Required Documents

In order to apply for the Specified Skilled Worker status of residence, you will need the following documents, unless any of them can be waived.

Application form (You and your company will fill this out.)
Medical examination report (You can get this at a hospital.)
Documents related to your pension, health insurance premiums, and taxes (You can get these from city hall or your company.)
Taxation Certificate and Certificate of Tax Payment
Withholding Tax Slip
A copy of your National Health Insurance Card
National Health Insurance Payment Certificate
Documents showing you have passed the relevant test(s)
Documents related to procedures prescribed in the bilateral memorandum of cooperation (As of March 2022, such procedures are required for individuals from Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam.)

In addition, documents from your company are required, so please consult with someone from your company before carrying out the application process.
The procedures for foreign nationals who have yet to arrive in Japan are different from the procedures for foreign nationals already residing in Japan, so please note the information provided below.

If you are a foreign national who still lives abroad but intends to work in Japan under a Specified Skilled Worker status of residence

You must apply to the Regional Office of the Immigration Bureau for a Certificate of Eligibility for Status of Residence. (For first-time applicants)

If you are a foreign national who already resides in Japan and want to change your status of residence to Specified Skilled Worker

You must apply to the Regional Office of the Immigration Bureau to change your status of residence.

If you are a foreign national who already resides in Japan with a Specified Skilled Worker status of residence and want to renew your Specified Skilled Worker status of residence

Application for a Certificate of Eligibility for Status of Residence

This is an application that foreign nationals who wish to immigrate to Japan must submit in advance of their arrival to prove that they meet the conditions for landing in Japan and will engage in activities that satisfy the requirements for any status of residence category (excluding the Temporary Visitor and Permanent Resident statuses). The Certificate of Eligibility for Status of Residence can be submitted or presented when the foreign national applies for a visa at a Japanese embassy or consulate abroad or when applying for landing permission, enabling that person to promptly receive a visa or landing permission.

For more information about the documents required in order to apply, please refer to the website of the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.

Examples of how the documents needed to apply for a Certificate of Eligibility for Status of Residence should be filled out can be found here.

Application to change your status of residence

A change of status of residence refers to the process in which a foreign national holding a certain status of residence applies to the Minister of Justice for permission to change their status of residence in instances where they wish to change their purpose of stay and engage in activities corresponding to a different status of residence. This requires obtaining permission to change their existing status of residence to a new status of residence.

Through this procedure, foreign nationals who reside in Japan may apply to obtain a different status of residence without having to leave Japan if they wish to engage in activities corresponding to a status of residence other than the one they possess.

For more information about the documents required in order to apply, please refer to the website of the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.

Examples of how the documents needed to apply to change your status of residence should be filled out can be found here.

Application to renew your period of stay

This application is for foreign nationals who reside in Japan under any status of residence and who want to extend their period of stay beyond the period granted by their status of residence without changing their current status of residence. Its purpose is to renew the period under which they may reside in Japan.
To renew your period of stay, you must apply to a Regional Office of the Immigration Bureau before the date on which your current period of stay ends. (Except when special circumstances apply, individuals whose period of stay is six months or longer may apply starting approximately three months before their period of stay expires.)

For more information about the documents required in order to apply, please refer to the website of the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.

Examples of how the documents needed to apply to renew your period of stay should be filled out can be found here.

You can ask questions about Immigration procedures in a language other than Japanese.

The Immigration Services Agency of Japan has established consultation services (such as the Immigration Information Center) at each Regional Office and District Office of the Immigration Bureau in order to answer various inquiries related to immigration procedures, residence procedures, and related matters. Multilingual support is available for inquiries made by phone, in person, or by email.

Immigration Information Center

Telephone	0570−013904 (VoIP, PHS, and international calls: 03−5796−7112) Languages offered: Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Nepalese, Thai, Burmese, and Sinhalese
Email	info-tokyo@i.moj.go.jp

Multilingual support is available for the consultation services in each prefecture.
More detailed information about differences in the languages supported in various prefectures is available here.

Other reference materials (Ministry of Justice website)(Japanese only)