SKILLED WORKER (技能; hereinafter referred to as “SKILLED WORKER“) is a VISA STATUS to engage in skilled profession such as chef and cook of foreign cuisine, carpenter of foreign architecture, chaser of jewelry, sommelier, athletic and sports trainer, pilot, and other occupation which require special skills during their period of stay in Japan.

OCCUPATION APPLICABLE TO SKILLED WORKER

Cook, Chef, Patissier of Foreign Cuisine | Sommelier | Sports Instructor and Trainer | Pilot | Animal Trainer | Craftsman for Jewelry, Metal and Fur | Engineer or Craftsman for Foreign Architecture and Civil Engineering | Engineer, Craftsman and Repairman for Foreign Products and Goods | Excavation and Investigation for Oil Exploration

IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH VISA PROCEDURES IN JAPAN, JUMP TO INTRODUCTORY PAGES BELOW FIRST:

Contents
  1. BASIC REQUIREMENTS
  2. HOW to PROCESS
  3. PERIOD of STAY
  4. BASIC REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
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BASIC REQUIREMENTS

Immigration Office judges your eligibility for SKILLED WORKER visa status comprehensively – In order to be eligible for this visa status, you need to have specific career, work experience and/or educational background in the related field you wish to engage in and to satisfy other basic requirements.

Here’s the list of basic requirements for SKILLED WORKER;

Basic Criteria

Regardless of which visa status you apply for, you need to satisfy basic criteria first;
>> WHAT IS VISA STATUS?

Types of Activity and Experience

SKILLED WORKER visa status shall be granted to those who intend to engage in the activity below during their stay in Japan and fulfill each of requirements;

[A] Cook, Chef and Patissire of Foreign Cuisine

You must have enough skills and technique to engage in cooking or food preparation/producition of the authentic foreign cuisine and you will engage in working as a chef, cook or patissire in the same field of foreign cuisine during your stay in Japan.

You need 10 years or more of related work experience (including academic background) as a chef, cook or patissire at restaurant etc. which serves authentic cuisine of French, Italian, Chinese, Thai or other foreign country.

Only in case of Thai Cook and Chef, the requirements below shall be applied (by Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement on 1st of November, 2007):

  • 5 years or more work experience as Thai Chef/Cook.
  • Qualified as Thailand National Skills Standard Thai Cooking Certificate level 1 or above.
  • Given enough monthly salary as Thai Chef/Cook in the past year.

Bartender is not included.
If you would like apply for SKILLED WORKER visa status as a cook or chef, you must have cooking skills enough to serve authentic full-course dinner of the cuisine or have a license equivalent to it. That means, you cannot be recognized as a SKILLED WORKER even if you have 10 years or more of work experience only at diners and small restaurants which have a few menu and simple food.

[B] Engineer or Craftsman for Foreign Architecture and Civil Engineering

You need 10 years or more work experience (including educational experience) in the field of Foreign Architecture or Civil Engineering.
5 years work experience shall be enough in case you will engage in the activity under direction of foreign engineer who have 10 years or more experience in the field of foreign architecture and civil engineering.

[C] Engineer, Craftsman and Repairman for Foreign Goods and Products

You need 10 years or more work experience (including educational experience) in the field of manufacture and repair of foreign products.

[D] Craftsman for Jewelry, Metal, or Fur

You need 10 years or more work experience (including educational experience) in the field manufacture and repair of jewelry, metal or fur.

[E] Animal Trainer

You need 10 years or more work experience (including educational experience) in the field of animal training.

[F] Excavation, Investigation and development for Oil Exploration

You need 10 years or more work experience (including educational experience) in the field of excavation, investigation and development for oil exploration.

[G] Pilot

You need at least 1,000 hours flight experience and obtain Certificate of Airline Transport Pilot License or Commercial Pilot License, and engage in the activity as a pilot in command or co-pilot.

[H] Sports Instructor and Trainer

You must satisfy 1 OR 2 below:

  1. You need 3 years or more work experience (educational experience can be included) as a sports instructor or trainer.
  2. You have taken part in the international competition such as world championship or the Olympics in the field of sports you intend to teach in Japan.
[I] Sommelier

You need 5 years or more work experience (including educational experience) in the field of evaluation, quality management and sales of wine. Bartender is NOT included.

In addition, you need to be qualified ONE of the following;

  1. Those who have achieved excellent results in international competition regarding tasting wine such as international sommelier contests
  2. Those who have taken part in international sommelier contests which contestants are limited to one person per country.
  3. Those who have qualifications or licenses authorized under national and public organization or designated by Minister of Justice in Japan regarding wine tasting and evaluation.

Also, the host organization or company engages in restaurant business or other related business and management

Condition

Your condition has to satisfy all items listed below;

  • AMOUNT of SALARY: You should receive the same amount of salary or more as a Japanese national who engages in the same or related job responsibility. It is considered that you should be paid 200,000yen or more monthly on average to make living in Japan.
  • TERM of EMPOYMENT: The period of employment stated on the Employment Contract/Agreement (or equivalent document) should be at least one year if it is fixed.
  • BUSINESS STABILITY of contracting company/organization: Your visa sponsor (employer, contracting company/organization) must be recognized that they do the business properly, stably and continually. Also, they must be financially stable enough to employ you and other staff. If your visa sponsor is a newly established entity, 1-year business plan will be required to prove the business stability.
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HOW to PROCESS

In case you are currently residing outside Japan yet or you are staying in Japan as a TEMPORARY VISITOR:
>> COE APPLICATION

In case you have been living in Japan under specific status and holding RESIDENCE CARD already:
>> CHANGE of VISA STATUS

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PERIOD of STAY

Each visa status has the expiration date – you can stay in Japan under the visa status during the specific period stated on Residence Card issued by Immigration Office.

Period of stay shall be decided by Immigration Office depends on the applicant’s circumstance, and it shall be either of 5 years, 3 years, 1 year or 3 months. The period of stay is granted by the Immigration Office based on each case and situation.

In case you wish to extend the period of stay granted, you may apply for EXTENSION of PERIOD of STAY before the expiry date.
>> EXTENSION OF PERIOD OF STAY (VISA RENEWAL)

In case you would like to travel outside Japan temporarily under the visa status.
>> RE-ENTRY PERMIT

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BASIC REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

The immigration office considers your eligibility for the visa status by your situation/career and by documents you provide. You are required to prepare documents which certify that the contents of the application are true and correct. The Immigration Office will request at any time if they have any questions or would like to confirm the information you provided case by case.

Specific documents are varied depending on the situation of each applicant and the host organization/company, however, the basic documents for this visa status are as follows;

In case of COE APPLICATION and CHANGE of VISA STATUS

  1. Application form
  2. Photo
  3. [In case of CHANGE of VISA STATUS] Residence Card and Passport
  4. Records for Salary Payment and Withholding Tax (給与所得の源泉徴収票等の法定調書合計表)
  5. CV
  6. Documents to certify your career as a skilled worker;
    • IN CASE of COOK or CHEF (except for Thai Cook and Chef)
      a. Employment Certificate, Confirmation Letter of Employment etc. issued by your ex-employer or equivalent documents to certify your work experience
      b. Certificate or License for Cook or Chef issued by the government related authorities (if any)
    • IN CASE of THAI COOK and CHEF
      a. Employment Certificate, Confirmation Letter of Employment etc. issued by your ex-employer or equivalent documents to certify your work experience for at least 5 years as a Thai Cook or Chef
      b. Certificate of Qualification for Thailand National Skills Standard Thai Cooking Certificate level 1 or above.
      c. Document which certifies you have been paid as a Thai Cook or Chef for the past one year from the date of application.
    • IN CASE of PILOT
      Certificate, Confirmation Letter or equivalent document which proves flight experience for 250 hours or more issued by the contracting company
    • IN CASE of SPORTS INSTRUCTOR/TRAINER
      a. Certificate or Confirmation Letter or equivalent document which proves your work experience (including the period you took courses specialized in the field of sports instruction or the period you engage in the sports with income) as a sports instructor/trainer.
      b. Documents which certify you have participated in the international competition such as the Olympics, World Championship
    • IN CASE of SOMMELIER
      – Employment Certificate, Confirmation Letter or equivalent documents to certify you experience of sommelier or work related to judgement, evaluation, quality management of wines
      – Documents applicable to one of a – c below;
      a. Documents which certify you have achieved excellent results at the international sommelier contest
      b. Documents which you have participated in international sommelier contests which the contestants are limited to one person per country
      c. Documents which you have qualifications or licenses authorized under national and public organization or designated by Minister of Justice in Japan regarding wine tasting and evaluation.
    • IN CASE of OTHER TYPE of SKILLED WORKER
      Employment Certificate, Confirmation Letter of Employment etc. issued by your ex-employer or equivalent documents to certify your work experience
  7. Documents to certify your job position/responsibility, salary, and term of employment; e.g. Employment Certificate, Notice of Employment etc.
  8. Documents to certify your visa sponsor and its business;
    • Certificate of Company Register
    • Company Overview
    • Company leaflet (if any)
  9. Financial Statement as of the latest fiscal year-end
  10. [In case that the contracting company has not filed any tax return yet] Business Plan for at least 1 complete fiscal year
  11. In case that the company cannot provide Records for Salary Payment and Withholding Tax (給与所得の源泉徴収票等の法定調書合計表);
    • Notification of the establishment of salary payment office submitted to Tax Office (給与支払事務所設置届出書)
    • Payment slip for Withholding Tax (for the past 3 months) or Application for Payment of Withholding Income Tax on a Semiannual submitted to Tax Office
  12. In case that the company does not need to submit 10 above since the company is exempted from tax withholding;
    • Certificate of Exemption from Tax Withholding regarding foreign corporation (外国法人の源泉徴収に対する免除証明書) and/or documents to clarify the reason why the company doesn’t require the tax withholding.

In case of EXTENTION of PERIOD of STAY

  1. Application form
  2. Photo
  3. Residence Card and Passport
  4. Records for Salary Payment and Withholding Tax (給与所得の源泉徴収票等の法定調書合計表)
  5. Tax/Income Certificate and Tax Payment Certificate for the latest year’s Resident Tax (直近の住民税の課税・所得証明書および納税証明書)
  6. IN CASE YOU CHANGE THE CONTRACTING ENTITY (VISA SPONSOR) DURING CURRENT PERIOD OF STAY: need the almost same documents as “In case of COE APPLICATION and CHANGE of VISA STATUS” above.

NOTE / REMARK

  • All the documents written in foreign languages need to attach the Japanese translation.
  • Additional documents may be requested by the Immigration Office during the screening.
  • Some documents may be exempted in case your visa sponsor is classified under specific categories as follows: 1) listed corporation, government related organization, Independent administrative institution and other organization specified in this category 2) the total amount of annual withholding tax on the latest “Records for Salary Payment and Withholding Tax (給与所得の源泉徴収票等の法定調書合計表)” counts 10 million JPY or more, 3) your visa sponsor can submit a copy of the latest “Records for Salary Payment and Withholding Tax”.
  • Any certificate issued by the Japanese authorities (Tax/Income Certificate, Certificate of Residence, Certificate of Company Register etc.) has to be the one issued within 3 months before the date of application.
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