Visa Procedure Details: Refusals, Appeals, Consultations, and Fees

When immigration refuses a visa, it is obligated to state the reason and hold a formal "hearing": the applicant is given a document to sign confirming they understand the stated reason, but arguments or objections raised at this hearing are generally not actually considered. Different immigration offices can reach different outcomes on an identical document package — for example, Yokohama and Tokyo have been known to diverge — because the result depends heavily on the individual case officer, a pattern corroborated by several chat participants. Yokohama is regarded as a particularly strict office, sometimes demanding a full client list and project timesheets, and it is generally recommended to renew in Tokyo when there is a choice of office. An appeal after a Business Manager visa refusal is possible as long as the applicant still holds a valid residence status, and is best pursued with a lawyer's help. On a preliminary rejection, or when immigration requests additional documents, applicants are usually given about one month to fix the issue, which can include changing office premises, but this window cannot be used to file a completely new application from scratch. Offices maintain a 相談窓口 (consultation window), but the regular front-desk staff (受付, uketsuke) may not know the answers to complex cases; it is possible to request a ticket for a direct consultation with an officer, which worked for one participant in Osaka. It is often more effective to file the documents first and then consult with the officer who receives the filing than to try to obtain guidance in advance. On refusal or delay, appearing in person at the immigration office reportedly sometimes speeds up the process, and submitting additional supporting documents — for example, evidence of an independent audit — can also help. A copy of previously filed tax declarations can be requested through the 申告書等の開示請求 (disclosure request for filed tax documents) procedure, which normally issues a copy stamped 控 (hikae, "retained copy"). Stamping practice differs by office: the Kyoto office has not been stamping such copies for about a year, since "everything is online" there, whereas the Tokyo (Shibuya) office will stamp a copy on personal request. A Tokyo High Court precedent from 2021, covered by Asahi, involved a successful court appeal against a visa refusal, with the court finding violations of Articles 32, 13, and 31 of the Japan Constitution. Separately, the McLean case is cited in the chat as the foundational precedent establishing that a decision on a foreign national's status can be made unilaterally by an immigration officer, reflecting the state's broad discretionary authority in this area. Visa-related stamp duties tend to increase over time, and the price in effect at the time of actual filing is expected to apply rather than the price at the time the documents were prepared, by analogy with past fee increases for the Business Manager visa and for naturalization (kika) — this is an observation from the chat and has not been officially confirmed. Finally, the "special period" (特例期間, tokurei kikan, 2 months) applies when a status-extension application is pending: if the current residence status is about to expire, it is automatically extended for this 2-month period, and this extension can itself be renewed on repeat applications, but family members cannot be brought into Japan during the special period — only the applicant may remain in the country under it. The special period becomes void immediately upon a refusal; after a refusal, the applicant is typically required to leave Japan within 2-4 weeks and does not retain the right to apply for a different visa during that time. Sources: https://www.nta.go.jp/anout/disclosure/tetsuzuki-kojinjoho/03.htm — Official National Tax Agency page on the procedure for requesting copies of filed tax declarations; https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/14502992 — Asahi article on the Tokyo High Court precedent for successfully appealing a visa refusal.