A clear breakdown of the differences between Specified Skilled Worker and Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services (技人国), with a comparison table and recruitment scenarios. Reflects the latest information as of 2026.
![Specified Skilled Worker vs Gijinkoku: A Clear Comparison for Recruiters [2026 Edition]](/_next/image?url=%2Fcdn%2Fpost-attachments%2Finsights%2Fspecified-skilled-worker-vs-gijinkoku%2Fhero.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
We are frequently asked by recruiters considering hiring foreign nationals: "What's the difference between Specified Skilled Worker and Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services (技人国)?" Both are work-authorising statuses of residence, but they differ significantly in the type of work covered, the requirements for hiring, and the obligations placed on the receiving organisation.
This article sets out the key differences in a comparison table, and explains how to think about typical recruitment scenarios, so that recruiters can judge which status they should be looking for candidates under. For more detail on Specified Skilled Worker, see What Is Specified Skilled Worker? A Clear Guide to the System From the Ground Up; for more detail on Gijinkoku, see What Is Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services? (links will be added once published).
Please note that eligibility for any given status of residence must be assessed individually, based on the job duties, the candidate's background, and the working arrangement. This article is intended for general information purposes only; for individual applications, please consult a gyoseishoshi (administrative scrivener) or other qualified professional.
| Comparison point | Specified Skilled Worker (i) | Specified Skilled Worker (ii) | Gijinkoku (Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope of work | On-site work and skilled tasks in specified industrial fields (nursing care, construction, agriculture, food service, etc.) | Work requiring skilled expertise in the same field | Work requiring specialist knowledge in science/engineering or humanities fields, or international work making use of foreign languages, etc. (engineers, interpreters, designers, marketing, etc.) |
| Academic requirement | Not required in principle (substituted by a skills test and Japanese-language test) | Not required in principle (substituted by a skilled-worker test, etc.) | Required (completion of a relevant degree at a university, vocational college, etc., or a certain minimum number of years of relevant work experience) |
| Period of stay / total cap | Individually specified for a period not exceeding one year (1 year / 6 months / 4 months); capped at 5 years in total, in principle | 3 years / 1 year / 6 months; no cap on total period | 5 years / 3 years / 1 year / 3 months; no cap on total period |
| Family accompaniment | Not permitted, in principle | Permitted (spouse and children, under Dependent status) | Permitted (spouse and children, under Dependent status) |
| Changing jobs | Possible within the same industrial field | Possible within the same industrial field | Possible within the scope of work covered by the same status (notification required within 14 days) |
| Recruitment route | Skills assessment test + Japanese-language test (equivalent to N4), or having satisfactorily completed Technical Intern Training (ii) | Skilled-worker assessment test, etc. (requirements vary by field) | Graduation from a university, vocational college, etc. in a relevant field, plus relevance to the work; or a certain minimum number of years of relevant work experience |
| Receiving organisation's support obligation | Required (a 10-item mandatory support plan; may be outsourced to a Registered Support Organisation) | Not required (mandatory support and a support plan apply only to (i)) | None in particular (only the usual obligations under labour law) |
| Periodic notification (organisation) | Required (once a year) | Required (once a year) | Not required (notification is required when the contracting organisation changes) |
Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "About the Specified Skilled Worker System", Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services", Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Periodic Notifications (Documents to be Submitted)", Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "About the Total Period of Stay"
Specified Skilled Worker is a system for accepting foreign nationals to carry out on-site and skilled work in specified industrial fields facing serious labour shortages. It mainly covers what might be called on-site work: care work in nursing care facilities, skilled work on construction sites, farming and livestock work in agriculture, and cooking and customer service in food-service establishments, among others. There are multiple covered industrial fields, and these are added to or amended from time to time by Cabinet decision, etc. As the content may differ between the time this article was published and the time you are reading it, please check the Immigration Services Agency of Japan's field-by-field information for the latest list of covered fields.
Gijinkoku covers work that makes use of technology or knowledge belonging to "science, engineering or other fields of natural science" or "law, economics, sociology or other fields of the humanities and social sciences", or work requiring modes of thought or sensibility grounded in a foreign culture. Examples given include mechanical engineers, programmers, interpreters, designers, language instructors and marketing staff (source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services").
The key point is that Japan's system of statuses of residence is based on the content of the activity (what work is actually being done). Even where a foreign candidate is a university graduate, if the work they will actually be doing is line work in a food-processing plant, this falls outside the scope of Gijinkoku, and Specified Skilled Worker needs to be considered instead. Conversely, even if a candidate has passed the Japanese-language and skills tests, Gijinkoku is the appropriate status if they will be doing knowledge-based work such as planning, analysis or interpreting.
Recruitment routes for Specified Skilled Worker A major feature of Specified Skilled Worker is that it can be obtained without a university degree or work experience. The main routes are as follows.
Please note that how and when the tests are held varies by field and by country, so please check with the ministry responsible for the relevant field, or with the Immigration Services Agency, for the latest information (source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Specified Skilled Worker examinations).
Hiring requirements for Gijinkoku Gijinkoku, in principle, requires a degree in a field related to the work, or equivalent work experience. Under the "engineering" and "humanities knowledge" categories, in addition to graduation from a university or graduate school in a relevant academic field, or a relevant vocational-college qualification, an explanation of the relevance to the work is required. Cases based on work experience alone, without a degree, are also accepted, but the approach to the required number of years of experience varies depending on the content of the work (source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services"). 【Important: effective 15 April 2026】New language-proficiency requirement for Gijinkoku From 15 April 2026, where an applicant in Category 3/4 (mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, sole proprietors, etc.) will be engaged in work that is primarily language-based, such as interpersonal duties (translation, interpreting, language instruction, hotel front-desk work and other language-centred roles), it has become mandatory to submit documentary evidence of language proficiency equivalent to CEFR B2 in the language used for the work (source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services").
However, submission is waived if any of the following apply:
When a small or medium-sized enterprise or sole proprietor is hiring a Gijinkoku foreign national for language-centred work, checking the candidate's language-proficiency certificate in advance is essential.
The total period of stay under Specified Skilled Worker (i) is capped at 5 years in principle, which makes it unsuited to continuous, long-term employment. Specified Skilled Worker (ii) has no cap on the total period, and can continue to be renewed for as long as the requirements are met. It is available only in a subset of the covered fields, but is an option where long-term, ongoing involvement of a foreign worker is envisaged (source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, About the Specified Skilled Worker System).
Gijinkoku is granted for one of the periods "5 years / 3 years / 1 year / 3 months", with no cap on the total period. It can be renewed repeatedly as long as the work content and requirements continue to be satisfied, and is a status that combines readily with a career path towards permanent residence or naturalisation (source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services").
As for family accompaniment, this is not permitted, in principle, under Specified Skilled Worker (i). Under Specified Skilled Worker (ii) and Gijinkoku, a spouse and children may accompany the worker under the "Dependent" (家族滞在) status of residence. Where the priority is long-term settlement, including a stable base of life for the family, Gijinkoku or Specified Skilled Worker (ii) will generally be the more attractive option for those concerned.
As for changing jobs, under both Specified Skilled Worker and Gijinkoku, a job change is possible within the scope of work corresponding to the status of residence. Under Specified Skilled Worker, a job change within the same industrial field is permitted, but a job change across fields requires an application to change the status of residence. Under Gijinkoku, a job change is possible within the scope of work covered by the same status of residence, and notification of the change of affiliated organisation is required within 14 days of the change (source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Notification of Change of Affiliated Organisation).
Companies that accept Specified Skilled Worker foreign nationals ("receiving organisations") are under a statutory obligation to draw up and implement a mandatory support plan. The main support obligations are the following 10 items (source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, Support for Specified Skilled Worker Foreign Nationals).
The receiving organisation may carry these out itself, or outsource them to a Registered Support Organisation. Receiving organisations are also required to submit periodic notifications (once a year from 1 April 2026 [Reiwa 8]; covered period: 1 April to 31 March of the following year; submission deadline: by 31 May of the following year. Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Notifications by Specified Skilled Worker Affiliated Organisations and Registered Support Organisations (Documents to be Submitted)").
No such statutory support plan or periodic notification is imposed for Gijinkoku. It is sufficient for the receiving company to fulfil the usual obligations under labour law (concluding an employment contract, paying wages, enrolling the worker in social insurance, etc.).
Because of the practical burden of the support obligations, it is not uncommon, particularly for smaller businesses with limited in-house resources, to find Gijinkoku easier to put a receiving structure in place for. That said, much of this can be handled by outsourcing to a Registered Support Organisation, and another approach is to choose the status of residence based primarily on the work you want to hire for, then build the support structure afterwards.
Ultimately, the choice of status of residence starts from "what work the person will actually be doing". Below, we set out the thinking for some representative scenarios.
Where you want to secure on-site labour in manufacturing, agriculture, food service, construction, etc. Gijinkoku cannot be used for on-site work in the covered fields. Considering Specified Skilled Worker (i) is the starting point. Typical routes are transferring foreign nationals who are already resident under Technical Intern Training (ii), or bringing in candidates who have passed the skills test overseas.
Where you want to hire for a specialist role in IT, engineering, design, marketing, etc. Gijinkoku is the option in principle. It is common to hire new graduates who are international students at a Japanese university, or to bring in graduates of overseas universities via an application for a certificate of eligibility. Explaining the relevance between the work content and the candidate's academic background/major is the key point in the examination.
Work making use of language ability, such as translation, interpreting, language education, hotel front-desk work, etc. Consider the "international services" category of Gijinkoku. From 15 April 2026, where hiring is by a small/medium-sized enterprise or sole proprietor (Category 3/4), evidence of language proficiency equivalent to CEFR B2 (equivalent to JLPT N2 for Japanese) is required, so it is important to check the candidate's language qualifications in advance.
Where you want continued long-term employment, with the worker settling together with their family Consider Gijinkoku (or Specified Skilled Worker (ii)). Gijinkoku has no cap on the total period of stay and permits family accompaniment, making it a status under which the worker and their family can more readily build a stable life in Japan.
Where you envisage a career step from Specified Skilled Worker (i) to Gijinkoku There are cases where, after hiring under Specified Skilled Worker (i), an application to change to Gijinkoku is considered once the work has become more advanced or specialised. In this case, it is necessary to carefully check whether the work content at the time of the change, together with the candidate's academic background and work experience, satisfies the requirements for Gijinkoku — this involves a different kind of examination from a simple "promotion".
Specified Skilled Worker and Gijinkoku are both statuses of residence that make it possible for foreign nationals to work, but they differ fundamentally in the scope of covered work, the hiring requirements, and the obligations placed on the receiving structure. It is important to work backwards from the job content you want to hire for in order to judge which is the right fit.
Choosing the wrong status of residence carries not only the risk of the application being refused, but also the risk that, even after it is granted, the work may fall outside the scope of permitted activities. We recommend that "which status this work content corresponds to" is not determined by recruiters alone, but is checked with a professional at an early stage.
For an overview of hiring foreign nationals, see The Process of Hiring Foreign Workers; for how to think about the period before hiring, see Hiring Foreign Workers Starts Before the Visa Application.
📋 "Is this role Specified Skilled Worker or Gijinkoku?" If you're not sure, please get in touch
We will hear about the work content, the candidate's background and your company's circumstances, and propose the most suitable direction for the status of residence. Settling on a direction before preparing documents is the shortcut to a smooth application. Please feel free to get in touch to start.
🧭 From hiring to settling in: supporting foreign talent all the way
Our foreign talent recruitment service provides one-stop support, from considering the status of residence through document preparation to setting up a support structure after joining. Please also make use of our self-check for eligibility to accept a candidate.
