Work visas in Japan: every status and how to get one

Apply for the change of status before your student status expires, once you have a job offer. In practice students file a few months before graduation. You may start full-time work only after approval; until then the part-time limit of 28 hours a week applies.

Graduates of a Japanese university or vocational college can switch to a job-hunting status for up to 1 year. Language-school graduates qualify only with a degree from abroad and a school that meets ISA’s conditions. Care work has its own route: a care school and the Nursing Care visa.

技術・人文知識・国際業務 — office and specialist jobs. A degree (or 専門士) related to the job; in practice JLPT N2 or higher.

特定技能 — skilled trades in 19 fields (17 accept workers). A skills test plus JLPT N4 or JFT-Basic. Related: Nursing Care (介護) and Technical Intern Training (技能実習).

高度専門職 — points-based. A 5-year period of stay, work for your spouse, and permanent residence after 1–3 years.

経営・管理 — your own business. From 16 October 2025: capital of ¥30 million and a full-time employee.

Already in Japan, for example as a student — you apply for a change of status. Abroad — the employer applies for a Certificate of Eligibility, then you get the visa at a Japanese embassy. Later you extend the status before it expires.

• Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services
  技術・人文知識・国際業務 — office, IT, engineering, translation. A related degree or 10 years of experience (3 years for international services)
• Highly Skilled Professional (高度専門職)
  70+ points for education, experience, salary and Japanese. Permanent residence after 1–3 years
• Business Manager (経営・管理)
  Your own company: capital from ¥30 million, a full-time employee, Japanese at B2 (you or an employee)
• Intra-company Transferee (企業内転勤)
  Transfer from your company’s office abroad to its office in Japan: 1 year with the company first, no degree needed
• Legal / Accounting Services (法律・会計業務)
  Attorneys, accountants, tax accountants — only with a Japanese license

• Specified Skilled Worker (特定技能)
  19 fields, 17 accepting workers: a skills test and JLPT N4 or JFT-Basic, no degree
• Skilled Labor (技能)
  Chefs of foreign cuisine and other trades: a chef needs 10 years of experience including study
• Nursing Care (介護)
  Care workers with the Japanese national qualification 介護福祉士
• Technical Intern Training (技能実習)
  Up to 5 years of on-the-job training, no family. Replaced by Employment for Skill Development (育成就労) from 1 April 2027

• Professor (教授)
  Teaching and research at a Japanese university, on the university’s invitation
• Researcher (研究)
  Research under a contract with a company or institute outside a university
• Instructor (教育)
  Teachers at Japanese schools — elementary to high school, vocational and other schools
• Medical Services (医療)
  Doctors, nurses, pharmacists — only with a Japanese license, after a Japanese exam

• Entertainer (興行)
  Concerts, shows, sport, filming for a fee
• Artist (芸術)
  Composers, painters, writers who earn a living from their art: achievements, not a degree
• Journalist (報道)
  Correspondents, camera operators, photographers under contract with foreign media
• Religious Activities (宗教)
  Clergy and missionaries sent by a religious organization abroad

• No. 46 — graduates of Japanese universities
  Wider range of jobs than the Engineer/Specialist visa: a Japanese degree and JLPT N1 or BJT 480+
• Job hunting after graduation
  Graduates of Japanese universities and vocational colleges without an offer: up to 1 year, with the school’s recommendation
• J-Find
  Graduates of top-ranked universities worldwide: up to 2 years to look for work or start a business
• Digital nomad (No. 53)
  Remote work for a foreign employer or clients for up to 6 months, income from ¥10 million a year; only some nationalities
• All Designated Activities
  Special cases that the regular statuses do not cover

Your spouse and the children you support can join you on the Dependent visa (家族滞在) with almost every work status: Engineer/Specialist, HSP, Business Manager, Skilled Labor, Intra-company Transferee, Nursing Care, Specified Skilled Worker (ii) and others. Not with Specified Skilled Worker (i) or Technical Intern Training. Dependents may work up to 28 hours a week with permission; the spouse of an HSP can work full-time on a separate status.

Usually after 10 consecutive years in Japan, at least 5 of them on a work status (Technical Intern Training and Specified Skilled Worker (i) do not count). With HSP points it is faster: 70 points — after 3 years, 80 points — after 1 year, and you do not have to switch to the HSP status for this. The fee is ¥200,000 for applications received from 1 October 2026 (¥10,000 before). See permanent residency.