Japan Specified Skilled Worker Type 1
A work status for fourteen labour shortage sectors that tests skills and language rather than qualifications. Five years maximum, no dependants, and no path to permanent residence on this type alone.
Programme snapshot
| Item | Current rule |
|---|---|
| Main audience | Workers in designated shortage sectors who can work without further training: care, cleaning, manufacturing, construction, shipbuilding, car repair, aviation ground handling, hotels, agriculture, fishing, food manufacturing, food service, driving, rail, forestry, wood products |
| Route family | skilled-work |
| Validity | Up to 5 years in total |
| Stay per entry | Matches the period of stay |
| Threshold | No capital and no salary floor. Pass the sector skills test and a language test, or complete Technical Intern Training (ii) in the same field |
| Renewal | Within the 5 year cap |
| Settlement | None on Type 1 |
| PR clock | None. The five year cap blocks the ten year requirement |
| Citizenship clock | None realistic |
| Family | Basically no. No dependants on Type 1 |
| Local employment | Yes, tied to the sector and to a registered accepting organisation |
| Tax headline | Salary at progressive rates with withholding. The accepting organisation provides a support plan covering housing, banking and life guidance |
| Processing | 1 to 3 months, plus test scheduling, which often takes longer than the visa |
Why it exists
Japan needed workers in sectors that cannot be staffed domestically, and did not want to call it immigration. The answer was a test-based status that requires no degree: pass a skills exam and a basic language test, and a registered employer can hire you.
It is the only work route in Japan open to someone without a university education, which makes it more important than its reputation suggests.
The tests
Japanese at JFT-Basic or JLPT N4 for Type 1, plus the sector skills exam. The language level is basic rather than conversational, but the sector exam is written in Japanese, so the two together are harder than either alone.
Completing Technical Intern Training (ii) in the same field substitutes for both tests. That pathway is how most current holders arrived.
What it does not give you
No dependants. A spouse and children cannot come on Type 1, which makes it a posting rather than a move for anyone with a family.
No permanent residence. The five year cap means the ten year residence rule cannot be met on Type 1 alone.
No free movement between sectors or employers. The status is tied to the sector, and changing employer requires the new one to be registered as an accepting organisation.
Application flow
- Choose a sector and check whether it has a Type 2 track, which decides whether this can become a career.
- Pass the language test and the sector skills exam, or complete Technical Intern Training (ii).
- Find a registered accepting organisation willing to sponsor.
- The employer files for a Certificate of Eligibility with the support plan.
- Enter, register your address, and keep the support plan documents. They govern housing and payroll practice.
- Renew inside the five year window.
Good fit
A skilled tradesperson or care worker who wants Japanese wages for a few years, will study for the tests, and does not need to bring a family.
Poor fit
Anyone with a spouse and children, anyone who wants permanence on this type, and anyone in a sector with no Type 2 track who wants to stay indefinitely.
Watchpoints
- Type 1 never reaches permanent residence. The five year cap and the ban on dependants close the ten year route.
- A bad employer can strand you. Changing employer requires a registered replacement, and the support plan is only as good as the organisation behind it.
- The five year cap is cumulative, not per employer.
- Technical Intern Training time may count against the cap in some transitions.
- The language test is a real barrier. N4 is not conversational Japanese, and the sector exam assumes reading.
- Check for a Type 2 track before signing. Care, driving, rail, forestry and wood products are Type 1 only.
Sources
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Specified Skilled Worker overview, checked 2026-10-23
- Immigration Services Agency, SSW guidelines and sector list, checked 2026-10-23