In June 2020, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party proposed bringing convenience store work under the scope of the Specified Skilled Worker visa. The idea sparked plenty of discussion among people hoping to move to Japan, since qualifying for a visa through convenience store work would lower the bar for relocating to the country considerably. Convenience stores are not yet covered, but as of the March 29, 2024 cabinet decision, there are 16 industries classified as specified industry fields — the four fields added at that time were automobile transportation, railway, forestry and the timber industry — including food service and construction. If you hold a recognized skill in one of these fields, you can apply for a Specified Skilled Worker visa to work and live in Japan.
This article walks through which industries the Specified Skilled Worker visa covers, the application process, and how the underlying skills are assessed.
What Is the Specified Skilled Worker Visa?
Japan’s Specified Skilled Worker visa is a status the Japanese government created in April 2019 to address a worsening labor shortage. Its eligibility bar is lower than that of a general work visa: passing the relevant exam is enough to apply. Not every skill counts, though. Only skills classified under a “specified industry field” qualify as a specified skill.
Specified Skilled Worker Is a Type of Status of Residence
Before working or studying in Japan, you need to apply to the Japanese government for permission to enter and stay. Japan’s immigration system has two separate elements: a visa, and a status of residence. The visa is the document that lets you enter Japan; the status of residence is the authorization that governs what you may do while you are there. If you hold “Student” status, for example, you may engage in study-related activities in Japan.
There are currently 29 statuses of residence, and “Specified Skilled Worker” is one of them. Holding this status lets you work in the field tied to your specified skill. For readability, this guide uses the term “Specified Skilled Worker visa” to refer to this status of residence.
Features of the Specified Skilled Worker Visa
Like holders of an ordinary work visa, Specified Skilled Worker visa holders may work and reside in Japan, and their permitted scope of work is broader. In the food service industry, for example, they may take on store management or customer service duties that the Japanese government classifies as “simple labor” — work that ordinary work visa categories typically exclude.
The bar for the Specified Skilled Worker visa is also lower than for a general work visa. A general work visa normally requires more than 10 years of relevant work experience, or a university degree related to the job. The Specified Skilled Worker visa instead requires just 3 years of work experience, or passing the specified skill exam.
The Specified Skilled Worker visa comes in two categories — No. 1 and No. 2 — which differ in the skill level required and in the residence restrictions that apply.
The 14 Specified Industry Fields
Not every skill qualifies as a specified skill. As of July 2020, skills in 14 industries were recognized as specified skills. These 14 industries are known as the specified industry fields.
The 14 specified industry fields and the related job types are shown below.
| Specified Industry Field | Related Specified Skill Job Types |
|---|---|
| Nursing care | Physical care (bathing, feeding, help with elimination, etc.) and related support work |
| Building cleaning | Cleaning work inside buildings |
| Material processing industry | Casting, forging, machine inspection, welding, metal stamping, forging, die casting, plating, machine maintenance, machining, aluminum anodizing, painting, and related work |
| Industrial machinery manufacturing | Casting, forging, welding, painting, ironwork, forging, die casting, precision machining, electrical equipment assembly, machine inspection, printed circuit board manufacturing, industrial packaging, metal stamping, machine maintenance, plastic molding, machining, plating, electronic equipment assembly, and related work |
| Electronics and electrical/information industries | Machining, metal stamping, machine maintenance, electronic equipment assembly, painting, electrical equipment assembly, welding, ironwork, plating, processing, printed circuit board manufacturing, industrial packaging, plastic molding, and related work |
| Construction | Formwork, plastering, concrete pumping, tunnel boring, construction machinery manufacturing, earthwork, roofing, cabling, reinforcement work, rebar joining, interior and exterior finishing, and related work |
| Shipbuilding and ship machinery | Welding, painting, ironwork, processing, machining, electrical equipment assembly, and related work |
| Automobile maintenance | Routine vehicle inspection and maintenance, periodic maintenance, disassembly and repair, and related work |
| Aviation | Airport ground handling (ground support driving, baggage and cargo handling, etc.) or maintenance of aircraft and related equipment |
| Accommodation | General hotel or inn services, such as front-desk reception, guest services, restaurant service, and hotel or inn operations and promotion |
| Agriculture | Crop cultivation or livestock farming work |
| Fisheries | Fishing or aquaculture work |
| Food and beverage manufacturing | General food and beverage manufacturing work |
| Food service | General restaurant work (cooking, customer service, store management, etc.) |
Specified Skilled Worker (i) Visa
Overview
To apply for the Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa, you need a specified skill under one of the specified industry fields, at a level described as “considerable.” “Considerable” means a level equivalent to that of a worker with around 3 years of work experience.
Compared with the 10 years of relevant work experience a general work visa normally requires, the Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa has a lower bar to entry. At the same time, it carries more residence restrictions than a general work visa.
Application Requirements
To demonstrate that you hold a skill at the “considerable” level, you need to pass both the relevant skills exam and a Japanese-language exam before applying for the Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa.
The skills exam is organized by specified skill category. Once you pass, you may only take on work that falls within the scope of that exam. If you pass the “welding” exam, for example, you may only take welding-related work — not machining, plating, or nursing care work.
The specified skill exam is not currently offered in every country, so if it is not available where you live, you will need to travel to Japan to sit it.
There are two Japanese-language exams: the JLPT (Japanese-Language Proficiency Test) and the JFT-Basic (Japan Foundation Test for Basic Japanese). To apply for the Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa, you need JLPT N4 or above, or JFT-Basic A2 or above. The JLPT is held regularly in many countries around the world, so you do not need to travel to Japan specifically to take it.
Exemptions
Completing 3 years or more of Technical Intern Training in Japan exempts you from the specified skill exam for the Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa. This exemption mainly benefits people from countries that have signed a technical intern training agreement with Japan; Hong Kong and Taiwan currently have no such agreement with Japan, so few applicants from either place are likely to qualify under this route.
Certain job types also carry their own special exam exemptions. For example, completing a “care worker training program” (kaigo fukushishi yōsei kōsu) at a Japanese vocational school or university lets you apply directly for the Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa in the nursing care field.
Residence Limits
A Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa holder may reside in Japan for a maximum of 5 years. If you want to keep living in Japan after that, you need to move to the Specified Skilled Worker (ii) visa, a general work visa, or a spouse visa through marriage to a Japanese national or permanent resident. If none of those routes is available, you will have no choice but to leave Japan.
The Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa also does little to help with an application for Japanese permanent residency. Your spouse, moreover, may not come to Japan as an accompanying family member.
Application Process
To obtain the Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa, you first need to pass the relevant skills exam and the Japanese-language exam. Once you sign a written employment contract with a suitable Japanese company, you can proceed with the visa application.
At the interview stage, the company may ask you to present your exam certificates to confirm your eligibility for the Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa, so it is worth preparing these documents in advance.
When applying for the Specified Skilled Worker visa, in addition to your personal documents, the company also needs to submit documents such as a statement of reasons for hiring and financial statements. The process, from preparing documents to obtaining the visa, generally takes around 4 to 6 months.
Specified Skilled Worker (ii) Visa
Overview
The Specified Skilled Worker (ii) visa offers better treatment than the No. 1 visa in several respects, including the maximum period of stay and the ability to bring family members. At the same time, its application requirements are stricter, and fewer specified skills qualify for it than for the No. 1 visa.
To apply for the Specified Skilled Worker (ii) visa, you need to demonstrate “proficient” skill in the relevant job type to the Japanese government.
Fewer Residence Restrictions Than No. 1
Unlike the No. 1 visa, the Specified Skilled Worker (ii) visa has no cap on the number of renewals. As long as you remain continuously employed by a Japanese company in a specified industry field, you can, in principle, renew the visa indefinitely.
In addition, after residing in Japan for 10 years or more under the No. 2 visa, you may apply for Japanese permanent residency. This means you can continue living in Japan after retirement. Your spouse, too, may come to Japan as an accompanying family member.
None of these rights is available to a Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa holder.
Applicable Industries
Although the Specified Skilled Worker (ii) visa carries fewer residence restrictions than the No. 1 visa, not every specified skill qualifies for it. The Specified Skilled Worker (ii) visa now covers 11 fields: construction, shipbuilding and ship machinery, building cleaning, industrial products manufacturing, automobile maintenance, aviation, accommodation, agriculture, fisheries, food and beverage manufacturing, and food service — only nursing care is excluded, as it has its own separate path to permanent residency, and the four fields added in 2024 (automobile transportation, railway, forestry and the timber industry) are not yet eligible for category (ii).
Application Requirements
To obtain the Specified Skilled Worker (ii) visa, you need to meet both of the following conditions:
- Have work experience at a supervisory or management level
- Pass the Specified Skilled Worker (ii) skills exam
What counts as “supervisory or management-level work experience”? In construction, for example, you need experience supervising and directing construction workers and managing projects. Working in Japan under the No. 1 visa for several years first, to build up this experience, is one reasonable path toward the No. 2 visa.
As for the exam, the Specified Skilled Worker (ii) skills exam was due to be held for the first time during the 2021 fiscal year, but at the time of writing, the Japanese government had not yet published details of the exam.
Summary
To address its labor shortage, the Japanese government introduced a new visa category in April 2019: the Specified Skilled Worker visa. Its bar to entry is lower than that of a general work visa — 3 years of work experience, or an equivalent skill level, is enough to apply.
The Specified Skilled Worker visa is split into two categories, No. 1 and No. 2. The No. 1 visa requires a lower skill level but comes with a maximum period of stay and cannot include an accompanying spouse. The table below summarizes the differences between the two.
| Specified Skilled Worker (i) | Specified Skilled Worker (ii) | |
|---|---|---|
| Skill level required | Considerable | Proficient |
| Japanese level required | JLPT N4 or equivalent and above | No requirement |
| Application requirements | Pass the No. 1 skills exam and Japanese-language exam | Have supervisory/management experience and pass the No. 2 skills exam |
| Eligible job types | Any of the 16 specified industry fields | 11 fields: construction, shipbuilding and ship machinery, building cleaning, industrial products manufacturing, automobile maintenance, aviation, accommodation, agriculture, fisheries, food and beverage manufacturing, and food service |
| Maximum period of stay | Up to 5 years | No limit |
| Accompanying spouse allowed | No | Yes |
| Direct eligibility for permanent residency | No | Yes, once conditions are met |
Have a question about this guide? Leave a comment below, or ask Zagdim directly.
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