Working Visa in Japan｜Application Process and Support by Immigration Lawyer in Osaka

Residence Status: Professor

This status is for individuals engaged in research, instruction, or education at universities, equivalent institutions, or colleges of technology in Japan.
Examples include university professors, associate professors, lecturers, and researchers. Despite being named “Professor,” this visa also applies to part-time lecturers and researchers at institutions such as the National Institute of Japanese Literature, National Institute of Polar Research, and other inter-university research institutes.
The visa covers those working at institutions equivalent to universities, such as the Japan Fisheries University, the Training Ship Institute, and the Japan Aviation Academy.

Residence Status: Artist

This visa is for individuals engaging in artistic activities for income, such as music, fine arts, literature, and other forms of art (excluding entertainment under the “Entertainer” status).

Eligible individuals include composers, painters, authors, and other creators. Instructors in music, fine arts, literature, photography, drama, dance, or film are also covered by this visa.

Residence Status: Religious Activities

This visa is for foreign nationals dispatched by overseas religious organizations to engage in missionary or other religious activities in Japan.
Typical example: missionaries sent by foreign religious groups.

Residence Status: Journalist

This visa is for foreign nationals contracted with foreign media organizations to engage in news gathering and reporting activities in Japan.
Eligible roles include reporters, photographers, and announcers for television or radio stations.

Residence Status: Business Manager

This visa is for foreign nationals managing or operating a business in Japan, such as in trade or other sectors.
One of the eligibility requirements is to operate a business with at least two full-time employees. However, this requirement is waived if the applicant invests over 5 million yen in the business.
Examples include company managers and executives.

For more details on the Business Manager Visa, please refer to this page.

Residence Status: Legal/Accounting Services

This visa applies to professionals with legal or accounting qualifications, including foreign lawyers, certified public accountants, judicial scriveners, land and house investigators, tax accountants, social insurance consultants, patent attorneys, maritime procedure agents, and administrative scriveners.
Foreign nationals must be qualified and engaged in legal or accounting services in Japan.

Residence Status: Medical Services

This visa is for foreign nationals who hold certified medical qualifications and are engaged in medical work in Japan.
Examples include physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, public health nurses, midwives, dental hygienists, radiological technologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, orthoptists, clinical engineers, and prosthetists/orthotists.

Residence Status: Research

This visa is granted to foreign nationals who are contracted with Japanese public or private institutions to engage in research activities.
Applicable examples include researchers at government organizations or private companies. Note: If the research activities fall under the scope of the “Professor” visa, that status should be applied for instead.

Residence Status: Education

This visa is for foreign nationals engaged in language or other educational activities at educational institutions in Japan, such as international schools or foreign universities’ Japan campuses.
Typical positions include language teachers at junior high and high schools.

Residence Status: Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services

This visa covers work that utilizes either technical skills in the sciences or knowledge in the humanities, as well as work that requires international cultural understanding.
Typical humanities-related roles include sales, HR, general affairs, planning, translation and interpretation, language instruction, and design. Science-related roles include system engineers, programmers, designers, and production technicians.
Note: This visa does not permit unskilled labor.

Residence Status: Intra-Company Transferee

This visa is for foreign employees of overseas offices of a company with a branch or office in Japan, who are transferred temporarily to the Japanese office.
The permitted activities fall under the same categories as the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa.
Example: an employee transferred from a company’s overseas office to its Japan office.

Residence Status: Nursing Care

This visa is for foreign nationals with a certified care worker qualification who are employed by a public or private organization in Japan to provide nursing care or supervision.
Unlike the “Specified Skilled Worker” or “Technical Intern Training” visas, this status allows work in home-visit services and night shifts without restriction.
Applicable occupation: Certified Care Worker.

Residence Status: Entertainer

This visa is for foreign nationals engaging in entertainment activities such as theater, music, performance, or sports (excluding activities under the Business Manager category).
A minimum of two years of experience in the relevant entertainment field is generally required.
Examples include actors, singers, dancers, and professional athletes.

Residence Status: Skilled Labor

This visa is for foreign nationals with contracts with Japanese public or private institutions to engage in work requiring advanced skills in specific industries.
Targeted fields include cuisine, construction and civil engineering, manufacturing and repair, jewelry and fur processing, animal training, petroleum exploration and seabed surveys, aircraft piloting, sports instruction, and wine tasting and evaluation.

Residence Status: Specified Skilled Worker

There are two types of this visa: Specified Skilled Worker (i) and Specified Skilled Worker (ii).

The Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa is for foreign nationals who engage in work requiring a certain level of knowledge or experience in designated industrial fields.

The Specified Skilled Worker (ii) visa is for foreign nationals who engage in work that requires advanced and specialized skills in designated fields.

Designated sectors include caregiving, construction, agriculture, manufacturing, and other industries facing serious labor shortages.
There are 16 sectors for Type (i) and 11 sectors for Type (ii).

Residence Status: Technical Intern Training

This program is designed to transfer skills to developing countries by providing technical training in Japan for a fixed period.
It is divided into Technical Intern Training (i), (ii), and (iii), and covers approximately 90 types of occupations in diverse fields such as agriculture, fisheries, construction, and food manufacturing.

The maximum period of stay is five years. After completing one year under Technical Intern Training (i), the applicant must pass the required tests to progress to (ii) or (iii), each allowing for further two-year extensions.