The Certificate of Eligibility, or CoE (在留資格認定証明書), is where a long-stay application is really decided. It is a document issued by the Immigration Services Agency in Japan confirming, in advance, that you meet the criteria for a specific status of residence. The visa you collect afterwards at an embassy is comparatively quick.
If you are coming to Japan to work, study or join family, almost everything that determines whether you get in happens at this stage.
Who files it, and where
The application is filed in Japan, not at an embassy abroad. Who may file depends on the category:
- Your employer, for a work status
- Your school or university, for a Student status
- Your spouse or family member resident in Japan, for a family status
- An administrative scrivener (行政書士) or other authorised agent acting for any of the above
- In some categories, you yourself
It goes to the regional immigration bureau with jurisdiction over where you will live or where the sponsoring organisation is located. Since January 2026 it can also be filed through the Online Residence Application System, which most corporate sponsors now use.
What goes in the file
Every application includes the CoE form, a passport copy, a photograph to specification, and Japanese translations of any foreign-language document. Beyond that, the file is category-specific:
- Work. Employment contract, job description, your degree certificate and transcript, CV, and the company's documents. How much the company has to supply depends on which of four size categories it falls into.
- Study. Letter of admission, academic records, and the financial supporter's income, tax and bank documents.
- Family. Marriage or birth certificates, the family register entry where a Japanese national is involved, evidence of the relationship, and the sponsor's income and residence documents.
The sponsor does most of the assembly. Your job is usually to supply personal documents promptly and accurately, because mismatches between what you provide and what the sponsor states are a common cause of delay.
How long it takes
One to three months is the usual range, and the variation is real rather than nominal. What pushes a case toward the slow end:
- A small or newly incorporated sponsor with no tax filing history
- Categories with more scrutiny, particularly Business Manager and marriage-based applications
- Peak season, meaning the run-up to the April and October school intakes and the spring corporate hiring cycle
- Any request for additional documents, which restarts the clock in practice
The Immigration Services Agency publishes monthly average processing times by category and bureau. Checking those before committing to a start date is more useful than any general estimate. See Processing Times.
Electronic and paper certificates
CoEs are now commonly issued electronically. An electronic CoE is emailed to the sponsor, who forwards it to you, and you present it on a phone or as a printout at the embassy and again at the airport. Paper certificates are still issued and still valid.
Either way, the certificate is valid for three months from issue. You must enter Japan within that window. Miss it and the certificate expires and the process starts again, which is why a CoE issued while you are still working a notice period needs watching.
What happens next
With the CoE in hand, you apply for the visa at the Japanese embassy or consulate with jurisdiction over where you live. The standard processing time there is about five working days when nothing is unusual. See Visa Interview & Embassy Application.
A CoE is not a guarantee of a visa. If your circumstances changed after it was issued, or a document turns out to be falsified, the visa can still be refused.
Why applications get refused
The patterns are consistent, and most are avoidable:
- Activity descriptions that are vague, so the reviewer cannot tell what you will actually do
- Names or addresses that differ between the form and the supporting documents
- Entry dates or planned residence details that do not line up across the file
- A funding explanation that does not account for where the money came from
- Education or work history that does not connect to the proposed job
- Immigration history omitted, including past refusals
- Thin evidence of a marital relationship
- Translations that are inconsistent with each other
- Missing signatures and dates
The underlying principle is that the burden of proof is on the applicant. Submitting the listed documents is the floor, not the bar. A file that answers the obvious follow-up question before it is asked moves faster.
Where to go next
For the full document list by category, see Required Documents Checklist. For what happens after issue, see Visa Interview & Embassy Application.
Back to How to Apply.