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The Immigration Services Agency reissued both university lists on 4 November 2026, resetting which graduates earn the 10-point Highly Skilled Professional bonus and which qualify for J-Find.
A draft revision of the sector operating policies put to the Immigration Services Agency's expert panel on 19 October 2026 would add work categories and tasks across four Specified Skilled Worker fields and make aviation an Employment for Skill Development field.
A 26 October 2026 revision to the food service field's operating annex adds anti-hosting duties where a Specified Skilled Worker is placed in a licensed entertainment venue inside a hotel, renames both of the field's skills tests, and states A2.2 and B1 as the Japanese-language levels.
A draft put to the Immigration Services Agency's expert panel on 19 October 2026 would move 20,000 care-sector acceptance places from Employment for Skill Development to Specified Skilled Worker (i), to keep the field from hitting its ceiling in the second half of fiscal 2027.
Japan's revised Business Manager criteria carry a transitional window that closes on 16 October 2028, and permanent residence applications are excluded from it.
A state-run survey reported on 23 October 2026 found that about 36% of the organisations expected to deliver Japanese-language training under Employment for Skill Development have no teacher lined up, ahead of the status's April 2027 start.
A draft put to the expert panel on 19 October 2026 would move medical and welfare facility catering out of the suspended Specified Skilled Worker food service field and into food and beverage manufacturing from FY2027.
The Immigration Services Agency's updated Employment for Skill Development Q&A sets out the conditions for a worker-initiated change of employer from 1 April 2027, including a restriction period of one to two years set by sector and a compensation payment whose amount has not yet been issued.
From 1 April 2027 one support staffer may cover fewer than 50 Specified Skilled Worker (i) workers and, at a registered support organisation, fewer than 10 client employers, while organisations whose registration expires by 31 July 2027 must file renewals before that date to be judged under the current rules.
The Immigration Services Agency has consulted on adding a five-year period of stay to Specified Skilled Worker (ii), with the government planning a January 2027 start, while the five-year cumulative cap on Specified Skilled Worker (i) stays where it is.
The Immigration Services Agency has set 1 April 2027 as the start of the "B1 or above" Japanese standard for Specified Skilled Worker certificate of eligibility applications, and says the timing for change-of-status and renewal applications is still under consideration.
The Employment for Skill Development programme begins on 1 April 2027, the employer and supervising-organisation filing windows are already open, and the Immigration Services Agency confirms that Technical Intern Training holders cannot transfer into it.
The government presented a plan on 9 September to open the aviation field to Ikusei Shuro. The programme's overall ceiling does not move, so the new field draws on the existing allocation.
Japan signed a memorandum of cooperation with Thailand on the Ikusei Shuro programme in June, part of the bilateral groundwork that has to be in place before the 2027 start.
Six months after Japan raised the capital and staffing bar for the Business Manager visa, a survey of foreign entrepreneurs shows how many are struggling to requalify at renewal.
From 15 April 2026 applicants for Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services status must show Japanese-language proficiency. The status covers more than 475,000 people.
The Immigration Services Agency released the operating manual for Ikusei Shuro, the programme replacing technical intern training from April 2027, along with revised standards for two Specified Skilled Worker sectors.
The Future Creation Individual (J-Find) route lets graduates of highly ranked universities job-hunt in Japan for up to two years. The qualifying list was refreshed in January 2026.