For the Specified Skilled Worker system, which began in April 2019, the large volume of application documents and frequent rule updates had been one factor that delayed the realization of acceptances.

For applications on or after February 19, 2021, new-format application documents that can be used when applying for Specified Skilled Worker status of residence were released. This article explains the application documents that corporations must prepare when accepting Specified Skilled Workers.

In addition, formats for all of the application documents explained in this article are uploaded on the Immigration Services Agency website, so anyone preparing application forms going forward should first download the formats and prepare the application documents. As a point of caution, it is not sufficient to prepare all application documents in Japanese only; some application documents must also include the native language of the foreign national who will become a Specified Skilled Worker, so for those documents, please download the native-language formats and prepare them accordingly.

Specified Skilled Worker application form download page:

http://www.moj.go.jp/isa/policies/ssw/nyuukokukanri07_00202.html

*From “Applications related to residence for Specified Skilled Workers,” select the type of application you wish to prepare to check the required documents and download the application forms for each.

Application documents for Certificate of Eligibility applications

  1. Application for Certificate of Eligibility

This is mainly a document for entering information about the Specified Skilled Worker. In addition to the foreign national’s current status of residence, the status of residence they are applying to obtain, and other personal information such as place of origin and passport details, you also enter information about the accepting company. Under the old format this document required the accepting company’s corporate seal, but that is no longer required; however, there is a page that requires a signature from someone at the accepting company, so if a Registered Support Organization is filing the application as an agent, be sure to obtain a signature from someone at the accepting company in advance.

  • Statement of remuneration for the Specified Skilled Worker

This document also no longer requires a corporate seal under the new format. It is a document that certifies that the foreign national becoming a Specified Skilled Worker will receive appropriate remuneration. This document includes fields for entering information such as the remuneration of comparable Japanese employees, and it certifies that if the Specified Skilled Worker has the same years of experience and is assigned the same duties as Japanese employees, they will receive the same remuneration, among other points.

  • Copy of the Specified Skilled Worker employment contract

This document still requires the corporate seal and the Specified Skilled Worker’s signature even under the new format. A point to note when preparing it is that the format uploaded on the Immigration Services Agency website is designed for inviting foreign nationals from overseas, so for other procedures you need to edit the text of the format before using it.

  • Copy of the statement of working conditions

Like the Specified Skilled Worker employment contract, this document also requires the corporate seal and the Specified Skilled Worker’s signature. It is a document in which you enter the employment conditions for the Specified Skilled Worker—including working hours, leave rules, and detailed arrangements regarding the remuneration paid—with the respective native language also written side by side. This document must also be carefully confirmed with the Specified Skilled Worker during pre-guidance, so it is especially important to prepare it without errors.

  • Payment of wages

This is a document submitted to the Immigration Services Agency together with the statement of working conditions. It is a document in which you enter the agreed amount of remuneration and the items and amounts deducted from it.

  • Statement regarding the background of employment

This is a document in which you enter the costs incurred in connection with accepting the Specified Skilled Worker, such as recruitment fees and other procedures required to become a Specified Skilled Worker. If the Specified Skilled Worker has paid any costs, you must always enter those items and amounts, and you need to explain the reasons for the payments to the Specified Skilled Worker themselves during pre-guidance or similar occasions. Under the new format, a corporate seal is no longer required; only the Specified Skilled Worker’s signature is needed.

  • Statement of collected fees

This is a document in which you enter the items and amounts deducted from the Specified Skilled Worker’s salary. In particular, if there are items deducted from salary, you need to explain that the deductions do not exceed the actual costs incurred. When deducting housing costs from salary, you need to submit a lease agreement or similar document together with the application to show that the deduction does not exceed actual costs. This document also no longer requires a corporate seal under the new format.

  • Declaration by the examinee

This document declares that when undergoing the medical examination whose results will be submitted, the person declared all of their outpatient history, hospitalization history, surgical history, and medication history to the physician and that the examination was conducted on that basis. As a point of caution, the preparation date on this document must always be a date after the date of the medical examination. It does not require a corporate seal and requires the Specified Skilled Worker’s signature.

  • Support plan for Specified Skilled Worker (i)

Enter the status and schedule of pre-guidance and life orientation, the content of consultation support, and so on. This form includes fields for entering the days and times when consultation support is available for the Specified Skilled Worker; because the language needed for consultation support varies by the Specified Skilled Worker’s nationality, you need to arrange an interpreter who can handle consultations in each case. You also cannot file an application before arranging an interpreter who can handle consultations, so you need to prepare in advance an interpreter who can handle consultations for the nationality of the foreign national applying, confirm that this has been reported to the Immigration Services Agency, and then file the application.

  1. Statement regarding the support outsourcing contract with the Registered Support Organization

This document is required when the accepting organization outsources all support duties to a Registered Support Organization. Regarding the contract period, the contract period must have started at least by the date pre-guidance is conducted, and the end date of the contract period must be on or after the end date in the Specified Skilled Worker’s statement of working conditions. For this document, if there are multiple foreign nationals with the same application content, it is also possible to prepare an attachment and consolidate them on a single form.

  1. Overview of the Specified Skilled Worker affiliated organization

This document existed under the old format as well, but the content that must be entered has changed under the new format. What requires attention is that you need to enter the company’s financial results going back up to the most recent three fiscal years. Also note that if there was excess debt (a negative figure in the net assets column) as of the end of the previous fiscal year, you need to submit a document in which a third party with a public qualification enabling them to evaluate companies—such as a small and medium enterprise management consultant, tax accountant, or certified public accountant—has evaluated the outlook for improvement.

  1. Statement regarding fulfillment of public obligations

For this document, if documents that the company needs to prepare other than the documents prepared and submitted in the new format introduced in this article (such as financial statements and tax payment certificates) have already been submitted in a previous Specified Skilled Worker application, and there have been no delinquencies from that time to the present, submitting this document eliminates the need to submit those documents again.

  1. In addition to the documents introduced in this article, there are also documents that must be prepared and submitted for each field of application, so you need to check the documents to be submitted for each field in advance on the Immigration Services Agency website.

Application documents for applications for permission to change status of residence

The application documents that must be prepared for an application for permission to change status of residence are largely the same as in the case above, but for 3. Copy of the Specified Skilled Worker employment contract, you cannot use the format uploaded on the Immigration Services Agency website as is. You need to edit part of the text before using it, and the native language written side by side likewise needs to be retranslated.

Application documents for applications for permission to extend period of stay

The application documents that must be prepared for an application for permission to extend period of stay are all included among the documents introduced above.

Conclusion

Regarding the documents required when employing Specified Skilled Workers, many documents must be submitted for the first application, but for the second and subsequent applications for the same Specified Skilled Worker the number of documents decreases substantially, so for the first application please prepare thoroughly and allow ample time for the application procedures. Also, keep copies of the information submitted in the first application, and take care when filing the second and subsequent applications so that there are no inconsistencies in the content.