Q&A
10. Other Frequently Asked Questions

In principle, application agents are required to appear at a Regional Immigration Bureau in person for various residence applications, such as applications for extension of period of stay, and procedures such as changing information on residence cards. However, as an exception to this, in cases where an application is made by a legal representative, or for people deemed appropriate by the Director-General of a Regional Immigration Bureau, an application agent can act as an intermediary for applications made by foreign nationals themselves.

[Immigration Services Agency website]
https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/nyuukokukanri07_00262.html

For administrative procedures other than applications to the Regional Immigration Bureau, the Administrative Scriveners Act and the Attorneys Act prohibit people who are not administrative scriveners or lawyers from preparing documents to be submitted to public offices at the request of others and receiving remuneration. This applies to both paper and electronic applications.

[Administrative Scriveners Act]
https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/326AC1000000004

Specified Skills Acceptance Program Implementation Corporations are corporations that provide education and training for foreigners, conduct skills tests, introduce personnel, and take measures to ensure a proper working environment. This is a measure unique to the construction industry, and companies that accept specified skilled workers must join. "Registered Support Organizations" are a cross-sectoral system established under the Immigration Control Act, and are registered by the Minister of Justice as organizations that provide life support to foreigners after they enter the country and handle procedures on behalf of accepting companies. Companies that accept specified skilled workers can voluntarily entrust a registered support organization to receive various types of support.

Membership is optional.

To join, you must commit to all of the following:

① The individual does not fall under any of the grounds for refusal of registration stipulated in Article 19-26, Paragraph 1, Items 1 to 11 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (Cabinet Order No. 319 of 1951).

② The costs of providing support to Specified Skilled Worker (i) will not be borne directly or indirectly by those foreign nationals.

③ Regarding support for Specified Skilled Worker (i), the scope of support and support outsourcing costs will be posted on the company's website, and no costs beyond those posted will be charged to the accepting companies.

(Note) Please note that if the support contract fees, etc. cannot be confirmed on the website, your membership in the organization will not be approved.

④ Understand that the Employment Security Act (Act No. 141 of 1947) prohibits paid job placement for construction workers, and cooperate with Specified Skills affiliation organizations (hereinafter referred to as "contract construction companies") that have concluded support contracts for Specified Skilled Worker (i) in the construction sector, including publicizing the employment placement service provided by the Agency, promoting its use, and otherwise cooperating with them.

⑤ Cooperate Foundation for International Transfer of Skills and Knowledge in Construction that is a fair employment supervision organization, in the liaison and coordination work related to on-site visits, surveys and guidance, etc.

⑥ Ensure that any communications from the Agency and FITS are provided to contracted construction companies.

⑦ I acknowledge that if I engage in any conduct that harms the interests of the Organization's members, violates laws and regulations, infringes on the human rights of Specified Skilled Worker (i) or discredits the Organization, or if my registration as a registered support organization is revoked, I will be expelled from the Organization or other necessary measures will be imposed on me.

If the accepting company is a subcontractor, it must submit a site entry notification form in accordance with the instructions from the construction company (prime contractor) that directly contracted the work from the client, which are based on the "Subcontractor Guidance Guidelines for Specified Skills System and the Construction Worker Acceptance Project."

In order to realize the proper and smooth acceptance of specified skilled workers in the construction industry, there are many tasks that industry associations must perform, such as conducting skills tests overseas, providing personnel referrals, and making regular visits to accepting companies. On the other hand, since the construction industry involves many different types of professionals who work together in a division of labor, industry associations are also divided into many types of professionals.

Therefore, in order to spread these costs among the host companies and create economies of scale, prime contractors and specialized construction industry organizations have jointly established Japan Association for Construction Human Resources.

The organization is a "non-profit organization by the construction industry for the industry" and does not operate with profits. It is expected to operate efficiently, taking advantage of economies of scale on behalf of numerous specialized construction industry organizations.

In addition, compared to technical intern training, the average supervision fee collected by the supervision organization is said to be 30,000 to 60,000 yen per trainee per month (360,000 to 720,000 yen per year). In the first place, specified skilled workers are immediately ready to work, while technical intern trainees are inexperienced workers with no work experience, so it is not possible to make a simple comparison, but the level of the acceptance fee paid to the organization is by no means high.

In addition, in the case of other fields, it is expected that various private employment agencies will enter the recruitment business specified skilled workers, and although this will vary depending on the individual company, they will naturally be required to pay for their services.

Regarding construction work, Article 32-11, Paragraph 1 of the Employment Security Law prohibits fee-paying employment placement businesses, regardless of whether the worker is Japanese or foreign.

It is possible to provide job placement services by obtaining permission to operate a free job placement business.

For foreign construction workers, this can be changed if you go through the necessary procedures.

Technical intern trainees cannot change their status of residence to Specified Skills during their technical intern training.

Please apply for the change through the portal site of the Foreign Work Management System. In addition, you will need to upload the following documents to the system when applying.

〔guidance〕

• (Only if you are residing in Japan) Document verifying Construction Career Up System technician ID (copy of card)


• A statement that the remuneration is equal to or greater than that of a Japanese person with equivalent skills


• Wage ledger of a Japanese person with equivalent skills (for the past year, including bonuses)


• Documents verifying the years of work experience of a Japanese person with equivalent skills (such as a resume; format is optional)


• Copies of Specified Skills employment contract and employment conditions (recommended Ministry of Justice reference forms No. 1-5, No. 1-6, and No. 1-6 Attachment) (for all applicants)


• Important matters concerning employment contracts (Notification Form No. 2) (for all employees)

the portal site of the Foreign Work Management System.Please submit an application for change of planned period along with the acceptance report via

However, if the actual working period is shorter than the planned period by up to 7 days, the employee can be accepted without prior approval of the change application.

Certification may be revoked if the certified construction Specified Skills acceptance plan is not implemented properly, if certification was obtained through fraudulent means, if the certification requirements are no longer met, or if proper reports are not made to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism or false reports are made.

Continuous compliance with the certified acceptance plan is a constituent requirement for the granting of residence status, so if the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism revokes the certification of the acceptance plan, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism will report this to the Immigration Services Agency, and the individual will be subject to on-site inspections and improvement orders by the Regional Immigration Bureau, and may not be granted renewal of his/her period of stay.

For specified skilled workers, the requirement for the acceptance plan is that "salary increases are based on the skill proficiency," but this is an additional standard established to guarantee a certain level of treatment for foreign skilled workers, who have less room to change jobs compared to Japanese workers even if they are dissatisfied with their salary, andis not intended to seek balance with the salary increases of Japanese workers. It is generally difficult to imagine a situation where a foreign worker has no skill proficiency after working for a certain period of time, and if a salary increase is not given in violation of the contents of the certified acceptance plan, please note that the certification may be revoked, even if the foreign worker is treated the same as other Japanese workers.

Bonuses are, in the first place, additional remuneration and are different in nature from monthly wages and other salaries that form the basis of a worker's life.
For this reason, as long as it does not violate the contents of the certified acceptance plan and the foreign national is treated the same as other Japanese nationals, it is acceptable not to pay a bonus.

The procedures to be followed when returning to Japan temporarily will vary depending on the employment status of specified skilled workers.
Reference material: Regarding departure of Specified Skilled Worker (i) and procedures at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

■ If you are still employed
If all of the following conditions ① to ③ apply, "Resignation report" etc. in foreign worker employment management system After returning to Japan, please resume work according to the approved plan.
① Employment contract: Ongoing (not retired)
② Social insurance, etc.: Currently enrolled (not withdrawn)
③ Holds Specified Skills status of residence (has not left the country without a visa)
*Simple departure refers to leaving the country after completing your activities in Japan. In this case, you will return your residence card to the Regional Immigration Bureau.

In addition to reporting to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, you will need to complete the necessary procedures at the Immigration Services Agency, Social Insurance Office, etc. For details on the procedures, please contact the relevant authority.

JAC has a system to support the temporary return of Specified Skilled Worker (i) after April 1 2023 There are conditions, so please check the "Temporary Return Support "for details.

■ If you resign
If you leave your job and return to Japan to be employed by the same company as before, you will need to apply for a job through the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's Foreign Work Management System according to your individual circumstances.

Pattern 1: There is at least one item that does not apply to ① through ③, and there is no change in the content of the employment contract.
After resigning, you will need to submit a "re-employment application" through the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's foreign worker employment management system. Once approved, you will need to submit an acceptance report within one month of resuming work after re-entering the country.

Pattern 2: Any of the items in ① to ③ does not apply, and there has been a change in the content of the employment contract
You will submit a "resignation report" to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's Foreign Work Management System. In addition, since this is the same as when hiring a new employee, you will need to receive approval from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism before the start date of employment. Please apply for the change as soon as possible.

Please note that until your new plan is approved, you will not be able to work, even if you have gone through the re-entry procedures and are able to re-enter Japan.

If you return to your home country without taking the re-entry procedure, the new certificate will be attached to your application for a Certificate of Eligibility. Please note that you will not be able to enter the country until your new plan is approved.

※Note
If you do not submit an application to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's Foreign Work Management System, you may be in breach of your reporting obligation and your acceptance plan certification may be revoked pursuant to Article 8, Paragraph 1 of the Notification.

When a registered support organization (excluding administrative scriveners, administrative scrivener corporations, lawyers, and legal practitioner corporations) is entrusted with the implementation of the entire support plan for conforming Type 1 specified skilled workers, employees of the organization may, as an application intermediary, submit applications for the issuance of a Certificate of Eligibility, applications for permission to change residence status, applications for permission to extend period of stay, etc. to the Regional Immigration Bureau on behalf of the individual and his/her agent.

The Immigration Services Agency has the right to make the following proxy applications for "Certificate of Eligibility" and "Application for Permission to Change Status of Residence" to the Immigration Services Agency. However, there is no such provision for applications for "Construction Specified Skills Acceptance Plan Certification/Appropriate Supervision Plan Certification" to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

In addition, accounts for the Foreign Workers' Employment Management System should be applied for using a company email address and operated on a designated company device, and inputting information from that device is considered to be equivalent to the creation of "documents to be submitted to government agencies."

If you prepare documents to be submitted to public offices in exchange for a fee, this will be considered as "the business of preparing documents to be submitted to public offices" as stipulated in Article 1-2, Paragraph 1 of the Administrative Scriveners Act, and you may be in violation of Article 19, Paragraph 1 of the Administrative Scriveners Act and subject to penalties under Article 21.

Therefore, even if a registered support organization acts as an intermediary for applications for various residency applications, it is understood that it cannot undertake paid work such as preparing documents related to construction Specified Skills acceptance plan applications, creating accounts for the foreign national employment management system, entering and editing information, and even submitting applications, as this would violate the Administrative Scrivener Act.

Punishment for performing administrative scrivener duties without a license:
According to Article 21 of the Administrative Scriveners Act, the offense is punishable by imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 1 million yen.
*Regarding reporting violations of the Administrative Scriveners Act: Anyone who becomes aware of a violation can report it to the police or the public prosecutor's office.

If you don't know where the file is located, check out the link below.

• If you are using the "JAC Members" app
  When you don't know where the files downloaded with the "JAC Members" app are saved (JAC Members)
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  If you don't know where the files you downloaded from "My Page" are saved
• If you know where the file is located but you can't open it by clicking on it, try the methods in the link below.
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When a foreign worker resigns, the accepting company must report the resignation of specified skilled workers through the foreign worker employment management system. After that, JAC will receive notification from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism regarding the resignation of the specified skilled workers and will stop claiming the acceptance contribution.

Depending on the timing of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's confirmation of your resignation report and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's contact with JAC, we may still request payment of the acceptance contribution even after you have reported your resignation on the Foreign Work Management System.

The acceptance fee that you have requested will be deducted once, but the acceptance fee for the month following the month of your retirement date and thereafter will be offset against the acceptance fee for other specified skilled workers that will be requested from the following month onwards. If there are no other specified skilled workers working, the payment will be refunded.

If a person who does not have Japanese nationality loses his/her status as an insured person (member, etc.) under the National Pension Insurance or Employees' Pension Insurance (including Mutual Aid Association Insurance) and leaves Japan, he/she can apply for a lump-sum withdrawal payment within two years from the date on which he/she no longer has an address in Japan.
For details, please check the Japan Pension Service website.

[Japan Pension Service Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment System]
https://www.nenkin.go.jp/service/jukyu/sonota-kyufu/dattai-ichiji/20150406.html

To claim a lump-sum pension withdrawal payment, you will need to go through the process of withdrawing from the pension scheme (retirement).
If you resign, you must report this to the Foreign Workers' Employment Management System.
If you plan to re-enter Japan and work for the same company, you will need to apply for re-employment or, after notifying your resignation, apply as a new foreign national.

If you meet the following requirements, you can apply for reemployment through the employment management system.
・The residence card is valid both when you leave Japan and when you return to Japan. (This is a departure for deemed re-entry.)
- You will be employed by the same company after returning to Japan.
- There will be no changes to the contents of your current employment contract (salary, various allowances, salary increases, etc.).
*Please be careful not to report your resignation.

The result of your reemployment application will be announced within one month. If approved, you will be issued a new certificate.
Please see below for more detailed information.

Reference material: Regarding departure of Specified Skilled Worker (i) and procedures at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

If your employment contract ends before the end of the contract period, you must go through certain procedures.
For details on the necessary procedures, please contact the Immigration Services Agency.

[Notification by the Immigration Services Agency's Specified Skills Affiliation Organization/Registered Support Organization]
https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/ssw/nyuukokukanri10_00002.html

Due to the system specifications, the "retirement date" cannot be entered after the application date. Please apply as soon as possible after the foreign national actually retires.
There is no need to notify us of your resignation in advance. Please note that once you have notified us of your resignation, you will not be able to apply for re-employment.

When a foreigner returns to Japan, unless their re-employment application has been approved, they will not be able to work.
Once your re-employment application has been approved and the foreign national has returned to Japan, please promptly submit a report of acceptance.

If you re-employ someone who has left the company to change jobs, you will need to apply for a change of status and then add a foreign employee, just as you would if you were a new foreign employee.

Please see below for how to apply for changes.

Reference Manual: Required Documents for Adding Foreign Nationals
Change application procedure

Companies using the Specified Skills Scheme in the construction sector will be charged the following fees:
In addition, Specified Skilled Worker (ii) will not be required to pay the acceptance fee and the support listed in item 10.
Some people think of foreigners as cheap labor, but in order to utilize the Specified Skills System, various costs are involved, including having to pay them the same wages as Japanese workers.

Further costs may be incurred depending on the company's circumstances.

When creating Support Plan for Specified Skilled Worker (i) and entrusting the 10 mandatory supports to a registered support organization *Not required for Type 2 Specified Skills

Support fee

* Please check the Ministry of Justice website for information on Support Plan for Specified Skilled Worker (i) and the 10 mandatory supports.

If you do not have a construction business license

Construction business license acquisition costs

If you have not yet obtained Construction Career Up System business ID

Business registration fees and
Administrator ID usage fee

*For details, please check Construction Career Up System website.​

When entrusting an administrative scrivener or lawyer with submitting an application for certification of a construction Specified Skills acceptance plan to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

Application fee

Depending on the country of origin of specified skilled workers, a bilateral agreement may be prepared and the sending procedure must be carried out in accordance with the domestic regulations of that country. Before submitting the residence application, please check the necessary procedures and fees in advance in the sending country.

Country-specific information on Specified Skills (Immigration Services Agency website)

Memorandum of Cooperation between the two countries on Specified Skills (Immigration Services Agency website)

JAC provides support to companies that are currently employing specified skilled workers.
For more information, please see "Acceptance Support Services."

Specified Skills Acceptance Support Service

*The acceptance support service is available to companies that have begun employing specified skilled workers and have confirmed that they have collected the acceptance contribution.