a year. Every time I started, I'd hit something I didn't understand and stop. VisaChief walked me through the whole thing, and when the agent called to say it was lodged - I actually cried. I didn't realise how much stress I'd been carrying."
"My Engineer / Humanities was expiring and I was panicking. I couldn't afford a ¥226,000 agent but I was terrified of getting it wrong. The Chief told me exactly what I needed, the agent checked everything, and it was lodged within two days. For a fraction of what I'd budgeted. I wish I'd found this sooner."
"I'd submitted my Permanent Resident application myself the year before and got refused. This time I used VisaChief. The agent spotted three things I'd got wrong the first time - a date inconsistency, a missing certificate, and a field I'd filled in backwards. It was approved in eleven weeks. Worth every cent."
The things nobody explains clearly - until now.
Part-time up to 28 hours/week with permission The Chief checks the current rules for your course and flags anything that could put your status at risk.
For most applicants it's the Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / Inter.... University-educated professionals in engineering, IT, the humanities or international/translation roles with a Japanese employer. Typical processing: ~1-3 months for the Cer.... The Chief checks you against every requirement before anything is lodged.
The main route is Permanent Resident. This is permanent residence; you may later apply for naturalisation. The Chief maps your fastest sequence and what each step needs.
There's no dedicated post-study visa, but graduates typically move onto the Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / Inter.... The Chief plans that switch before your study status runs out.
It varies by route: visitor visas around ~5 working days, study routes ~1-3 months for the Cer..., and work routes ~1-3 months for the Cer.... The Chief gives you the current expectation for your exact case - and makes sure nothing about your file adds avoidable delay.
A certified administrative scrivener (gyoseishoshi). We prepare your application and run it through a thorough quality-check process first, so by the time it reaches your agent, everything is complete and consistent. Your agent then reviews the finished application, applies professional judgment to your case, and lodges it under their own registration. A registered professional is accountable for your case on every application.
VisaChief is the technology and the Chief that prepare and check your application - and it works hand in hand with certified administrative scriveners (gyoseishoshi) who review and lodge every case. So a real, registered professional is always responsible for your application, with the Chief making the whole thing faster, sharper and far more affordable.
We work the application until it's ready to be approved - every requirement met, every document evidenced, every date and answer consistent, with nothing missing that causes avoidable refusals. A certified administrative scrivener (gyoseishoshi) then reviews the finished application, applies professional judgment to your case, and lodges it under their own registration. No one can guarantee a visa - the Department decides - but if yours isn't granted, our service fee comes back to you.
They stay yours. Your documents are encrypted, stored privately, never sold, and never shared beyond the registered agent handling your case. You can view, download or remove them at any time, and take everything with you if you ever leave. We only ever ask for what your specific visa genuinely requires.
That's common, and you can switch. Run the free assessment to see your route and pricing with no commitment, then bring across whatever you already have. Nothing is lodged until you and your registered agent are ready - and you keep control of your file the whole way.
The right one. We don't earn more by steering you onto a longer or costlier pathway, and we have no commission arrangements with colleges or employers pulling you in a particular direction. The Chief shows every option you qualify for, with the reasoning, so you can see exactly why a route is recommended.
Stop waiting on an agent.
Get it right, first time.
Thirty seconds, no account. You'll know your visa, your price, and your next move - before any agent would even call you back.