[white_devil]

How exactly does visa-self-sponsorship work? Is it required that you've had a company-sponsored visa before applying for self-sponsorship (or can you self-sponsor your first visa)?

How is it determined whether you are allowed to self-sponsor?

[patio11]

It's complicated. This is one of my favorite hacking-a-non-technical system situations: you are allowed to self-sponsor if you can convince the examining clerk that you are allowed to self-sponsor. Points in favor: you are capable of writing a letter in support of your application which repeat the requirements of the Japanese immigration law and convinces him you pass them, you have contracts and invoices which demonstrate a level of income that the clerk accepts (variously phrased as "enough to live on", "more than the average Japanese person", or "3 million yen" -- he has wide discretion here) plus tax receipts which match them for the latest year, you have an attorney or someone in your corner who knows how the game is played, and in general your comportment and presentation scream Desirable Foreigner.

Can you self-sponsor your first visa? Do you want the technical answer or the useful answer here? Technically, yes, I suppose you could. It would help if you have a stamped letter from the Emperor attesting that your freelance web programming skills are the only thing standing between Japan and total annihilation. If you have that letter, I'd give you fifty-fifty odds.