Accepting & Supporting SSW– category –

A field-by-field guide to the documents only for the nursing care field (Table 3) in Specified Skilled Worker "Nursing Care" applications. It covers the entry fields and nine pledges of the written pledge (Field Reference Form No. 1-1), how to count nursing care staff in the facility outline (No. 1-2), what to check before submitting the council certificate, the skills and Japanese-language proof for each background, the evaluation report, and the documents to submit when you cannot get one.

How to fill out the Support Plan for Specified Skilled Worker (i) (Reference Form No. 1-17), explained field by field using the Immigration Services Agency's examples (full outsourcing and in-house support). Covers which fields differ between full outsourcing and in-house support, reasons for "No" and the outsourcing column, explaining housing costs, online interviews and the signature section, the coexistence measures section added in April 2025, and translation and the foreign national's signature.

Since April 21, 2025, nursing care workers with Specified Skilled Worker (i) status can work in home-visit services such as home-visit care, under certain conditions. Following the notices and Q&A of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, this article explains, in the order of the steps: the worker's conditions (completing the initial training course for care workers or similar, and in principle at least 1 year of work experience), the exception for less than 1 year of experience and the length of accompanied visits, the 5 things the facility must observe, explanations to users and families, applying for a certificate of conformity for each foreign national and the documents, periodic reports and itinerant visits, and the procedures for transferring a worker from a facility.

A list of the documents to submit when applying for Specified Skilled Worker "Nursing Care," organized by application type: Certificate of Eligibility, change of status of residence, and extension of period of stay. Following the document checklists revised on October 1, 2026, this article covers the documents only for the nursing care field (the written pledge, the facility outline, and the council certificate), the documents common to all fields and where to get them, where to submit to the council and to immigration, and the fees and standard processing periods.

Even after the deadline for the Specified Skilled Worker periodic notification (by May 31 every year) or an ad hoc notification (within 14 days) has passed, you can still submit it. What matters is to attach a statement of reasons explaining the delay and submit as soon as possible. Based on Immigration Services Agency materials, this article explains the steps to take today, what to do when only some documents are not ready in time, what to do when you notice a mistake after submitting, and the risks of leaving a notification unsubmitted.

When a Specified Skilled Worker changes companies, a notification alone is not enough: an Application for Permission to change status of residence is required. You cannot work at the new company until permission is granted. Based on Immigration Services Agency materials, this article covers which job changes within job categories are allowed, the timeline from leaving your job to joining the new company, the processing times published by the agency, the notifications required from the former and new companies, and the fees from October 2026.

We have organized, along the flow of one year, the notifications that companies employing Specified Skilled Workers submit to immigration. Following materials from the Immigration Services Agency, this article explains the once-a-year periodic notification (every year from April 1 to May 31, covering April to March of the previous year), ad hoc notifications due within 14 days after an event occurs, the "certain criteria" and attached documents, and the differences from notifications by registered support organizations and by the foreign nationals themselves.

Based on materials from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Immigration Services Agency, this article explains the requirements for accepting foreign nationals under Specified Skilled Worker "Nursing Care" (the worker's tests, the facility's headcount limit and direct employment, and joining the council) and the process from applying to immigration to the procedures after acceptance. It also covers the 2026 changes to the test names, passing standards, and test fees, the council's new membership rules, the conditions for home-visit care work, and the extension of the total period of stay through partial passes of the certified care worker national exam.

Japan's immigration system is built upon multiple layers of official documentation, including laws, government ordinances, ministerial orders, guidelines, an...

As Japan’s caregiving industry continues to face a severe labor shortage, more facilities are turning to the Specified Skilled Worker (Caregiving) program to...