The Specified Skilled Worker visa was created specifically to address labor shortages in designated industry sectors — caring for the elderly, construction, agriculture, food service, manufacturing, and several others — that struggle to fill roles domestically.
It has two tiers with meaningfully different terms:
- SSW Type 1 — up to 5 years total stay, no family members allowed to accompany you, and entry requires passing both a skills test and a Japanese-language proficiency test in the relevant sector.
- SSW Type 2 — for workers who've demonstrated more advanced skills (generally after time on Type 1), renewable indefinitely, and family members can be sponsored to join you — effectively closer to a standard long-term work visa.
Unlike the Engineer/Specialist visa, SSW doesn't require a university degree; it's built around passing sector-specific skills and language exams instead — see Japanese Language Requirements. Employers hiring under SSW also take on specific support obligations for the worker's living and working conditions, which is worth knowing if you're evaluating a job offer under this category — ask what support plan your prospective employer has registered.
Back to Work Visas.