The Atarashift Blog
Insights for working in Japan
Guides, interviews, and honest advice for international talent building a career in Japan.
The Atarashift Blog
Guides, interviews, and honest advice for international talent building a career in Japan.
A work COE for Japan took 49.8 days on average in July 2026, and up to 72 days before April hiring. What gets filed, and what slows it down.
How long does a Japan Certificate of Eligibility (COE) take? For the most common work visa, the average was 49.8 days in July 2026. That is the latest monthly figure from the Immigration Services Agency (ISA). Over the past year the average ranged from 49.8 to 71.8 days, peaking before April hiring.
The official guidance is one to three months. The COE itself is free, your employer usually files it for you, and it stays valid for three months.
Most people only hear about the COE after they sign an offer, and by then their start date already hangs on it. This guide explains what it is, what gets filed, what slows it down, and how to plan around it.
A Certificate of Eligibility is a document from the Immigration Services Agency. It confirms that what you plan to do in Japan meets the rules for a specific status of residence. For most office jobs, that status is Engineer/Specialist in Humanities.
It is not a visa. Think of it as the ISA checking your case in advance, before you apply for a visa at a Japanese embassy or consulate. The COE makes that step fast, because the hard part of the review is done.
You need a COE when you are outside Japan and moving for work, study or family. Japanese citizens do not need one, short-term visitors do not either, and people already in Japan use a different route. Change of status is the process for switching visa types from inside the country. We cover that route in our guide to transferring your work visa when you change jobs.
ISA's official standard is one to three months, but its monthly data gives a sharper picture.
Every month, the agency publishes average processing days by status of residence. We analyzed the 13 monthly reports from July 2025 to July 2026. For Engineer/Specialist in Humanities, the average moved like this:
| Month | Average days to COE (Engineer/Specialist in Humanities) |
|---|---|
| Jul 2025 | 55.1 |
| Aug 2025 | 52.6 |
| Sep 2025 | 57.5 |
| Oct 2025 | 58.8 |
| Nov 2025 | 63.2 |
| Dec 2025 | 64.1 |
| Jan 2026 | 59.5 |
| Feb 2026 | 71.8 |
| Mar 2026 | 69.7 |
| Apr 2026 | 68.7 |
| May 2026 | 62.9 |
| Jun 2026 | 51.4 |
| Jul 2026 | 49.8 |
Two details in ISA's notes matter when you read these numbers.
The clock includes waiting time. If the ISA asks for more papers, the days until they arrive are counted. So a slow reply from your employer shows up directly in the total you wait.
Refusals are left out. The averages cover approved cases only, not ones that were withdrawn or denied.
Japan's hiring calendar runs on April start dates, when new graduates and many mid-career hires join. ISA says work cases rise ahead of that date, so reviews take longer.
The data matches. The average climbed from 52.6 days in August 2025 to 71.8 in February 2026, then fell back to 49.8 by July. If your start date is in April, try to have your employer file by December.
Yes, by a lot, and the July 2026 report shows how far the averages spread across statuses.
| Status of residence | Average days to COE, July 2026 |
|---|---|
| Business Manager | 241.9 |
| Dependent | 70.0 |
| Specified Skilled Worker (i) | 64.1 |
| Engineer/Specialist in Humanities | 49.8 |
| Highly Skilled Professional (1b) | 38.7 |
| Intra-company Transferee | 37.8 |
Company transfers and highly skilled hires move fastest, since they often come from large, well-known firms. Business Manager cases take eight months on average, because the ISA reviews the business itself.
Family members also wait longer than you might expect. Dependent visa COEs took 70.0 days in July 2026, about three weeks more than the work status they rely on. If your family is joining you, file for them early. Our guide to the dependent visa covers what they need.
If you qualify for points-based status, the Highly Skilled Professional visa can shorten the wait and brings other benefits.
The rules let you apply yourself, but in practice your employer does it. ISA's work-visa Q&A says staff at the hiring firm may apply for you.
They file at the regional bureau that covers the company's location. A Tokyo employer files with the Tokyo bureau, for example, even if you will live elsewhere later. Paper forms must be filed in person, since mail is not accepted.
Many companies now apply online instead. Firms signed up to ISA's online system can file without a trip to the counter. Some firms hand the whole process to an administrative scrivener. An administrative scrivener (gyoseishoshi) is a licensed expert in state paperwork, visa filings included.
The COE itself costs nothing. ISA charges no fee, so if a company asks you to pay a "COE fee", ask what it covers. It might be a scrivener's charge, which is a separate thing.
Your employer supplies most of the paperwork, and you supply the rest. The exact list depends on the size of the firm.
From you, as a rule:
From your employer, as a rule:
ISA sorts employers into four groups by size. Listed companies and certain public bodies are Category 1. Firms that withhold ¥10 million or more a year in staff income tax are Category 2. Smaller and newer companies fall into Categories 3 and 4.
Larger employers send far fewer papers. ISA's Q&A says it plainly: the bigger the firm, the simpler the paperwork. A Category 4 startup may need a business plan, its accounts and more before the ISA will look at the case. We explain each group in our guide to Japan's four company categories.
This gap widened on 15 April 2026. Category 3 and 4 sponsors must now send in more papers. People hired from abroad into roles heavy on Japanese at those firms also need CEFR B2, roughly JLPT N2.
ISA asks for proof of language skill when the job mainly uses it. Its examples are translation, and front-line roles such as hotel front desks. Tech or back-office roles do not need it as a rule, though the ISA can still ask.
Most delays trace back to a small number of causes.
1. A mismatch between your degree and the job. This work status needs a clear link between your studies or work history and the role. A history graduate hired as a software engineer must explain the fit. Weak links trigger questions, and each question adds days.
2. Requests for more documents. Each request pauses your case until the reply arrives, and those days count. Ask your employer to reply within days, not weeks.
3. A small or new employer. A Category 4 company must prove it is stable enough to employ you. The ISA looks harder at its books and business plan.
4. The spring rush. Filing between November and March means joining the longest queue of the year, as the table above shows.
5. Health checks for some countries. Japan now wants a TB (tuberculosis) clearance from people from certain countries. It has applied to the Philippines and Nepal since 23 June 2025, and to Vietnam since 1 September 2025. Indonesia, Myanmar and China are planned, with dates not yet announced. The clearance lasts 180 days and comes from an approved clinic.
If your COE is refused, your employer can ask the bureau for the reason. Many refusals come from a gap in the paperwork that can be fixed, and a stronger second try can succeed.
Once the COE arrives, the rest usually moves quickly, in four steps.
1. Receive the COE. Since 17 March 2023, the ISA can send it by email. Your employer forwards the email, and you can show it on your phone. Paper COEs still exist, but they must be posted to you, which adds time.
2. Apply for your visa. Take the COE and your passport to the Japanese embassy or consulate for your area. The Foreign Ministry says a visa normally takes five working days, counted from the day after the embassy accepts it. Some consulates work by booking, so book early.
3. Land within three months. A COE is valid for three months from issue. You must arrive in Japan and apply for landing within that time, or your employer usually has to apply again.
4. Collect your residence card. At major airports such as Narita, Haneda and Kansai, you receive your residence card on arrival. You then have 14 days to register your address at your local ward office.
From there, you can set up the basics, such as a bank account and an apartment.
Build the calendar backwards from your first day. A real-world timeline for a work COE looks like this:
| Step | Typical time |
|---|---|
| Employer gathers documents | 1-3 weeks |
| COE review (ISA average, 2025-2026) | 50-72 days |
| Visa at the embassy | About 5 working days |
| Flights and moving | 1-3 weeks |
| Total from offer to arrival | About 3-4 months |
Ask two questions when you accept an offer. First, has the company sponsored a foreign hire before? Second, who will file for you, HR or a scrivener? Firms that have done it before file faster and answer ISA questions quickly.
Keep your current job until the COE arrives. Quitting at home before approval leaves you exposed if the case drags on. Give notice once the COE is issued and your visa date is clear.
If you are still looking for a sponsor, start with companies that actually offer work visa sponsorship. Platforms like Atarashift filter roles by visa support, so you only see employers ready to file.
ISA's official standard for the COE is one to three months. For the main work visa, the monthly average ran from 49.8 to 71.8 days between July 2025 and July 2026. Waits are longest in the months before the April hiring season.
The law allows it, but most people let the employer handle it. Your employer usually applies for you at the bureau that covers its office. Many file online or use a scrivener.
Nothing, since ISA charges no fee for the Certificate of Eligibility. Costs only come up if your employer uses a scrivener, or later at the embassy, where some passports pay a visa fee.
Three months from the date of issue. You must enter Japan and apply for landing within that period. After that it lapses, and you usually need a new one.
No. The COE confirms you meet the rules for a status of residence, and it is issued inside Japan. You still need a visa from a Japanese embassy or consulate, which normally takes five working days with a COE.
There is no public tracking tool for paper cases. Your employer or scrivener can contact the bureau handling the case. Online applicants can check the status through ISA's online system.
Processing times come from the Immigration Services Agency's monthly processing period reports. We extracted the COE column for each month from July 2025 to July 2026. The 13-month average of 60.4 days is our own calculation from those figures, and every figure here was fact-checked against the original PDFs. ISA's notes state that the figures run from acceptance to approval, include time spent waiting for extra documents, and exclude refusals and withdrawals.
The standard period, the absence of a fee, and online filing are from ISA's COE application page. Email issuance is from ISA's page on electronic COEs. The three-month validity is from ISA's notice on COE validity. Proxy filing, employer categories and language evidence are from ISA's work-visa Q&A, updated July 2026.
The five-working-day visa standard is from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Tuberculosis screening dates are from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's JPETS FAQ. The April 2026 documentation and language changes are summarised by Fragomen.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Every case is reviewed on its own facts. Data retrieved 24 September 2026.
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