Data through July 2026 · updated October 2026 · part of Japan Immigration Statistics
The Certificate of Eligibility is where most journeys to Japan begin: before an embassy issues a work, spouse, or student visa, a sponsor in Japan — usually the employer — must obtain a COE from immigration. COE volume is therefore the best single indicator of how much hiring from overseas is actually happening.
And it is exploding: 767,384 new COE applications in 2025 — an all-time record, roughly triple the level of a decade earlier — with 92.9% of processed applications issued.
What employers should read in this series:
- The 7–12% refusal band is where the pain lives. Unlike extensions (~1% refusal), COEs are genuinely screened: 39,189 were refused in 2025. Refusals cluster around category mismatch (job duties vs status), sponsor documentation, and applicant history — all preventable with pre-checks.
- The dip and the boom. COVID collapsed volumes in 2020–21; the rebound has been vertical, from ~294,000 processed in 2021 to ~737,000 in 2025, straining bureau capacity and lengthening queues across every procedure.
- Issuance rates drifted up from the mid-80s% (2008–2012) to the low-90s% — largely a composition effect as high-approval categories (students, technical programs) grew.
The full data
| Year | New applications | Processed | Issued | Refused | Issuance rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 340,419 | 353,270 | 280,261 | 61,462 | 79.3% |
| 2008 | 324,551 | 329,032 | 278,301 | 42,660 | 84.6% |
| 2009 | 264,994 | 273,989 | 235,755 | 32,207 | 86.0% |
| 2010 | 243,061 | 248,523 | 214,462 | 29,689 | 86.3% |
| 2011 | 234,054 | 238,270 | 211,462 | 22,359 | 88.7% |
| 2012 | 269,969 | 266,273 | 239,696 | 21,765 | 90.0% |
| 2013 | 286,935 | 282,428 | 251,894 | 24,087 | 89.2% |
| 2014 | 340,350 | 327,785 | 290,119 | 30,132 | 88.5% |
| 2015 | 392,673 | 384,582 | 343,736 | 33,269 | 89.4% |
| 2016 | 434,098 | 418,764 | 374,831 | 37,106 | 89.5% |
| 2017 | 485,016 | 481,120 | 422,871 | 51,031 | 87.9% |
| 2018 | 543,119 | 533,568 | 466,493 | 59,649 | 87.4% |
| 2019 | 600,919 | 591,858 | 522,680 | 62,064 | 88.3% |
| 2020 | 361,693 | 410,406 | 356,699 | 43,139 | 86.9% |
| 2021 | 304,773 | 306,878 | 269,986 | 29,830 | 88.0% |
| 2022 | 483,181 | 425,245 | 379,410 | 37,042 | 89.2% |
| 2023 | 682,563 | 647,393 | 593,280 | 44,396 | 91.6% |
| 2024 | 712,357 | 690,681 | 636,511 | 44,177 | 92.2% |
| 2025 | 767,384 | 737,275 | 685,268 | 39,189 | 92.9% |
“New applications” counts filings in that period; “processed” counts decisions issued (approvals + denials + withdrawals/other) — long-running applications mean a year's decisions include earlier filings. 2025 is our aggregation of the ISA's twelve monthly reports and may differ marginally from the official annual table when published.
Use this data
Download: coe-japan.csv (CSV, free to reuse with attribution). Compiled from the Immigration Services Agency's 出入国管理統計 via e-Stat; annual tables 2007–2024 and monthly tables through July 2026. Updated October 2026.
Cite this page:
Oak Immigration Services, “Certificates of Eligibility in Japan: Applications and Issuance Rate, 2007–2025” (October 2026), https://oak-admin.jp/japan-immigration-statistics/certificate-of-eligibility/ — data: Immigration Services Agency of Japan.
Frequently asked questions
How many COE applications does Japan receive each year?
A record 767,384 new applications in 2025, roughly triple the volume of a decade earlier. The Immigration Services Agency processed 737,275 COE applications in 2025.
What percentage of COE applications are approved?
92.9% of processed applications resulted in issuance in 2025; 39,189 were refused. The issuance rate has ranged between about 84% and 93% since 2007 — meaningfully stricter than visa extensions (~98%) but far less strict than permanent residence (~51–66%).
Why would a COE be refused?
The recurring causes: the job's actual duties don't fit the requested status (the most common trap), insufficient proof of the applicant's qualifications or the sponsor's business substance, inconsistencies with past immigration records, and incomplete documentation. Most refusals are preventable with a pre-filing eligibility check.
Where does this data come from?
From the Immigration Services Agency's official 出入国管理統計 annual tables (2007–2024) on e-Stat, compiled by Oak Immigration Services. The ISA does not publish monthly COE tables, so the series updates annually. The CSV is free to reuse with attribution.