As of July 2021, due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, foreign nationals—including technical intern trainees and Specified Skilled Workers—are still generally unable to enter or leave Japan. In addition to restrictions on entry and departure, many foreign nationals who have already completed Technical Intern Training are also unable to return home and are waiting for the day they can leave.

While waiting in Japan, they still need to pay living expenses such as rent and food, so many foreign nationals who have completed Technical Intern Training continue to work at their training companies.

Even so, some foreign nationals have been unable to continue working at their training sites, mainly due to company circumstances. Designated Activities aimed at employment maintenance support was created to help these foreign nationals. This article explains this Designated Activities status in detail.

Who Can Apply for Designated Activities for Employment Maintenance Support

Eligible applicants include technical intern trainees, Specified Skilled Workers, and others who, due to the impact of COVID-19, have faced bankruptcy, workforce reductions, termination of employment, or cancellation of a job offer, or for whom continuation of Technical Intern Training has become difficult.

Because the purpose is to employ foreign nationals for re-employment in the specified industrial fields (the 14 fields under the Specified Skilled Worker system), accepting organizations must also be companies that fall under those specified industrial fields.

However, to be granted Designated Activities in the three manufacturing fields among the 14 fields, the foreign national must have been a technical intern trainee who underwent Technical Intern Training in a manufacturing occupation, or a foreign national who worked as a Specified Skilled Worker in the three manufacturing fields.

Requirements for Applying for Designated Activities for Employment Maintenance Support

〇 Foreign nationals employed under this Designated Activities must receive the same remuneration as Japanese employees engaged in the same work with the same level of experience and responsibility at the accepting organization.

〇 They must wish to acquire, during one year of employment at the accepting organization, the skills needed for Specified Skilled Worker duties.

〇 The accepting organization must hire them with an understanding that the foreign national wishes to acquire the skills needed for the work.

〇 The accepting organization must have a system in place to properly accept foreign nationals (for example, a track record of accepting foreign nationals, staff who have handled acceptance work, and the ability to receive appropriate guidance and advice from a supervising organization or Registered Support Organization on compliance with immigration and labor-related laws).

〇 It must also have a system to provide guidance and advice for acquiring the skills needed to transition to Specified Skilled Worker status, and to provide support in daily life. (It is also possible to entrust support to a supervising organization or Registered Support Organization.)

〇 If continued acceptance of the employed foreign national becomes difficult, the organization must promptly report this to the immigration authority.

Required Documents for Designated Activities for Employment Maintenance Support

Compared with applications such as Specified Skilled Worker, fewer documents are required for Designated Activities for employment maintenance support. This is because applications need to be processed quickly so that foreign nationals who have lost their jobs can be given work opportunities as soon as possible. Some documents are prepared by the previous accepting organization; please prepare the documents introduced below promptly and file the application.

● Application for Change of Status of Residence or Application for Extension of Period of Stay

This is a required document for the application. It includes the applicant’s photo and information from their residence card and passport.

  • Explanatory statement prepared by the accepting organization

Sample wording for three patterns is posted on the Immigration Services Agency website: (1) persons who were dismissed, etc.; (2) persons who completed Technical Intern Training and became unable to return home; and (3) persons who remain unable to return home even after one year of stay under this measure (those applying for extension of period of stay). Because the content of each explanation differs, we recommend creating the statement by using the Immigration Services Agency sample text as a base and editing it to match the foreign national’s situation.

  • Employment contract and statement of working conditions

A document describing the employment conditions at the accepting organization where the foreign national will work under Designated Activities for employment maintenance support.

  • Document on wage payment prepared by the accepting organization

This document has the same content as the attachment to the statement of working conditions for Technical Intern Training or Specified Skilled Worker. It details wages to be paid and deduction amounts.

  • Explanatory statement on the current status of the technical intern trainee prepared by the previous supervising organization, etc.

This document is required only for persons who have completed Technical Intern Training but are unable to return home.

Matching Support for Foreign Nationals Who Cannot Find Employment

Foreign nationals who cannot find a job on their own and still have difficulty finding employment even with help from a supervising organization or Registered Support Organization can receive re-employment support by submitting a “Consent Form Regarding the Handling of Personal Information” to the immigration authority.

The consent form can be downloaded in eight languages from the Immigration Services Agency website, making it easier for foreign nationals with limited Japanese ability to complete and apply.

The immigration authority forwards the foreign national’s information to relevant ministries and related prefectural agencies. If matched with a company that is hiring, contact may be made using the details listed on the consent form, and re-employment may be realized.

In addition, the Immigration Services Agency website posts information on companies that are hiring and on job seekers, so you can check directly and make inquiries.

The submission destination for the consent form regarding the handling of personal information differs depending on the foreign national’s status of residence. Please refer to the following.

〇 If unemployed after working as a Specified Skilled Worker

⇒ Regional Immigration Services Bureau with jurisdiction over the foreign national’s place of residence

〇 Foreign nationals other than Specified Skilled Workers

⇒ Employment Maintenance Support Desk, Residence Management Division, Residence Management Support Department, Immigration Services Agency of Japan, 1-1-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8973

〇 Publication of job seeker information destinations and employer information

URL : http://www.moj.go.jp/isa/nyuukokukanri14_00014.html

Other Points

For foreign nationals who begin working under Designated Activities for employment maintenance support, return travel costs are in principle borne by the individual, even if they were originally technical intern trainees. If the individual cannot pay the return travel costs, the accepting organization must bear them. Under Technical Intern Training, foreign nationals do not pay return travel costs, so this point must be clearly explained to the individual before the contract and their consent obtained.

Also, if after accepting a foreign national under Designated Activities the accepting organization’s business situation worsens and continued acceptance becomes difficult, a “Report on Difficulty of Acceptance” must be submitted to the immigration authority. This document describes the reasons acceptance became difficult and the foreign national’s future plans, and is submitted to the immigration authority.

Because the impact of COVID-19 has been prolonged, if transition to Specified Skilled Worker is not possible after one year and return home is still not possible, extension of the period of stay is available. In that case, the period of support is a maximum of six months.

Summary

The immigration authority has currently announced various types of Designated Activities. The Designated Activities that foreign nationals who have completed Technical Intern Training mainly apply for is the one that allows them to continue working at their training site while waiting for a time when they can return home.

However, the number of foreign nationals unable to work due to worsening business conditions at their training sites has increased, while on the other hand there are companies that expected new technical intern trainees but cannot receive them due to entry restrictions and are short of workers. Designated Activities for employment maintenance support can be said to have been temporarily created to address both of these problems.

The top priority is to ensure that foreign nationals who cannot return home can work and cover their living expenses while in Japan. There are cases in which foreign nationals without living expenses who also cannot return home turn to crime. To prevent this, Designated Activities for employment maintenance support should be actively used so that foreign nationals—especially those who have completed Technical Intern Training but cannot return home—are not left in difficulty until the day they can leave.