Would you like to bring your talent to life in Japan?
In April 2019, Japan established a new status of residence, “Specified Skilled Worker (SSW)”, to welcome capable specialists from overseas countries to work in certain Japanese industrial fields, to function as workers ready to take on jobs without prior training. This page will introduce information for those that want to play an active role in Japan by making use of the expertise and skills they have cultivated so far.
As a general rule, foreign national who intend to entry into Japan must acquire a “visa” at the embassy of Japan (an organization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the headquarters for Japanese Government representatives serving) in a foreign country, but this does not mean that you are guaranteed entry into Japan if obtaining a visa. When you arrive in Japan, you need to undergo the necessary examination by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan at the airport and acquire a “Status of Residence” according to the activity you are trying to conduct in Japan. In light of this, acquisition of “visa” and “Status of Residence” are separate procedures that fall under the jurisdiction of different organizations. The SSW introduced on this page is a type of newly established “Status of Residence”.The SSW has two types, “Specified Skilled Worker” – (i) and (ii) .
Those who can work in Japan as a SSW must be over 18 years old in a good health, have the necessary occupational skills to work immediately without receiving any particular training.
There is another program called “”Technical Intern Training””, which aims toward providing international contributions by having workers share skills and knowledge that they acquired through on-the-job training in Japan throughout their home country after returning. Those who have satisfactory completed Technical Intern Training are able to switch their status of residence to SSW （ⅰ） in the same field without taking occupational skill exams and Japanese proficiency tests. Refer to the following chart for the main differences between SSW （ⅰ） and （ⅱ）.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan website. URL: https://www.mofa.go.jp/ Accessed: 2026-08-05.