Two Tokyo startups – One Visa and Wovn Technologies – announced today that they are joining forces to help foreign workers in Japan keep updated with relief efforts and support measures over COVID-19. The will translate and organize notices and advisories from the government and private sectors into English, Chinese, Korean, and “Easy Japanese” so that non-native Japanese speakers can learn the latest developments. Translated updates are expected to reach more than hundreds of thousand foreign workers in Japan through the partnership with Tokyo-based foreign workers-focused recruiting agency Global Power in addition to 150 member companies belonging to Japan Shopping Tourism Organizatioin (JSTO). According to Japan’s Immigration Services Agency, over 2.8 million foreign passport holders are residing in Japan as of June 2019. One Visa has developed an online visa applications management platform, allowing Japanese companies to submit visa applications for their employees and manage when their visas will become expired and must apply for a new one. Wovn has developed an SDK (software developer kit) that allows mobile developers to easily multilingulize their websites and apps.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Image Library (PHIL), with identification number #4814.
Two Tokyo startups – One Visa and Wovn Technologies – announced today that they are joining forces to help foreign workers in Japan keep updated with relief efforts and support measures over COVID-19. The will translate and organize notices and advisories from the government and private sectors into English, Chinese, Korean, and “Easy Japanese” so that non-native Japanese speakers can learn the latest developments.
Translated updates are expected to reach more than hundreds of thousand foreign workers in Japan through the partnership with Tokyo-based foreign workers-focused recruiting agency Global Power in addition to 150 member companies belonging to Japan Shopping Tourism Organizatioin (JSTO). According to Japan’s Immigration Services Agency, over 2.8 million foreign passport holders are residing in Japan as of June 2019.
One Visa has developed an online visa applications management platform, allowing Japanese companies to submit visa applications for their employees and manage when their visas will become expired and must apply for a new one. Wovn has developed an SDK (software developer kit) that allows mobile developers to easily multilingulize their websites and apps.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based One Visa, the Japanese startup that helps companies streamline visa management for their foreign employees, announced today that it has secured about 450 million yen (about $4.2 million US) in the latest round. Participating investors are Zenhoren (Japanese rental guarantee obligation company), Seven Bank (a bank by Seven-Eleven convenience store chain), Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank, Canal Ventures (investment arm of Japanese system integration company Nihon Unisys), CyberAgent, and Anri. The figures include loans from Japanese Finance Corporation. Prior to this round, One Visa has secured secured 36 million yen (about $324,000 US) from Primal Capital and Skyland Ventures back in June of 2017 followed by 50 million funding from Anri back in November of 2017. That latest funding brings their funding sum to about 540 million yen. The company says they will use the funds at this time to accelerate advertising and hiring people to strengthen sales and marketing efforts. Regarding business partnership with the companies participating in the round, One Visa will explore collaboration potential with Zenhoren through the latter’s rental guarantee business while establishing the scheme allowing foreigners to create their banking account in partnership with Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank by means of…
One Visa Co-founder and CEO Alberto Okamura Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
Tokyo-based One Visa, the Japanese startup that helps companies streamline visa management for their foreign employees, announced today that it has secured about 450 million yen (about $4.2 million US) in the latest round. Participating investors are Zenhoren (Japanese rental guarantee obligation company), Seven Bank (a bank by Seven-Eleven convenience store chain), Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank, Canal Ventures (investment arm of Japanese system integration company Nihon Unisys), CyberAgent, and Anri. The figures include loans from Japanese Finance Corporation.
Prior to this round, One Visa has secured secured 36 million yen (about $324,000 US) from Primal Capital and Skyland Ventures back in June of 2017 followed by 50 million funding from Anri back in November of 2017. That latest funding brings their funding sum to about 540 million yen. The company says they will use the funds at this time to accelerate advertising and hiring people to strengthen sales and marketing efforts.
Regarding business partnership with the companies participating in the round, One Visa will explore collaboration potential with Zenhoren through the latter’s rental guarantee business while establishing the scheme allowing foreigners to create their banking account in partnership with Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank by means of doing so with Seven Bank since December. Gifu Prefecture where Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank is headquartered is also known for having many foreign residents working for automobile factories located in the area.
One Visa was initially launched as a service helping companies streamline visa acquisition and management for their immigrant employees. With the expansion of its service lineup to include education (One Visa Education), employment referral (One Visa Work), One Visa (visa acquisition and management), and One Visa Connect (living support), it will become possible to provide extensive support for foreign workers, from working to living or other every aspect of their whole lives.
Okamura himself has worked for the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Shinagawa, Tokyo and had a hand in issuing visas for some 30,000 foreigners. More than 400 companies have introduced it since the beta launch in June 2017. The company graduated from the 4th batch of Recruit’s Tech Lab Paak accelerator, and came in 4th place at IVS 2017 Spring Kobe’s LaunchPad.
See the original story in Japanese. One Visa (formerly Residence), the Japanese startup that helps companies streamline visa management for their foreign employees, announced in a press conference held in Tokyo that it has partnered with Credit Saison (TSE:8253) and Fuji Xerox System Service. Credit Saison will issue credit cards for foreigners while Fuji Xerox System Service will work with government offices to offer pre-filled application forms for official documents. In the past, it was difficult for credit companies to obtain the latest information on the addresses and status of work of foreign national users, so there were problems in issuing credit cards to them. Through the collaboration with Credit Saison and by linking the visa information of One Visa users, companies using One Visa can detect when the foreign national user joins or leaves a company in real time as well as the latest information regarding visa renewals, the result being a smoother process for issuing a credit card. Additionally, with the support of Fuji Xerox System Service, One Visa will allow their users to get a pre-filled application for an official certificate by linking with the information from their visa application documents. The format of documents differs depending…
Albert Okamura explains how One Visa can help immigrant workers. Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
See the original story in Japanese.
One Visa (formerly Residence), the Japanese startup that helps companies streamline visa management for their foreign employees, announced in a press conference held in Tokyo that it has partnered with Credit Saison (TSE:8253) and Fuji Xerox System Service. Credit Saison will issue credit cards for foreigners while Fuji Xerox System Service will work with government offices to offer pre-filled application forms for official documents.
In the past, it was difficult for credit companies to obtain the latest information on the addresses and status of work of foreign national users, so there were problems in issuing credit cards to them. Through the collaboration with Credit Saison and by linking the visa information of One Visa users, companies using One Visa can detect when the foreign national user joins or leaves a company in real time as well as the latest information regarding visa renewals, the result being a smoother process for issuing a credit card.
Additionally, with the support of Fuji Xerox System Service, One Visa will allow their users to get a pre-filled application for an official certificate by linking with the information from their visa application documents. The format of documents differs depending on each local authority, but Fuji Xerox System Service is currently in the process of standardizing the format for the 23 wards in Tokyo and in Yokohama City where the population of foreign nationals is particularly large.
The new building at the One Visa Education Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
In preparation for the revision of the immigration control laws that will go into effect on April 1st and created the new “special skills” visa requiring Japanese language ability, the company created a Japanese learning environment called the One Visa Education Center. The first center was established in September of last year in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and it is promoting a Japanese language learning business for overseas personnel in cooperation with Kansai University’s Ikeda Laboratory.
In partnership with Seven Bank in December of last year, the company established a system that makes it possible for foreign employees to obtain a bank account almost immediately upon arrival in Japan by linking it with their visa information. Previously this has taken upwards of six months post arrival. (This system will launch on April 1st with the introduction of the new residence status, but it will take some more time until the first user comes in.)
One Visa was initially launched as a service helping companies streamline visa acquisition and management for their immigrant employees. With the expansion of its service lineup to include education (One Visa Education), employment referral (One Visa Work), One Visa (visa acquisition and management), and One Visa Connect (living support), it will become possible to provide extensive support for foreign workers, from working to living or other every aspect of their whole lives.
One Visa Co-founder and CEO Alberto Okamura Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
Okamura himself has worked for the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Shinagawa, Tokyo and had a hand in issuing visas for some 30,000 foreigners. More than 400 companies have introduced it since the beta launch in June 2017. The company graduated from the 4th batch of Recruit’s Tech Lab Paak accelerator, and came in 4th place at IVS 2017 Spring Kobe’s LaunchPad. In June of 2017 it raised 36 million yen (about $324,000 US) from Primal Capital and Skyland Ventures in a seed round.
Translated by Amanda Imaksaka Edited by Masaru Ikeda
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Residence recently unveiled the open beta version of One Visa, the online visa applications management platform. It allows Japanese companies to submit visa applications for their employees and manage when their visas will become expired and must apply for a new one. Usage fee is 40,000 yen per company. Residence also announced that it has recently raised 36 million yen (about $324,000) from Primal Capital and Skyland Ventures. The platform allows companies to manage the profiles of their foreign employees. It will notify the personnel department when their visa expiration timing comes closer, then tell them automatically what kind of visa will be needed and take them into an automated visa application flow. Users can download forms in need for their visa application simply by asking questions, or can even ask a paralegal to conduct the entire process through the platform instead of doing themselves. According to the company, there’s an increased demand in managing visa applications for foreign employees at Japanese companies as the population of foreign visitors and residents in Japan are on the rise. About 1.6 million visa applications were made in Japan in 2015, which is 6% higher than…
Tokyo-based Residence recently unveiled the open beta version of One Visa, the online visa applications management platform. It allows Japanese companies to submit visa applications for their employees and manage when their visas will become expired and must apply for a new one. Usage fee is 40,000 yen per company. Residence also announced that it has recently raised 36 million yen (about $324,000) from Primal Capital and Skyland Ventures.
The platform allows companies to manage the profiles of their foreign employees. It will notify the personnel department when their visa expiration timing comes closer, then tell them automatically what kind of visa will be needed and take them into an automated visa application flow. Users can download forms in need for their visa application simply by asking questions, or can even ask a paralegal to conduct the entire process through the platform instead of doing themselves.
According to the company, there’s an increased demand in managing visa applications for foreign employees at Japanese companies as the population of foreign visitors and residents in Japan are on the rise. About 1.6 million visa applications were made in Japan in 2015, which is 6% higher than its previous year’s stats, while we also see a 18% increase in the number of foreign employees in Japan. There’s also the Japanese Health, Welfare and Labor Ministry’s predication that the population of foreign workers in Japan will hit 2.06 million by the year 2020.
Meanwhile, the visa application process requires expertise in application procedures and selecting a relevant visa type, as well as preparing relevant documents to attach for submission, while language barriers are also a huge obstacle in this process. It usually takes several weeks for preparing attaching documents only, and is likely to force applicants to wait for long hours at the immigration office.
The One Visa platform is now being used as closed beta by about 10 companies from restaurant chain operators and Internet service companies to financial institutions. Going forward, the team plans to enhance the service that will even allow users to report the employment status of foreign workers to the Japanese Health, Welfare and Labor Ministry.
Albert Okamura, founder and CEO of Residence, is an entrepreneur in his 20s, originally from Peru. Following his work experience at the Japanese immigration office where he has processed 20,000 visa applications, he made up his mind to tackle this issue.
Albert Okamura, founder and CEO of Residence, is an entrepreneur in his 20s, originally from Peru. Following his work experience at the Japanese immigration office where he has processed 20,000 visa applications, he made up his mind to tackle this issue.
Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy
One Visa 
Masaru Ikeda
Takeshi Hirano
