Certificate of Eligibility & arrival, from offer to landing

What the COE actually is

The Certificate of Eligibility (在留資格認定証明書, zairyū shikaku nintei shōmeisho) is not your visa. It is a pre-approval issued by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (出入国在留管理庁) confirming you meet the conditions for a status of residence, for most readers, Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services. With a COE in hand the actual visa is a near-formality stamped by a Japanese embassy or consulate abroad. Without one, a work visa is effectively impossible to obtain.

The three gates: COE, visa, landing

Almost every confusion about Japanese immigration dissolves once you see it as three separate gates, in strict order:

Who files it, you don't

Your employer, or the immigration lawyer / administrative scrivener (行政書士, gyōsei shoshi) they retain, files the COE application at the regional immigration bureau covering their office. You cannot file it from abroad yourself. This is why HR asks you for documents weeks before your start date: they're assembling the packet.

Why a responsive employer matters

A company that files quickly and cleanly is one of the best signals of an employer worth joining. Chasing a COE through a disorganised HR team is one of the most common, and most avoidable, sources of delay. If your start date is slipping because the company hasn't filed, that is a yellow flag about how the rest of the job will run.

The real timeline (2–4 months end to end)

Plan for the COE alone to take 1–3 months from filing to issuance, then add the embassy visa step and your own logistics. A realistic end-to-end expectation from signed offer to first day in Tokyo is 2 to 4 months.

Digital COE, the 2023 shortcut

Since March 2023, Japan issues a Digital Certificate of Eligibility, the COE delivered as a PDF by email rather than a physical sheet couriered internationally. If your employer opts into the digital COE, you skip the 1–2 week international mail leg entirely: they email you the PDF and you take it (printed, plus the reference) to the embassy. Ask your HR explicitly whether they're issuing a digital or paper COE; it can be the difference of a week or more, and a digital COE can't get lost in transit.

Documents your employer will ask for

• Passport photo page (often a full scan).
• Photo to spec, 4cm × 3cm, taken within 3 months, plain background.
• Degree certificate / diploma, the Engineer/Specialist visa rests on a relevant degree or 10+ years of relevant experience. Keep an official copy.
• CV / résumé in the company's format.
• Sometimes: a diploma/transcript translation, professional certificates, or a short written explanation of how your degree relates to the role (immigration wants the job to match your background).

Documents to bring for yourself

Separate from the COE packet, pack a "bureaucracy kit" you'll draw on for months:

• 10–15 spare passport photos (every application wants one).
• International Driving Permit (valid 1 year) if you might drive; after that you need to convert to a Japanese licence (外免切替).
• Vaccination / medical records, and a few months of any prescription medication with its generic name (some common Western meds are restricted, check before flying; ADHD stimulants in particular need a yakkan shoumei import certificate).
• A credit card from home that works abroad, plus enough cash/forex for 4–6 months of move-in costs (Japanese payroll lags; see the relocation budget calculator).
• Digital + paper copies of your degree, birth certificate, and (if relevant) marriage certificate, ideally with certified translations for dependents.

Turning the COE into a visa

Once you have the COE (paper or digital), take it plus your passport, the embassy's visa application form, and a photo to the Japanese embassy/consulate with jurisdiction over your residence. The visa is usually issued in about 5 business days. It is single-entry and valid for 3 months, you must enter Japan within 3 months of issuance. Don't apply until your move date is reasonably locked.

At the airport, landing permission

At a major airport (Haneda, Narita, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka) immigration will:

1. Check your passport, visa, and COE.
2. Take your photo and fingerprints.
3. Issue your Residence Card (在留カード) on the spot at those major airports. At smaller ports of entry it is mailed to your registered address later.

Use the Visit Japan Web service to pre-register immigration and customs before you fly, it produces QR codes that speed the airport queues considerably.

Your Residence Card, carry it always

The Residence Card is your single most important document in Japan, and by law you must carry it at all times. It states your status of residence, period of stay, work eligibility, and (after you register) your address on the back. You'll show it constantly: ward office, phone contract, bank, even some gyms.

The 14-day clock (¥200,000 fine)

From the day you move into your address, you have 14 days to register it at the local ward/municipal office by filing a move-in notification (転入届). This is not optional paperwork: failing to register your residence can draw a fine of up to ¥200,000 under the Immigration Control Act, plus up to ¥50,000 under the Basic Resident Registration Act. More practically, the registration is the keystone that unlocks health insurance, pension, My Number, and your ability to open a bank account, so missing it stalls everything. See the dedicated ward office guide for the counter-by-counter walkthrough.

Arrival-week sequence

Order matters because each step unlocks the next:

1. Secure an address, corporate housing, a share house, or a short lease. You need one to register.
2. Ward office (within 14 days) → residence record (jūminhyō), health insurance + pension enrolment, My Number issued.
3. Phone number, a foreigner-friendly SIM works before you have a bank account.
4. Bank account, now that you have an address + phone + residence card.
5. Give your employer your My Number and bank details for payroll.

Common mistakes that cost weeks

• Applying for the embassy visa too early, it expires in 3 months; time it to your actual departure.
• No address on arrival, you can't register, bank, or get a normal SIM. Book a share house or use corporate housing for week one.
• Leaving the diploma behind, re-ordering from abroad can derail a renewal.
• Bringing restricted medication without a yakkan shoumei, it can be confiscated at customs.
• Assuming salary lands immediately, first pay can be 4–6 weeks out; that plus move-in costs makes month one the tightest cash window of the whole move.

Printable arrival checklist

• ☐ COE received (digital PDF or paper) and visa stamped in passport
• ☐ Visit Japan Web pre-registration done
• ☐ Residence Card received at airport; carry it always
• ☐ Address secured (corporate housing / share house / lease)
• ☐ Within 14 days: ward office → jūminhyō, NHI/pension, My Number
• ☐ A few jūminhyō copies in hand for bank/phone
• ☐ Japanese phone number active
• ☐ Bank account opened
• ☐ My Number + bank details given to employer
• ☐ Suica/PASMO + a cashless app (PayPay) set up