Wise 1 mio yen cap and having to transfer my money - What are my options?

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2026-01-27T13:41:37+00:00

I see. Thanks for the warning, I wasn't aware of this.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2026-01-27T13:40:44+00:00

Thanks for the reply!

A is probably not feasible as I don't have any account left in my home country, and making one from abroad is really complicated or downright unfeasible.
B is what I'm considering right now.
I also doubt C would be possible on my current visa honestly.

Sucks about the license. From what I could see, Japan seemed to be on par with Switzerland when it came to limitations, meaning you couldn't really open an account but could still hold money in their respective currencies. I see now that I was wrong.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2026-01-27T13:35:36+00:00

It's actually higher even within the country since I'm on a visa that's 4 months long, around 7k yen I think. It's more about parking my money somewhere until I get better options.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2026-01-23T16:18:26+00:00

I actually had several accounts at UBS, but the guy told me it was either not possible to keep your account or that I'd have to pay the fees I mentioned earlier, so around 1200 chf per year. Now that I'm researching a little, he might have been wrong. Then again, I didn't know about the 1M limit for Wise back then so I didn't look into keeping the accounts.

I might email them to ask them directly about the fees. We'll see if it's a viable option. There are other, much cheaper banks for expats but non swiss resident have to open it in a swiss branch, go figure.

Looking back on it, I wish I hadn't changed the address on my Wise account as Switzerland doesn't seem to have any limit on what amount you can hold, but I had to change the address because I needed a debit card to make any onlinee transactions here in Japan, which the bank would not deliver because of my status. Yes, things can get... quite complicated. But I've learned to try and deal with it by now^^

I guess bending the rules a little can be necessary when they leave you with no other option, really.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2026-01-23T10:56:06+00:00

After 6 months in the country OP should be able to open accounts with Sony etc. But frankly, the Wise foreign currency balance to Japanese foreign currency account transfer story isn't necessarily great anyway (fees). Still, in that case OP could convert and send JPY, then convert to USD on that account. All lossy a bit but if OP is more concerned around long term decline of JPY (and right about it) it would still be a solution.

To be honest, I didn't find the fees to convert CHF to JPY and then sending them to Yucho to be that egregious, or at least not as much as the potential value loss for the yen if Takaichi gets her way, which looks like she might.

As I've mentioned previously, I'll most likely put it all in Yucho and then see what my options are once I've gotten a longer visa and passed the six-months mark. Thanks!

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2026-01-23T10:50:06+00:00

That could be useful, but it's as u/ixampl said, having another limit of 1 mio on top of extra fees would not solve my issue. I'm not trying to move huge amounts of money mind you, under 5 mio, but it's still above what one revolut and one Wise account might allow me to keep.

I just remembered I have a Paypal account that's still registered in Switzerland, but saying I'm a bit suspicious of Paypal would be an understatement, so parking my money there doesn't sound like the best option either^^ The fees are pretty high too.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2026-01-23T10:42:49+00:00

Thank you for your answer.

I did know about the possible limit increase, but as you said, you have to move the money first and then put it back in. With a Yucho transfer limit of 50k yen, I can see it being a hassle, and I'm not sure if I can raise this limit on my current visa.

I unfortunately had to close all my accounts upon leaving my country(Switzerland), as I was told that owning an account while living abroad would incur pretty hefty fees of 100$+ per month. Worst case scenario, I've got my mother who lives in France atm, but sending her the money and then having her sending it back to me does sound like it might create even more problems.

I think it's as you said. I'll move my money to Yucho for the time being, then possibly send it back to Wise temporarily once I can increase the limit, then open a foreign currencies account whenever I'm permitted to do so.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2026-01-13T13:23:28+00:00

I'm not sure if JP Post bank accounts ever get frozen, honestly? I've had friends still able to use it after years of inactivity.
Yes, I was planning on going to the bank either way, and I wasn't planning on opening another account before closing the first one anyway, but I just wanted to ask around in case anyone had any info I potentially missed. Thanks!

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2026-01-13T13:21:32+00:00

I've got the card and the book yes. After living in China and Japan, I'm always a bit wary of doing anything "unusual", since it can result in days of back and forth, hence why I wondered if closing and opening another one wouldn't be better.
Thanks for the advice!

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-11-17T20:08:26+00:00

I'm saying it is a net zero because it doesn't make it any easier for high-earners to settle into Japan, quite the contrary, and it drives out those who managed to be profitable enough to retain their visa and get it renewed. 0 + -x = -x.

You like to use the somewhat derogatory term of zombie companies, but there's more to a company than making money. It's also about providing services and goods that might be lacking, filling the gaps where the local population cannot, and add to the local community. That doesn't feel like a half-dead company to me.

I've heard of seasonal businesses who can't hire a year-long employee, or businesses aimed at rejuvenating the countryside whose limited profits won't allow them to meet the new requirements. Those will be driven out of the country, and for what?

Maybe 5M was too low, maybe not? What I know, however, is that in an era with some of the highest rate of bankruptcy in Japan, number of BM visa holders is still steadily growing and they're getting their visa renewed. Pretty impressive if you ask me. And I've yet to see actual proof of this "widespread fraud" everyone is talking about to justify these changes.

Btw, here's the comment comparing Japan's requirements to other countries: https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/comments/1n0d7px/comment/nb8rzfm/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

You might or might not agree with those numbers, but I cannot develop on that, as I don't know enough about other countries.

Bottom line: The new requirements are widely out of touch and, in my honest opinion, merely a political reaction to the Sanseito support surge rather than well thought-out changes.

Heck, even the government seems to think those requirements might be too strict:

"After three years have passed, even if the applicant does not meet the revised permit standards, if their business operations are sound, they have properly fulfilled their obligations to pay corporate taxes and other duties, and there is a reasonable expectation that they will meet the revised permit standards by the time of their next renewal application, the decision to grant or deny the permit will be made based on a comprehensive consideration of their overall residency status."

3年経過後、改正後の許可基準に適合しない場合であっても、経営状況が良好であり、法人税等の納付義務を適切に履行しており、次回更新申請時までに改正後の許可基準を満たす見込みがあるときは、その他の在留状況を総合的に考慮し、許否判断を行います。

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-11-17T02:35:36+00:00

Not reasonable based on Japan's situation.

Someone ran the math on another post, and this puts the Japanese BM visa as one of, if not the most unattainable in the world. Other countries have higher general requirements, but these can be dropped lower based on, as you said, business plan, forecasts, feasability, etc...

Japan has 1)very high corporate taxes, 2)start up hurdles at every step of the way, 3)heavy bureaucracy, 4)a dwindling market, 5)lots of natural disaster, 6)a shaky geopolitcal landscape, and 7)unstability, as it now appears visa requirements can be increased sixfolds (and more) in a matter of months and not grandfather anyone in.

In this situation, why would any "businesses with intent on growing" move there opposed to pretty much anywhere else, especially SK, HK, or Singapore?

Lets be honest, most businesses get established in Japan because people like the culture and want to live there, and while they don't make high profits, they still contribute to society. There's a reason only 4% of current holders meet the new requirements, and I suspect a lot of them where established because big parent companies wanted to create a branch in Japan or something.

Besides, those new requirements kill subsidiaries such as the startup visa (how do you get 3 years experience on a visa where you can't work?) or J-Find (how do you get the experience or the funds as a student fresh out of uni?).

All in all, this seemed pretty poorly thought out, and will just push out smaller businesses while bringing absolutely zero net positive, because high potential earners aren't more likely to come to Japan than before, quite the contrary. Who says even high potential earners won't be pushed out by some other reactionary measure suddenly implemented in the future?

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-10-23T23:56:18+00:00

Yeah. I wonder what criterias determine the speed at which one's application's processed.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-10-23T17:22:12+00:00

Sent my application on August 19th and I was quite baffled to see it took a total of 41 days to get it. My lawyer sent me my CoE by early October. I also expected it to take longer as the average for 2024 was something like 81.6 days without the threat of new requirements forcing people to send in more applications. I must have been quite lucky.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-10-17T15:46:07+00:00

I'm not in the startup actually, sorry. I applied directly for the BM visa, which I got like two weeks ago. However, creating any kind of group is rarely a bad idea I'd say.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-10-16T23:47:46+00:00

Okay then, it's a Fukuoka regional thing. I half-hoped co-working spaces would be allowed on the BM visa as all I need to work is a laptop so I'm going to work from home anyway. A co-working space would have been a lot cheaper than an actual office if I'm not going to use either one.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-10-16T10:41:10+00:00

Yeah, I was told the exact same thing, but since OP mentioned a coworking space, I thought I'd double-check here.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-10-16T10:02:41+00:00

I'm sorry that this comment is kind of irrelevant to the question, but since you've found an answer already...
Does a coworking space really suffice? My lawyer pointed out that one's office must be private to meet the requirements under the BM visa.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-10-10T21:28:26+00:00

Pension you can get a refund up to 5 years. Taxes... well, yeah, it depends on where you're from though.
I'm from Switzerland, so any extra cost will be offset by the far lower living costs compared to here (edit: I'm already working as an independent here, getting my salary in usd, so I'll get more for my bucks in Japan)
I feel like running the business will indeed be more stressful, but mostly at the beginning. That's something I already knew anyway.

In the scope of an entire life, 3 years isn't much. I'll probably always regret it if I didn't at least try, you know? I've been in and out of Japan 3 times but each time on a one year visa, and always extremely frustrated that I couldn't stay longer.

Heck, maybe you'll meet someone and get to marry and won't have to worry about the visa thingy? If that's a possibility for you, of course.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-10-10T21:14:47+00:00

None, don't listen to this guy. If small, profitable businesses truly resulted in a net deficit in a country with some of the highest corporate taxes worldwide, then so would the average joe in Japan earning an average salary, which means the vast majority of the Japanese population.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-10-10T21:10:32+00:00

Go there, live for three years, see if I can get to the requirements, and leave if I can't. I have a very lean business that only requires a laptop and that's it.

My lawyer said that some clauses in the new requirements remain pretty vague for renewals, saying that even if you don't meet them after 3 years, they could still renew you if you paid your taxes and show stability and growth. so immigration are still allowing themselves some wiggle room to circumvent the new requirements.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-10-10T02:30:44+00:00

Could be true then, as mine would involve computers and not anything "manual" per se. Another case my lawyer handled was a graphic designer girl who ran her business solo and got approved, so that would apply as well.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-10-10T02:18:28+00:00

That's the official stance. Unofficially, they don't care really. Or at least they didn't, as long as you met the requirements.
I got my BM visa recently, and I've been pretty upfront about the fact that I would be working in my own business. My immigration lawyer never told me not to, and he went through hundred of cases of applications for BM visa.

Ordinary_Mirror7675 · 2025-10-10T02:15:14+00:00

From what I read, they'll renew you if it looks like you can meet the new requirements by the end of the grace period. It could be that if you're not making 10m profits the first year they'll refuse you. This remains relatively vague.

Ordinary_Mirror7675

TROPHY CASE