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Specified Skilled Worker (特定技能) in Japan: how it works

Specified Skilled Worker (特定技能): status (i) covers 19 fields and total stay is capped at 5 years in principle; status (ii) has no cap and allows family.

Reviewed on 2026-10-26

What is it, and which fields does it cover?

Specified Skilled Worker (i) is the status for work in a designated field that needs considerable knowledge or experience; (ii) is for work that needs skilled, expert-level ability. The system began in 2019-04 for fields that still cannot secure staff.

As of 2026-09, status (i) covers 19 designated fields. Status (ii) covers 11 fields as of 2026-04 (industrial products manufacturing only in some categories); nursing care, road transport, railways, forestry, wood industry, linen supply, logistics warehouse and resource recycling have no (ii).

What tests and requirements apply to status (i)?

A worker needs a field-specific skill exam and Japanese at A2.2 or above, confirmed by an exam: the JFT-Basic or the JLPT at N4 or above. Nursing care, bus and taxi driving and railway station staff have separate Japanese requirements. The worker must be at least 18, and no educational background is required.

A technical intern who finishes Technical Intern Training (ii) satisfactorily, with skills related to the new work, is exempt from both tests. That means at least 2 years and 10 months of training and either passing the grade-3 skill test or being recognised through the host company’s written evaluation.

Someone still in the middle of a technical internship plan generally cannot change to Specified Skilled Worker; only people who completed it, or people with unavoidable circumstances after consulting the immigration bureau, can.

How long can I stay?

Status (i) is granted for a period set individually, within a maximum of 3 years. The total time in (i) must in principle not reach 5 years, or 6 years where there is a reasonable ground to stay beyond 5. Status (ii) has no cap on total stay.

The 5 years is counted as total stay: time without working and time abroad on a re-entry permit count. Only approved leave is left out, such as maternity or childcare leave, or sick or injury leave of more than 1 continuous month and in principle up to 1 year, and the application for that is filed from 3 months before the 5 years end.

Status (ii) is granted for 3 years, 2 years, 1 year or 6 months, with unlimited renewals. Family members may accompany a (ii) holder as dependants, but not a (i) holder.

Can I change jobs, or move up to status (ii)?

Switching jobs is allowed within the same work category or between categories whose skill levels are confirmed as common by exams. A change of accepting organisation or designated field needs permission to change status of residence, and working at the new employer is not permitted while that application is pending.

Status (ii) is not reached automatically after (i): it requires passing the skill evaluation, but a person who passes can obtain (ii) without first holding (i). Time in (ii) counts toward the work-status years for permanent residence; time in (i) does not.

Staying 3 months or more without doing the activity, without good reason, can lead to revocation. The worker must also report the end of an employment contract to the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) within 14 days.

Fees, processing time and what changes on 2027-04-01

A certificate of eligibility is free and valid for 3 months from issue. Standard processing times are 1 to 3 months for a certificate, 1 to 2 months for a change of status and 2 weeks to 1 month for an extension.

From 2026-10-01, status-change and extension fees depend on the length of stay granted, from 10,000 yen for up to 3 months to 75,000 yen for 5 years or more at the counter.

The amended Acts take effect on 2027-04-01. From then, certificate applications for (ii) require Japanese at B1 or above, and bus and taxi driving and railway station staff in (i) need B1 instead of JLPT N3. The timing for applications made inside Japan is not yet decided.

What must the employer provide?

Pay must be equal to or higher than that of a Japanese person doing the same work. Neither the worker nor the family may be made to pay a deposit or sign a contract with a penalty for breach. The employer and its officers must not have committed improper acts concerning immigration or labour laws within 5 years before signing.

For status (i) the employer must support the worker under a support plan of 10 items, including pre-departure guidance, housing, orientation and Japanese study. It can be outsourced fully or partly. Status (ii) has no support obligation.

Official source

Rulebook entries on this topic

What it is

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Who qualifies

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Numbers and tests

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Periods

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Deadlines

Fees

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How it works

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Penalties

Lists and tables

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  • ISA publishes a document checklist for each SSW application (certificate of eligibility, change of status, extension), made of Table 1 for the applicant, Table 2 for the accepting organisation and Table 3 for field-specific documents (18 field sheets for SSW1, 11 for SSW2); an extension needs only Table 1 and Table 3.
    在留資格「特定技能」（出入国在留管理庁） · Checked on 2026-10-22
  • The accepting-organisation documents are split into Table 2-1 (organisations that may omit parts: listed companies, mutual insurers, innovation firms, firms with high withholding tax, or three years of acceptance record without insolvency), Table 2-2 for corporations and Table 2-3 for sole proprietors, and an organisation that has already accepted an SSW worker in the same fiscal year need not resubmit them.
    在留資格「特定技能」（出入国在留管理庁） · Checked on 2026-10-22
  • Core reference forms in an SSW1 application include the employment contract (Form 1-5), the conditions statement (1-6), the pay explanation (1-4), the medical check form (1-3), the employment-process statement (1-16), the organisation summary (1-11-1), the support plan (1-17) and, for entrusted support, the support-entrustment explanation (1-25); the contract and conditions forms must be drafted in a language the worker fully understands and signed with that understanding.
    特定技能外国人受入れに関する運用要領（出入国在留管理庁） 第5章 · Checked on 2026-10-22
  • Compliance proof for the accepting organisation covers labour insurance (premium-paid certificate), 24 months of health and pension insurance receipts or a payment-status reply, and national and local tax payment certificates (corporate: withholding tax, corporate tax, consumption tax, corporate inhabitant tax); sole proprietors submit the personal-business equivalents.
    特定技能外国人受入れに関する運用要領（出入国在留管理庁） 第5章第2節第1（1） · Checked on 2026-10-22
  • The ministerial ordinance lists ten mandatory support items: pre-contract guidance, transport on entry and exit, housing guarantor and daily-life contract help (bank account, mobile phone), post-arrival orientation, accompaniment to public procedures, Japanese-learning opportunities, consultation and complaints handling, exchange with Japanese people, job-change help if dismissed through no fault of the worker, and regular interviews with reporting of law violations.
    特定技能雇用契約及び一号特定技能外国人支援計画の基準等を定める省令 第3条第1項第1号イ〜ヌ · Checked on 2026-10-22
  • ISA lists memoranda of cooperation on SSW with 17 countries: the Philippines, Cambodia, Nepal, Myanmar, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Thailand, India, Malaysia, Laos, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan; people from other countries can still be accepted.
    特定技能に関する二国間の協力覚書（出入国在留管理庁） · Checked on 2026-10-22

Recent changes

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Information only. Not legal advice and not an official service. Check the official source and consult the Immigration Services Agency or a licensed administrative scrivener (行政書士) before you decide.