Extension of period of stay
We check your current activities, expiry date, employment changes, notifications, taxes and social insurance. Contacting us does not extend your permitted stay. Please tell us your expiry date first.
Consultations are available in Japanese only. Interpretation or translation may be considered for an additional fee, subject to prior confirmation and availability.
Smile / Shiga・Higashiomi
Work, live and build your future in Japan.
Smile Administrative Scrivener Office in Higashiomi, Shiga supports foreign residents, their families and employers with residence procedures and document preparation.
Find your procedure
Change of residence status
For changes such as student to work status. We review actual duties, education, experience, employment conditions and company documents. In principle, activities under the new status must wait until permission is granted.
Inviting family or workers from overseas / COE
We check employment or family relationships and acceptance conditions in Japan. Typical stages: documents, COE application in Japan, visa application overseas, travel and landing examination. A COE or visa does not guarantee entry. Employment placement is a separate service.
Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services
We assess the relationship between actual duties and education or experience, and remuneration at least equivalent to Japanese workers doing comparable work. Predominantly simple duties may not qualify. Current requirements and company-category documents are checked individually.
Specified Skilled Worker 1 and 2
We check the sector, skills and Japanese-language requirements or exemptions, employment conditions and employer compliance. Type 1 requires a support plan and its implementation. Ongoing living support is separate from application services. Type 2 requires individual assessment and quotation.
Permanent residence
We review residence and travel history, livelihood, dependants, taxes, pension, health insurance and timely compliance with obligations. Years of residence or income alone do not determine approval. You must still renew your current status when necessary while the application is pending.
Naturalization support
We help organize and prepare documents and confirm requirements with the Legal Affairs Bureau. This is not an immigration-office procedure. Applicants aged 15 or over must attend personally; for younger applicants, the legal representative attends. Overseas certificates and translations may cost extra.
From consultation to the result
Initial outline consultation: up to 15 minutes by telephone or 30 minutes in a meeting, free. Detailed document assessment is charged only after the scope and fee are agreed.
Initial consultation
Preliminary assessment
Quotation and contract
Collect and prepare documents
Submit through the appropriate procedure
Examination and result
01 / Assess
Check eligibility, documents and concerns.
02 / Prepare and apply
Prepare documents and provide support within the agreed scope.
03 / Separate expenses
Government fees, certificates, translations and postage.
¥11,000 + ¥77,000 = ¥88,000〜
Example: change of status — assessment ¥11,000 + application ¥77,000 = from ¥88,000 including tax. Expenses and necessary additional work are separate.
Service fees
| Service | Preliminary assessment | Application fee | Combined total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extension, no changes | Free basic check | From ¥33,000 | From ¥33,000 |
| Extension after job or other changes | From ¥11,000 | From ¥44,000 | From ¥55,000 |
| Change of status | From ¥11,000 | From ¥77,000 | From ¥88,000 |
| Certificate of Eligibility (COE) | From ¥16,500 | From ¥88,000 | From ¥104,500 |
| Specified Skilled Worker 1: change | From ¥22,000 | From ¥110,000 | From ¥132,000 |
| Specified Skilled Worker 1: COE | From ¥22,000 | From ¥132,000 | From ¥154,000 |
| Permanent residence | From ¥22,000 | From ¥110,000 | From ¥132,000 |
| Naturalization support | From ¥33,000 | From ¥165,000 | From ¥198,000 |
Scope, additional charges and important information
All amounts are in Japanese yen, including tax, for one applicant in a standard case. Amounts shown are minimum fees. Preliminary assessment and application work are separate services and contracts. Assessment fees are normally not deducted from application fees; completed assessment remains payable even if you do not apply. A standard extension without changes includes a basic check.
Any additional review or work requires prior agreement on its scope and fees.
Priority work, when necessary and accepted: 8–14 days before the requested filing date, 20% of the basic application fee; within 7 days, 30–50%, agreed beforehand. These surcharges do not stack and do not guarantee a deadline or approval. Complex job-related investigation: from ¥11,000; previous refusal: from ¥22,000; additional explanations beyond the basic scope: from ¥11,000. Multiple applicants, special translation and overseas documents are quoted individually.
Government fees, certificates, translation, postage and travel are separate. Specified Skilled Worker 2 is quoted individually. Payment, cancellation, settlement or refund after refusal and any reapplication are explained in writing before contracting. We do not charge twice for the same work.
Permission, issuance and examination time are determined by the relevant authorities. We do not guarantee the outcome. Application intermediation is provided only within the legally permitted scope and required registrations. We assess whether we can accept each case before engagement.
For judicial scriveners, tax accountants and labor and social security attorneys
We welcome referrals and cooperation concerning immigration procedures for your clients, including hiring foreign nationals, residence status and bringing family members to Japan. We carefully review the relevant status of residence and supporting documents, then explain whether we can accept the matter and the scope of our assistance.
We respect each profession’s role: judicial scriveners handle registration matters, tax accountants handle tax matters, and labor and social security attorneys (sharoshi) handle labor and social insurance matters. Our office handles document preparation and immigration application intermediary services within the scope of an administrative scrivener’s qualifications. For difficult matters, we consider cooperation with an appropriate professional.
We share information only within the client’s consent and agree in advance on the contact person, division of responsibilities, scope and fees. Consultations are in Japanese. If interpretation or translation is needed, availability and costs are discussed beforehand.
Contact and consultation (Japanese)
Higashiomi, Omihachiman, Koka, Konan, Ryuo and other areas of Shiga. Meeting arrangements, travel expenses and interpretation needs are confirmed in advance.
Consultations are available in Japanese only. Interpretation or translation may be considered for an additional fee, subject to prior confirmation and availability.
Contact and consultation (Japanese)080-1504-3726行政書士Smile法務事務所 ／ 岩村 伸二