Your employer or a previous agent filed your visa application? How to find out what was submitted

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1. Why you may not have copies

Many people on a work visa have never seen their own immigration application. This is common in situations like these:

• Your employer applied for your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) before you came to Japan.
• Your company’s HR staff, or a gyoseishoshi hired by the company, filed your extension of period of stay or change of status of residence.
• The company filed the application online, and you only received the new residence card.
• You have since left the company, or you can no longer reach the office that handled the application.

In each case, the application was about you, but the documents stayed with someone else.

2. When it matters

In practice, each new application is checked against the information in your immigration file. Knowing what was submitted before is especially useful when:

• You renew after changing jobs. Your new employer prepares new documents, but your education, your major and your earlier work are already on file.
• You change to a different status of residence, for example to Highly Skilled Professional or to Spouse or Child of Japanese National.
• You apply again after a refusal, and you want to see exactly what was submitted the first time.

A difference between applications, such as a different graduation date, job title or period of employment, is not always a problem. But a difference that is not explained can raise doubts about your new application. If you know what the earlier application said, you can write the new one correctly and explain any change.

3. First, ask your employer or the previous office

The quickest and cheapest way is to ask the people who filed the application. Ask for copies of:

• The application form, including the part filled in by the company
• Any letter of explanation (riyusho) that describes your job or your background
• Your employment contract or written terms of employment, and any job description
• Your diploma, transcript, CV and other documents about you that were submitted

The company may not want to give you its own documents, such as its financial statements. You usually do not need those to check what was said about you. If a gyoseishoshi handled the application for the company, the office may ask for the company’s consent before giving you copies.

4. If you cannot get them: request your file from Immigration

If the company will not help, or you cannot reach anyone, you can request copies from the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) under the Act on the Protection of Personal Information. You are the applicant, so you can make the request even though the company or an agent filed the application.

• Where: the regional immigration bureau that handled the application
• Fee: ¥300 per application, paid with revenue stamps
• What you need to know: enough details to identify each application, such as the date of permission and your residence card number
• Not covered: visa applications made at a Japanese embassy or consulate abroad

For the forms, the documents to send and how to identify each application, see how to get copies of your past immigration applications in Japan. If you do not have your old residence cards, first get your residence history. See how to get your Japan entry and exit records.

5. Plan the timing

Copies do not arrive quickly. Ask for them as soon as you know you will apply, whether for an extension of period of stay or a change of status of residence.

• Copies of past applications: by law, the decision on disclosure is to be made within 30 days, but this can be extended. Allow about 1 to 1.5 months or more.
• If you first need your residence history to identify the applications: allow 3 months or more in total.
• If you ask the company first: do not wait long for a reply. If you get no answer, send the request yourself.

For an extension, you can apply from 3 months before your period of stay expires if it is 6 months or longer. To have the copies in hand by then, start well before that.

6. What to check when you get the documents

When the copies arrive, compare them with your new application. Check in particular:

• Your job title and the duties described
• Your school, your major and your graduation date
• The companies you worked for and the dates
• Your salary
• Your address and family members

If something in the earlier application was wrong, do not simply copy it. Write the correct information in the new application and be ready to explain the difference. If you would like us to check your documents before you file them yourself, see our Document Check. For questions about your own situation, see our Written Answer.

7. Our Japan Immigration Records Request service

If you would rather not deal with the Japanese forms, or you live outside Japan, our Japan Immigration Records Request service can make the request for you as your agent. A gyoseishoshi identifies each application, files the request and delivers the documents as PDF files with a summary table in English.

• B. Past Immigration Application Files (up to 3 applications): typically about 1.5 to 2 months (about 2 to 2.5 months from outside Japan).
• C. History + Application Files, if you do not know when or where you applied: typically about 3 to 3.5 months (about 3.5 to 4 months from outside Japan).

Actual costs (ISA fees and return postage) are charged separately. The service covers your own records, and you must be 18 or older. See the service page for our fees, all plans and conditions. To apply, send us an inquiry.

If you would like us to handle your next application, send us an inquiry. We will tell you whether we can help and which of our services fits.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for general information only and is not legal advice on any individual case. The information is based on sources available as of November 3, 2026. Laws, guidelines and their application may change without notice. Processing times and how a request is handled may differ by bureau and by case. TKG Immigration Consulting Office accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of this information. In case of any difference between our English descriptions and the original Japanese texts, the Japanese texts prevail.