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Specified Skilled Worker (i) — Manufacture of food and beverages

JapanWork

Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.

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What type of worker, employment situation, occupation or professional activity is this pathway actually designed for?

This route is for jobs preparing food: general food and beverage manufacturing, covering manufacturing, processing and health and safety of food and beverages, excluding liquor.

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Does the applicant need a job offer, employer, sponsor, transfer relationship or other employer involvement? What is important about that employer relationship?

An employment contract with a public or private organisation in Japan designated by the Minister of Justice is required. SSW workers must work full-time, so one SSW worker cannot work for several companies. The accepting company does not need to be certified, but the applicant's residence examination checks whether it meets the prescribed standards, including membership of the sectoral council. The employment contract is normally concluded after the applicant passes the skills and Japanese-language tests.

See recorded sources
  • https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/status/specifiedskilledworker.html?lang=ja
    法務大臣が指定する本邦の公私の機関との雇用に関する契約（入管法第２条の５第１項から第４項までの規定に適合するものに限る。次号において同じ。）に基づいて行う特定産業分野（人材を確保することが困難な状況にあるため外国人により不足する人材の確保を図るべき産業上の分野として法務省令で定めるものをいう。同号において同じ。）であって法務大臣が 指定するものに属する法務省令で定める相当程度の知識又は経験を必要とする技能を要す る業務に従事する活動
  • https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/policies/ssw/faq.html?lang=ja
    特定技能外国人はフルタイムで業務に従事することが求められますので、一人の特定技能外国人が複数の企業で就労することはできません。
  • https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/policies/ssw/faq.html?lang=ja
    受入れ企業が認定を受ける必要はありませんが、特定技能外国人を受け入れようとする場合、外国人本人に係る在留諸申請の審査において、協議会等に加入していることを含め、受入れ企業が所定の基準を満たしているか否かが審査されます。
  • https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/policies/ssw/faq.html?lang=ja
    受験と契約の先後関係については、基本的には、技能試験及び日本語試験に合格した後に、受入れ機関との間で雇用に関する契約が締結されることが想定されます。

What are the few decisive professional characteristics of the pathway: occupation, qualifications, experience, salary, skill level, shortage status, labour-market condition or equivalent?

Pay must be equal to or higher than that of Japanese nationals doing equivalent work; there is no academic-background requirement, but the worker must be 18 or older and pass skills and Japanese-language tests. The skills test is the Manufacture of food and beverage Field Specified Skilled Worker (i) Proficiency Test; the language test is the Japan Foundation Test for Basic Japanese or JLPT N4 or higher. Satisfactory completion of Technical Intern Training (ii) waives the skills test in related job categories and the language test in any job category.

See recorded sources
  • https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/policies/ssw/faq.html?lang=ja
    特定技能外国人の報酬額については、日本人が同等の業務に従事する場合の報酬額と同等以上であることが求められます。
  • https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/policies/ssw/faq.html?lang=ja
    学歴についての要件はありませんが、日本語試験及び技能試験に合格する必要があります。また、特定技能外国人は、１８歳以上である必要があります。
  • https://www.ssw.go.jp/en/about/visa/food_and_beverage_manufacturing_1/
    Manufacture of food and beverage Field Specified Skilled Worker (i) Proficiency Test Note: • You do not need to pass this test if you have satisfactorily completed Technical Intern Training (ii) for Job Categories related to this field. To confirm which occupations qualify, please see the “Operational Guidelines for Accepting Foreign Nationals as Specified Skilled Workers in Specific Fields.”
  • https://www.ssw.go.jp/en/about/visa/food_and_beverage_manufacturing_1/
    Japan Foundation Test for Basic Japanese or the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (N4 or higher) Note: • You do not need to pass a Japanese language proficiency test if you have satisfactorily completed Technical Intern Training (ii) for any Job Categories.

What work does the permission allow? Is the holder tied to an employer, occupation or sector? Can family accompany where clearly established?

The holder may do work requiring the skills recognised through the SSW tests, plus related work that Japanese workers in the same job would normally do incidentally. The status is tied to the accepting organisation and field: duty changes within the field need a notification of change to the employment contract, job changes are allowed within the same job category (業務区分) or between categories whose skill level is confirmed as common by tests, and changing organisation or field requires a change-of-status application. Part-time work is not allowed. SSW(i) holders may not bring family, although SSW(ii) holders may; exceptionally, a child born in Japan to two SSW(i) holders, or a Dependent spouse or child already in Japan when the holder changes from Student to SSW(i), may be granted Designated Activities on humanitarian grounds.

See recorded sources
  • https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/policies/ssw/faq.html?lang=ja
    特定技能の試験等により有すると認められた技能を必要とする業務のほか、当該業務に従事する日本人が通常従事することとなる関連業務に付随的に従事させることができます。また、従前の特定産業分野の範囲内で従事する業務を変更する場合には特定技能雇用契約の変更に係る届出を行う必要があります。他方、従前の特定産業分野と異なる分野の業務に変更する場合は、改めて在留資格変更許可申請を行う必要があります。
  • https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/policies/ssw/faq.html?lang=ja
    政府基本方針においては、分野内にさらに「業務区分」という区分けを設け、転職が認められる場合について、「同一の業務区分内又は試験等によりその技能水準の共通性が確認されている業務区分間」としています。なお、転職に当たり、受入れ機関又は分野を変更する場合は、在留資格「特定技能」の変更許可申請を行っていただく必要があります。
  • https://www.ssw.go.jp/en/faq/
    Am I allowed to work part-time if I have the Specified Skilled Worker status of residence? You are not allowed to work part-time.
  • https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/policies/ssw/faq.html?lang=ja
    「特定技能２号」では、家族の帯同（在留資格「家族滞在」）が認められますが、「特定技能１号」では、家族の帯同は認められません。
  • https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/policies/ssw/faq.html?lang=ja
    例外として、例えば、本邦で「特定技能１号」の方同士の間に生まれた子どもや、「留学」から「特定技能１号」に在留資格を変更する際、既に「家族滞在」の在留資格で本邦に在留している配偶者や子どもについては、特に人道上の配慮が必要であるとして、在留資格「特定活動」への変更が認められる場合があります。

How long is the permission normally granted for, how is it renewed, and what longer-term residence direction exists if officially stated?

SSW(i): in principle a cumulative limit of five years in total; it is not five years for each grant. The Japanese-language table consulted states that the period granted to an SSW(i) holder is designated individually by the Minister of Justice, within a range not exceeding three years. The English-language FAQ states 4 months, 6 months or 1 year per grant. This enumeration differs from the Japanese-language table and is not adopted as a settled current rule. Renewal must be applied for before the granted period expires, in order to continue the same activity. Permanent residence: one of the requirements is ten years of continuous residence, including at least five years with a work or residence status (excluding technical intern training and SSW(i)); time as SSW(i) does not count towards those five years, time as SSW(ii) does.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • Exception: the note refers to specific rules on stay beyond the limit; it is not treated as an absolute limit without exceptions.
  • Temporal limitation: the legal start date of this change was not found; the English FAQ lists 4 months, 6 months or 1 year, and the divergence was not resolved by simply preferring the accessible URL.
  • Unresolved: entry-into-force date and transitional regime of the three-year maximum per grant.
  • Temporal limitation: no editorial date; temporal divergence with the Japanese-language table.
  • Unresolved: temporal reconciliation with the Japanese-language table and the amending instrument.
  • Condition: this is only one of the requirements; it is not an approval or an automatic route.
  • Not found: the instrument, entry-into-force date and transition that reconcile the maximum of three years per SSW(i) grant in the Japanese-language table and FAQ with the English FAQ's list of 4 months, 6 months or 1 year.

These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.

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