Employment of foreigners and status of residence (visa) in Japan

December 26, 2019

Spurred by globalization, the number of foreign workers continues to increase annually. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s announcement, the total number of foreign workers by the end of October 2018 was 1.46 million. The number of foreign visitors to Japan has also increased, surpassing 30 million in 2019.

For an island nation such as Japan, businesses that target overseas markets have become indispensable. In order to respond to their overseas business partners and individual customers, foreigners with solid cross-cultural foundation as well as language skills and knowledge are sought after by many companies.

Foreign nationals and Japanese nationals vary when it comes to being hired, but the greatest difference between them is the status of residence (visa).

For foreigners to work in Japan, they will need to obtain an appropriate status of residence for work. This status of residence is not determined by what the applicant wants; instead it will be determined based on their employment conditions and background.

As of March 2020, there are 29 types of residence statuses. If you look at what a language teacher does in their line of work, they may apply for either the “Instructor” or the “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” visa. Which resident status you should apply for differs depending on your place of work. While “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services”, “Intra-company Transferee”, and “Highly-Skilled Professional” can also be considered applicable for a language teacher, due to background or employment conditions, it is difficult to determine what residence status is most appropriate.

If the requirements for each residence status are not met or the application documents are not sufficient, applying for a status of residence at the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (formerly called the Immigration Bureau) will not be permitted, meaning no status of residence will be issued. In order to ensure that the time and effort spent on preparation will not go to waste, it would be necessary to be well-informed and experienced when it comes to the application process.

Our company has a team of experienced administrative scriveners, as well as licensed foreign national employment managers and foreign national employment chief managers who provide advisory and application services for status of residence. If you have any questions or troubles related to resident statuses, or if you are a human resources manager who is considering outsourcing the application task, you can read more about what services we provide via this page.