So far, the residency qualifications for each type of visa have been explained. Now, the visas and their residency qualifications will be explained separately. A visa is an entry permit issued by Japanese government offices overseas (embassies and consulates, which are the branch offices of the Foreign Affairs Ministry) in order to enter Japan. Some country adopts automatically entitle holders to reside in Japan(visa = entry permit), and some country adopts do not automatically entitle holders to reside in Japan (visa ‚ entry permit).Japan has adopted a system of law where visas and residency qualifications are considered separately. Therefore, after acquiring a visa at an Japanese government office overseas, a person needs to receive an entry permit from an immigration inspector when they enter Japan and have their residency qualifications determined. The process of acquiring a visa stipulates that a person must first apply to a Japanese government office overseas and submit the necessary papers. These documents are sent by the Japanese government office overseas to the Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry, and in some cases, on to the Justice Ministry and local Immigration Bureaus, where they are inspected and the results are then reported back to the applicant. Visas like the tourist visa are usually taken care of at the overseas government office only, so the inspection does not take much time, but applications for working visas and marriage visas ordinarily take several months. A person is required to submit all the necessary papers in the initial instance, so that the inspection can be carried out all at one time.

These were the general procedures for acquiring a visa before the revision of the Immigration Law in June 1990. It is still possible to apply in this way now, but the inspection process takes too much time. The Revised Immigration Law systematized the process of applying for Certificate of Eligibility for Residence Status. The method for acquiring the Certificate of Eligibility for Residence Status is generally called a summons. Someone in Japan acts as a proxy and applies to the immigration office in place of the applicant. The results of the application are sent by the immigration office to the proxy. This entry permit (called the Certificate of Eligibility for Residence Status) is then sent to the applicant abroad, who can go to the nearest overseas government office, acquire a visa and then enter Japan. Permanent residency and short-term residency applicants are not subject to the procedures of applying for a Certificate of Eligibility for Residence Status, because permanent residency is a status that is possible to acquire by living in Japan for a long time, and procedures for short-term residency are ordinarily quite simple. Foreign nationals who arrive in Japan from countries which have signed the Visa Exemption Agreement can enter Japan without a visa, unless they are planning to work in Japan for a some period of time. The procedures are quite simple because when they enter Japan, they are issued a short-term resident visa. People should be warned, however, that when they enter Japan without a visa, then they will not be able to apply for a change of residency status. Also, people can almost never receive a change of residency status after they enter Japan on a short-term resident visa. If they have a person who will act as a proxy for them in Japan, then they can apply for a Certificate of Eligibility for Residency Status, but if not, they must apply for a visa at Japanese government offices overseas.