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The Cabinet Secretariat's working group on accepting foreign nationals was given a seven-jurisdiction comparison of intake limits on 6 November 2026, with the basic policy due by 31 March 2027.
Two resident-side submissions to the Cabinet Secretariat's working group on 20 October 2026 accept a link between the planned Japanese course and residence screening only if the screening is made transparent and the learning is genuinely available.
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.
In papers dated 20 October 2026, Keidanren asked the government not to tie residence renewals to the planned Japanese-language and daily-life learning programme, while the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry asked for attendance to be counted at screening and renewal.
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.
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.
A Cabinet Secretariat working group is designing a two-course Japanese and daily-life learning programme for mid-to-long-term residents, with the trial set to begin from April 2028 and completion checks proposed at renewal, permanent residence and naturalisation.
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 Immigration Services Agency issued the revised permanent residence guidelines and new revocation guidelines on 1 October 2026; most of the text applies from 1 April 2027, but the income and public-burden provisions reach applications already filed.
The education ministry and the Immigration Services Agency have asked language schools to point students at tests other than the JLPT, after the December sitting in Japan closed early for lack of seats.
The Justice Ministry published a new Basic Plan for Immigration Control in July — the document that frames immigration policy for the years ahead, including JESTA by 2028.
Reports in late July set out the government's intended permanent residence criteria — household income above the national average, pension equivalent to 30 years of enrolment, and a language test.
A Justice Ministry project team set out in July how a structured programme teaching Japanese and the country's rules would work — the mechanism behind January's panel recommendation.
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.
A late-January policy package points at zero illegal overstays, land purchase rules, expanded language education and a possible cap on the foreign share of the population.
A government expert panel's final report in January 2026 recommended structured language and civics learning for foreign residents, and floated tying it to long-term status.