Working / Hiring Non-Japanese Workers in Japan

There are several types of working visas. Here let me explain about those different types of working visas and what you want to know before applying for each type of visa.

 

Engineer, Specialist in Humanities/International Services Visa

This is the most commonly acquired type of working visa. Let’s break it down to more specific job types.

 

Engineer

This type of visa is required when hiring a non-Japanese worker with knowledge / skill in the field of science and engineering. Some of the typical examples are web designers, engineers in IT, optics and other fields.

 

Specialist in Humanities

This type of visa is for workers specializing in the field of humanities. It typically applies to managerial jobs for the sales, accounting or general affairs department of a company.

 

International Services

This category typically applies to such jobs as translator/interpreter, language teacher, for which someone can take advantage of being a foreigner.

 

 

 

Eligibility for Visa Acquisition

A visa applicant’s academic major at university, junior college, or vocational school (“Senmon Gakko” in Japan) is supposed to match the job description. If the applicant’s academic major and the job description are too dissociated, like in the case where someone with a science major is hired for a job of accounting or someone with a humanities major for a job of system engineering, the application may not be successful.

 

A visa applicant with more than 10 years of operational job experience, even when his or her educational attainment is less than high school, can be eligible for Engineer and Specialist in Humanities Services visa. The operational job experience needs to be proved with a certificate issued by the company the applicant used to work for. While usually at least 3 years of operational experience is required for this type of visa, it is exempted for university graduates who are employed as a translator, interpreter or language teacher.

 

The payment for the foreigner to be employed needs to be equivalent to that of Japanese employees with an equivalent job or position. It is not a lawful practice to give a foreign worker a condition inferior to that of Japanese employees based on their nationality. Also, any payment to any employee should first meet the minimum wage standard of the applicable business area. The payment for a visa applicant is sometimes assessed in comparison with that of Japanese workers in the equivalent job in the equivalent field. So if the employment conditions for an applicant is unreasonably lower than that of equivalent Japanese workers, the application may not go well.

 

There needs to be an employment contract between the employer and the foreigner to be employed. It can be in the form of a worker dispatch contract, or outsourcing/consignment agreement. For visa application, the contract needs to be submitted along with other documents.

 

The financial situation of the employer is also important. If the employer’s business is continuously operating in the red, the job of the foreigner to be employed won’t be secure for much longer. But a deficit in business does not necessarily mean failure in visa application. The employer in such a case is required to submit a business plan and explain how the financial situation will be improved. The submission of the business plan is also required in case of a newly founded business.

 

The application isn’t very likely to go through for someone with a criminal record in Japan or his/her home country. Any record of illegal stay, illegal work or overwork (over 28 hours a week for part-time) will make the application difficult to be accepted. Naturally, a probity check is an important part of visa application screening.

 

Skilled Worker Visa

This visa, as the name suggests, is for someone with good years of job experience and skill. The academic background of the applicant is irrelevant here. The applicant needs to have more than 10 years of job experience. Schooling years at a specialized professional school will also be counted as job experience. Someone, for example, with 2 years of schooling at a culinary school and 8 years of job experience at a restaurant can be eligible for this type of visa.

 

Applicable Jobs

While 9 types of jobs, including cook, sommelier and sports instructor, are formally listed as applicable jobs for this type of visa, the great majority of applications is for the visa as a cook.

 

 

Eligibility for Visa Acquisition

More than 10 years of job experience is required to be eligible for a skilled worker visa. But this requirement is relaxed to 5 years in case of a Thai cook. The immigration bureau sometimes contacts the applicant’s old (or current) workplace to confirm about his or her job experience. So it’s recommended for an applicant to inform the relevant person at the former or current workplace about the application and the possibility of a phone call from the bureau in advance and make sure they can testify about the job experience when inquired.

 

As part of application screening, the immigration bureau checks whether the restaurant mentioned as the applicant’s previous workplace actually ever exists or not. Whether the restaurant is still operating or not, make sure to contact the owner of the restaurant or other relevant person and get the necessary document to prove the existence of the restaurant. It is crucial because without a proper document the application will not succeed regardless of your actual job experience.

 

As stated above, workers doing equivalent jobs must be paid equally regardless of their nationality. In the screening process, the payment to be made to the applicant is evaluated without fringe benefits such as transportation, family or housing allowances, and should be fair and relevant to the job.