Change of status of residence in Japan

To start work in April, ISA asks you to apply between 1 December and the end of January. The decision postcard may come before graduation; you collect the new card after graduation with your graduation certificate (卒業証明書) and any documents the bureau asks for. If your Student period of stay ends on or before 31 January while you are still studying, extend your Student status first — do not file the change instead.

For a change from Student to Engineer / Specialist or Researcher, ISA accepts a reduced set (as for Category 2 employers) if you graduate from a Japanese university (including graduate school and junior college), or from a university abroad ranked in the top 300 of at least two of the QS, THE and ARWU rankings, or if the employer currently employs someone on the status you apply for who got it by changing from Student and has had at least one extension while working there. Not for work through a staffing agency (派遣). ISA warns that claiming the shortcut without meeting a condition can be treated as a false application.

If you go on from language school to a university, a vocational college (専門学校) or graduate school, you stay on the Student status: the new school issues the admission documents and you renew your Student status without leaving Japan. Your current school usually helps with the paperwork.

Schools report attendance to immigration. In our experience 80 % or more is the safe level. Low attendance can lead to a refusal of an extension or a change of status — even when you already have a job offer.

You can apply as soon as there is a reason — for example a job offer or marriage — and no later than the last day of your current period of stay. Permanent residence is a separate application, not a change of status. If you no longer do what your current status is for, it can be canceled, so do not wait.

Under Article 20 of the Immigration Control Act a change from Temporary Visitor is allowed only for special, unavoidable circumstances. The normal route is to go home, wait for the Certificate of Eligibility and get the visa at a Japanese embassy or consulate. See Temporary Visitor.

If you applied before your period of stay ended and there is no decision yet, you stay in Japan on your old status and may continue your previous activities — until the decision or the end of 2 months after the period ended, whichever comes first. This does not apply if your period of stay was 30 days or less. At the bureau a 申請中 (application pending) mark is put on the back of your residence card; online there is no mark — carry the notice confirming receipt of your application.

ISA’s standard processing time is 1–2 months. You pay only if the change is approved: ¥6,000 (online ¥5,500) for applications received by 30 September 2026; for applications received from 1 October 2026, from ¥10,000 to ¥75,000 depending on the period granted. The fee can be higher if a specified residence card (特定在留カード — residence card and My Number card in one) is issued with the permission. All amounts: immigration fees. At the bureau you pay with revenue stamps (収入印紙), sold for cash only; for online applications received from 1 October 2026 you pay at a convenience store or a bank.

Apply at the regional immigration services bureau for your address, on weekdays 9:00–12:00 and 13:00–16:00. A legal representative, an employer’s or school’s staff member approved by the bureau, an attorney or an administrative scrivener (行政書士) can file for you — but you must be in Japan. From age 18 you file yourself or through such an intermediary. Online, through the online residence application system (在留申請オンラインシステム), you can file yourself from age 15 if you already live in Japan as a mid- to long-term resident and have a My Number card; online applications are not accepted on the last day of your period of stay. See online applications.

Even if everything is in order, immigration decides on the whole picture. More on this: extension of period of stay.