Working in Japan

What the employer must have

• The Japanese employer (accepting organisation) must meet the Specified Skilled Worker programme's conditions and file the status-of-residence application — the worker cannot self-apply.
• SSW Type 1 allows a total stay of up to five years and does not allow family members to accompany the worker; the sector must be one of the designated labour-shortage industries.
• To hire a Filipino it must also be accredited with a DMW-licensed Philippine agency and its job order approved by the DMW.

What you must do before you leave

1. Go through a DMW-licensed recruitment agency. Direct hiring is banned by Article 18 of the Labor Code — only the narrow categories listed in POEA Memorandum Circular 08-2018 are exempt — and you can check any agency's licence on dmw.gov.ph before you pay or sign anything.
2. Your employment contract must be verified by the Migrant Workers Office (MWO, formerly POLO) at the Philippine post covering your destination before you can be deployed.
3. Complete the Pre-Employment Orientation Seminar (PEOS) and the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) and keep both certificates — they are part of the documentary requirements.
4. Get your Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) before you leave. Every departing OFW needs one, it exempts you from travel tax and the airport terminal fee, and it is valid for 60 days from the date it is issued.
5. Pass the industry skills test and the Japanese-language test BEFORE you accept an offer — no agency can waive them, and anyone promising Japan without them is selling you something that does not exist.

Things to watch

• If you are hired as a household service worker you must NOT be charged a placement fee at all — Republic Act 10361 sec. 13 puts the recruitment cost on the employer, and collecting a fee from a domestic worker is a ground for cancelling the agency's licence. For every other job the placement fee is capped at one month's basic salary and may only be collected once you have a signed contract.
• A job order on the DMW approved list means the government approved the employer's demand and the agency's licence. It does not mean you have been hired, and an order stops being real once its approved slots are filled.
• A university degree is not required for SSW, which is why it is open to trades and care work — but the tests are, and they are the step most often misrepresented by illegal recruiters.

Official sources

• Immigration Services Agency of Japan — What is the Specified Skilled Worker status
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan — SSW overview
• DMW — Licensed recruitment agencies (check your agency before you pay)
• DMW — Approved job orders

Jobs in Japan right now