On April 1, Reiwa 9 (2027), the Employment for Skill Development (育成就労) system will start, replacing the Technical Intern Training (技能実習) system. For construction companies that accept technical intern trainees, the main concerns are probably three: “What happens to our current trainees?”, “What do we need so that people who complete their training can stay with us?” and “How will we accept new workers from now on?” Based on published materials, this article sets out in turn the transitional measures, the preparations for moving to Specified Skilled Worker (i) (特定技能1号), and the preparations for accepting workers under Employment for Skill Development.
Our representative previously served as president of a cooperative (協同組合; a supervising organization and Registered Support Organization), working on the front line of accepting technical intern trainees and Specified Skilled Worker foreign nationals and of the related procedures and support (he is now an adviser to that cooperative). He also served as a foreign employment consultant at Hello Work Chiba. Drawing on first-hand experience of both supervision under Technical Intern Training and support under Specified Skilled Worker, we set out how to plan the switch.
Sources: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, “Employment for Skill Development Q&A” and “If You Wish to Move to ‘Specified Skilled Worker (i)’ (‘Designated Activities’ (Preparation for Specified Skilled Worker (i)))”; Organization for Technical Intern Training, “Pre-enforcement Applications for Certification of Employment for Skill Development Plans” and its leaflet “Guide to Technical Intern Training Plans”; “Policy on the Operation of the System Relating to the Status of Residence of Specified Skilled Worker and Policy on the Operation of the System Relating to Employment for Skill Development in the Construction Field” (Cabinet decision of January 23, Reiwa 8 (2026)); Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Public Notice No. 784 of Reiwa 8 (2026); Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, “Acceptance of Foreign Skilled Workers in the Construction Field”, “Application Guides, Forms and System Operation Instructions”, “On Certification of Remuneration in Construction Specified Skilled Worker Acceptance Plans (Notice)” and “Background and Overview of the Technical Intern Training System in the Construction Field”; Japan Association for Construction Human Resources, “Annual Membership Fees and Acceptance Contributions”; e-Gov Laws and Regulations Search, Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, Article 20, and the Administrative Scriveners Act
Your construction company’s concerns, handled one-stop. When you switch technical intern trainees to Specified Skilled Worker, the paperwork goes to different places: the application documents to immigration, the acceptance plan to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), and the notifications after the switch. As an administrative scrivener (gyoseishoshi, 行政書士) office and a Registered Support Organization (登録支援機関), our office takes on all of these together. We also accept your labour, tax and legal concerns, and handle them in cooperation with our partner professionals.
Key Dates to Know First
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| April 1, Reiwa 8 (2026) | To move on to Technical Intern Training (iii), a trainee must have started (ii) by this date at the latest (guidance from the Organization for Technical Intern Training) |
| April 15, Reiwa 8 | Pre-enforcement applications for the supervising and supporting organization licence open |
| September 1, Reiwa 8 | Pre-enforcement applications for certification of Employment for Skill Development plans open |
| February, Reiwa 9 (2027) | The Organization for Technical Intern Training asks that applications for certification of Technical Intern Training (i) plans be filed by this month |
| March 31, Reiwa 9 | Last day on which an application for certification of a Technical Intern Training (i) plan can be filed |
| April 1, Reiwa 9 | The Employment for Skill Development system comes into force |
| June 30, Reiwa 9 | In principle, the deadline for landing in Japan under Technical Intern Training (i). To move on to (ii), a trainee must have started (i) by this date |
What Happens to Your Current Technical Intern Trainees
Technical intern trainees who have already arrived in Japan as of April 1, Reiwa 9 (2027) can continue technical intern training under their certified plans. A change in the system does not mean you have to send them home straight away.
Whether they can move on to the next stage is explained by the Organization for Technical Intern Training (OTIT) as follows.
- Moving on to (ii): trainees who have started Technical Intern Training (i) by June 30, Reiwa 9
- Moving on to (iii): trainees who, as of April 1, Reiwa 9, have been in Technical Intern Training (ii) for one year or more
OTIT also cautions that trainees who newly entered Japan on or after April 2, Reiwa 7 (2025) may not be able to move on to (iii).
On the other hand, it is not possible to move from Technical Intern Training to Employment for Skill Development. Nor can anyone enter Japan again as a technical intern trainee after the enforcement date. So if you want people who have completed their training to keep working for you, the move to Specified Skilled Worker (i) will be the main route. For those who have graduated from university or a similar institution and will work in construction management or similar roles, there is also the route of changing from Technical Intern Training to the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services (技人国) visa. For an overview of the transitional measures, see Employment for Skill Development, in Force from April 1, Reiwa 9.
Those Who Complete Training Move to Specified Skilled Worker (i) (Test Exemption)
If a person has satisfactorily completed Technical Intern Training (ii) and the work they will now do is related to the occupation and operation of their technical intern training, the Specified Skilled Worker (i) skills test and Japanese language test are waived. The Immigration Services Agency of Japan states that this move will remain possible for the time being even after the Employment for Skill Development system begins.
“Satisfactorily completed” means having completed two years and ten months or more of technical intern training and meeting either of the following.
- Having passed the practical test of the Grade 3 National Trade Skills Test (or an equivalent technical intern training evaluation test)
- Even without passing the practical test, being recognized as having satisfactorily completed the training in the evaluation report prepared by the company where the training took place
According to MLIT materials, 25 of the occupations eligible for transition under Technical Intern Training qualify for test exemption for Specified Skilled Worker (i) in the construction field. For each occupation, it is fixed which business category it falls under: “civil engineering”, “building construction” or “lifelines and equipment”. People who have completed Technical Intern Training (iii) are treated the same as those who have satisfactorily completed (ii). The procedure and required documents are explained in Moving from Technical Intern Training to Specified Skilled Worker: Conditions for Test Exemption.
Note that when someone who has completed Employment for Skill Development moves to Specified Skilled Worker (i), passing the skills test and the Japanese language test is a requirement. This is treated differently from the test exemption based on satisfactory completion of Technical Intern Training (ii).
What Companies in the Construction Field Need to Prepare
Some requirements are already met under Technical Intern Training, but Specified Skilled Worker (i) brings new ones.
| Requirement | Technical Intern Training | Specified Skilled Worker (i) |
|---|---|---|
| Construction business licence (建設業許可) | Required | Required |
| CCUS registration (company and worker) | Required | Required |
| JAC membership | Not required | Required |
| Job opening at Hello Work | — | A job posting from within the past year is attached to the acceptance plan |
| Pay | Paid on a stable basis | At least equal to that of a Japanese worker with equivalent skills, on a monthly salary basis, with pay rises as skills improve |
| Number that can be accepted | Up to the number of full-time staff (exceptions for organizations rated excellent) | Up to the number of full-time staff (excluding technical intern trainees, Employment for Skill Development foreign nationals and Specified Skilled Worker (i) foreign nationals) |
| Government certification | Technical intern training plan (Organization for Technical Intern Training) | Construction Specified Skilled Worker Acceptance Plan (建設特定技能受入計画) (Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) |
| Living support, etc. | Supervision by the supervising organization | Implementation of the support plan (can be entrusted to a Registered Support Organization) |
CCUS (Construction Career Up System) is a system for registering skilled workers’ qualifications and work histories. In technical intern training in the construction field, registration of companies and trainees has been required progressively for plans from Reiwa 2 (2020) onward. When moving to Specified Skilled Worker (i), a document showing the worker’s CCUS skilled worker ID is submitted with the application.
JAC membership may not yet be in place at companies that have accepted only technical intern trainees. You either become a supporting member of JAC (Japan Association for Construction Human Resources, a general incorporated association) or become a member of a construction industry association that is a regular member of JAC. The annual fee for supporting members is ¥240,000; members of regular-member associations pay no annual fee to JAC but pay their own association’s fees. Either way, an acceptance contribution of ¥12,500 per month (¥150,000 per year) is charged for each Specified Skilled Worker (i) foreign national. You cannot apply for the acceptance plan while your membership application is still pending, and depending on the association it reportedly can take from several months to half a year before a membership certificate is issued.
Pay design should also be checked early. According to an MLIT notice, the acceptance plan will not be certified if pay is unreasonably low compared with the Japanese skilled worker whose duties and years of experience are closest; if scheduled wages converted to an hourly amount fall below 1.1 times the regional minimum wage or a similar threshold; or if there is no regular pay rise or similar arrangement, or the pay rise per year is less than ¥1,000 per month.
The cap on numbers also needs attention. The number of Specified Skilled Worker (i) foreign nationals cannot exceed the number of full-time staff, and these full-time staff do not include technical intern trainees or Specified Skilled Worker (i) foreign nationals. For example, at a company with five full-time staff, even if there are six technical intern trainees, not all of them can be switched to Specified Skilled Worker (i).
After the switch, you must submit an acceptance report to MLIT (within one month of starting acceptance) and have the worker attend the post-acceptance training course (roughly between three and six months after acceptance). For an overview of the requirements in the construction field, see Specified Skilled Worker in the Construction Field: The Special Requirements of CCUS Registration and JAC Membership.
Planning the Steps So There Is No Gap in the Period of Stay
If an application to change status of residence is filed by the expiry date of the period of stay, the person may remain in Japan until a decision is made, up to the day on which two months have passed since the expiry date (Article 20, paragraph 6 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act). During this time, however, the person remains under the previous status of residence (Technical Intern Training). After the technical intern training plan period ends, the person cannot work as a Specified Skilled Worker (i) until permission is granted, so both the worker’s income and the company’s workforce are interrupted.
To avoid this, work backwards from the completion date. It is common to start preparing six months before completion.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Six months before completion | Start preparing: confirm the worker’s wishes, check whether they passed the practical test of the Grade 3 National Trade Skills Test, join JAC, post a job opening at Hello Work, design the employment conditions (monthly salary and pay rises), and prepare the support plan |
| From six months before the completion date | An application for certification of the Construction Specified Skilled Worker Acceptance Plan can be filed (provided JAC membership and the like are in place) |
| About one and a half to two months after applying | Certification of the acceptance plan (excluding time for corrections; in some regions it may take several months longer) |
| Two to three months before the desired start date | Apply to immigration for a change of status of residence (this can be filed in parallel with the acceptance plan, but immigration will not grant permission until the acceptance plan is certified) |
| Within one month after the switch | Acceptance report to MLIT |
If, even so, there is a reasonable reason why the documents cannot be ready by the expiry date of the period of stay, there is the option of applying for “Designated Activities (特定活動) (six months, work permitted)”. This status of residence lets the person prepare while doing, at the new company, the same work planned for them as a Specified Skilled Worker (i). The period granted is six months, and renewal is limited to once and only where there are unavoidable circumstances. This period counts toward the five-year total for Specified Skilled Worker (i), and in principle the person cannot change the accepting organization during it. The Immigration Services Agency of Japan, noting that these applications have increased and screening has become longer, asks applicants to apply directly for Specified Skilled Worker (i) wherever possible.
Future Acceptance Will Be Under Employment for Skill Development
If you are going to accept new foreign workers, Employment for Skill Development will be the main route from April, Reiwa 9 (2027) onward. It is a system that develops workers, through three years of employment, to the level of Specified Skilled Worker (i). For the construction field, the following has been set out.
- The period during which transfer (changing employers) at the worker’s own request is restricted is two years. A company that sets a restriction period longer than one year must, between the first and the second year, raise pay at or above the pay-rise rate set each year by the MLIT council (協議会)
- Before starting work, the worker must pass a test at Japanese A1 equivalent or take an equivalent course. By completion, the worker is required to pass the Grade 3 National Trade Skills Test or equivalent and a Japanese test at A2.2 equivalent
- The company is required to hold a construction business licence, to have received no supervisory disposition under the Construction Business Act within the past five years, to pay at least as much as a Japanese worker, to register with CCUS, and to join the council (membership of JAC is deemed to be joining)
- The number that can be accepted is capped by public notice according to the number of full-time staff
- The worker must attend an occupational safety and health course as part of the post-entry course
Pre-enforcement applications for certification of Employment for Skill Development plans have been accepted since September 1, Reiwa 8 (2026). OTIT advises applying between seven and five months before the planned start date of employment for skill development, and screening results will be notified in turn from April 1, Reiwa 9 (2027) onward. For how Japanese language courses are handled, see also Japanese Language Courses Under Employment for Skill Development.
The Role of Supervising and Supporting Organizations, and What to Check with Your Current Supervising Organization
Under “supervised-type” Employment for Skill Development, carried out through a supervising and supporting organization (監理支援機関), the supervising and supporting organization is responsible for international matching, supervision and guidance of accepting companies, and support and protection of Employment for Skill Development foreign nationals. Liaison and coordination when a worker requests a transfer is also one of its roles.
A supervising organization (監理団体) under Technical Intern Training cannot become a supervising and supporting organization as it is. It must newly obtain a licence as a supervising and supporting organization, and the licensing standards are stricter than under Technical Intern Training, including appointing an external auditor and not having liabilities in excess of assets. Pre-enforcement applications for this licence have been accepted since April 15, Reiwa 8 (2026).
To file a pre-enforcement application for a supervised-type Employment for Skill Development plan, the corporation providing supervision and support must hold a supervising organization licence and must already have filed its pre-enforcement application for the supervising and supporting organization licence. A copy of the acknowledgement of receipt for that application is submitted at the time of filing, and if the supervising and supporting organization is not licensed, the Employment for Skill Development plan will not be certified either. Please check the following two points with your current supervising organization.
- Whether it has applied for the supervising and supporting organization licence (whether it has an acknowledgement of receipt)
- Whether it plans to provide supervision and support for Employment for Skill Development in the construction field
If You Entrust This to Our Office
Switching from Technical Intern Training to Specified Skilled Worker or Employment for Skill Development involves several different counterparts: immigration, MLIT, the Organization for Technical Intern Training, JAC and Hello Work. Construction companies also have many other concerns, such as licence renewals, employee labour matters and year-end accounts. Our office takes on all of these concerns of construction companies one-stop, not only procedures for foreign nationals.
Because We Are Administrative Scriveners, We Can Prepare All the Switch Documents
There are many Registered Support Organizations that provide support for Specified Skilled Workers. However, under the Administrative Scriveners Act, preparing documents to be submitted to public offices for a fee is restricted to administrative scriveners and certain others (Article 1-3, paragraph 1 and Article 19, paragraph 1 of the Administrative Scriveners Act). Comparing the procedures needed to switch technical intern trainees to Specified Skilled Worker (i), the differences are as follows.
| Procedure needed for the switch | Ordinary Registered Support Organization | Our office |
|---|---|---|
| Preparing the documents for the application for permission to change status of residence from Technical Intern Training to Specified Skilled Worker (i) | Cannot prepare them on your behalf | Can |
| Submitting the application to immigration on the applicant’s behalf (申請取次) | Can | Can (administrative scriveners who have filed notification as application agents) |
| Acting as agent for the application for certification of the Construction Specified Skilled Worker Acceptance Plan and for the acceptance report after the switch (online) | Cannot | Can |
| Preparing the periodic and ad hoc notifications the company files after the switch | Limited to notifications it files itself | Can prepare them on your behalf |
| Implementing the Specified Skilled Worker (i) support plan | Can | Can |
Only attorneys and administrative scriveners can act as agents for MLIT’s online application for the acceptance plan. Our office handles many of these agency applications. We also take on other work, such as checking the CCUS registration details of technical intern trainees and handling registration on your behalf, helping with JAC membership, and renewing construction business licences.
About Staffing
- Acceptance under Employment for Skill Development (currently Technical Intern Training) is carried out in cooperation with a cooperative (a supervising organization) for which our representative serves as an adviser. Please also consult us about checking your current supervising organization’s situation and preparing Employment for Skill Development plans.
- For Specified Skilled Worker staff, we work alongside your company on recruitment through Hello Work job openings, JAC’s job listings and similar channels.
- Introductions of engineers for construction management, design and similar roles (Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services) are available in cooperation with the cooperative for which our representative serves as an adviser.
One-Stop Help Beyond Procedures for Foreign Nationals
- Labour matters such as employment insurance and social insurance are handled in cooperation with our partner certified social insurance and labour consultant (sharoshi, 社会保険労務士).
- Year-end accounts and tax returns are handled in cooperation with our partner certified public tax accountant (zeirishi, 税理士), and legal problems in cooperation with our partner attorney.
- Bookkeeping is handled by our office.
Our office is your single point of contact for consultations. So that you do not have to repeat the same explanation to each professional, our office stands in the middle and coordinates.
Our Representative’s Background and Our Office
- He previously served as president of a cooperative (a supervising organization and Registered Support Organization), working on the front line of accepting technical intern trainees and Specified Skilled Worker foreign nationals and of the related procedures and support. He is now an adviser to that cooperative.
- He served as a foreign employment consultant at Hello Work Chiba and has handled many consultations from companies hiring foreign nationals for the first time.
- 98% approval rate track record
- Your first consultation is free for 60 minutes. Online consultations are also available.
- Our office is a 4-minute walk from the South Exit of JR Chiba Station. Consultations are available in Japanese and Chinese.
Summary
- Technical intern trainees who are in Japan as of April 1, Reiwa 9 (2027) can continue technical intern training. However, they cannot move from Technical Intern Training to Employment for Skill Development.
- Those who have satisfactorily completed Technical Intern Training (ii) in a related occupation can move to Specified Skilled Worker (i) with test exemption. This treatment continues for the time being after the enforcement date.
- Specified Skilled Worker (i) in the construction field newly requires JAC membership, a job opening at Hello Work, a monthly salary with pay rises, and certification of a Construction Specified Skilled Worker Acceptance Plan. The number is capped at the number of full-time staff.
- The acceptance plan can be applied for from six months before the completion date, and certification takes about one and a half to two months. The guideline for applying to immigration is two to three months before the start of work.
- If the technical intern training plan period ends before permission is granted, the person cannot work as a Specified Skilled Worker (i) until permission is granted. Start preparing six months before completion.
- New acceptance will centre on Employment for Skill Development. Check whether your current supervising organization has applied for the supervising and supporting organization licence.
- As an administrative scrivener office and Registered Support Organization, our office takes on everything from preparing the change application documents and acting as agent for the acceptance plan application to preparing the notification documents after the switch. We also take on concerns beyond procedures for foreign nationals one-stop, in cooperation with our partner professionals.
This article is based on information published as of October 2026. Systems and their operation may change, so please check the latest information on the websites of the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Organization for Technical Intern Training and the Japan Association for Construction Human Resources.