The procedures do not end once you have hired a foreign national. The filing destinations are split among immigration, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Hello Work (ハローワーク), the pension office (年金事務所), the Labour Standards Inspection Office (労働基準監督署), the tax office (税務署) and the municipality (市区町村), and the deadlines all differ. We often hear from companies that “we lost track of what we filed where” or “the person in charge left and nothing was handed over.” In this article we list, by “when, where and what,” the procedures that construction companies employing foreign nationals should keep on top of, and set out who should handle each one so that nothing slips through.
Sources: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, “On the Ministerial Ordinance Amendment Taking Effect on April 1, Reiwa 7 (2025)” / the same Agency, “Operational Guidelines on the Acceptance of Specified Skilled Worker Foreign Nationals” (August, Reiwa 8 (2026)) / the same Agency, “Guidelines for Preparing the Notification on the Status of Acceptance, Activities and Support Implementation of Specified Skilled Worker Foreign Nationals (Periodic Notification)” / Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, “Operational Guidelines on the Acceptance of Specified Skilled Worker Foreign Nationals in Specific Fields: Standards for the Construction Field” / Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, “Application Guide, Forms and System Operating Instructions [Specified Skilled Worker System (Construction Field)]” / the same Ministry, “Licensing Requirements” / the same Ministry, “Guidelines on Guidance for Subcontractors Regarding Social Insurance Enrolment” / Japan Pension Service, “When You Hire an Employee,” “Procedures When You Employ a Foreign Employee,” “Payment of Employees’ Pension Insurance Premiums, etc.,” “Regular Determination (Report on Base Monthly Remuneration)” / Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, “What Is the Annual Labour Insurance Renewal?” “On the Notification of Employment Status of Foreign Nationals” / National Tax Agency, “No.2505 Payment Deadlines for Withholding Income Tax and Special Income Tax for Reconstruction, and the Special Rule on Payment Deadlines,” “Q&A on Deductions for Dependants and Other Deductions for Relatives Living Abroad,” “Filing Deadlines for Statutory Information Returns” / Chiba City, “Procedures for Special Collection” / Immigration Services Agency of Japan, “Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Ad Hoc Notifications by Specified Skilled Worker Accepting Organizations (Q&A)” (June, Reiwa 7 (2025)) / e-Gov Law Search, “Administrative Scriveners Act,” Articles 1-3 and 19, and “Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act,” Articles 19-18, 71-4 and 77-2
Construction companies’ concerns, handled one-stop. The notifications that follow the hiring of a foreign national are split among immigration, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Hello Work, the pension office, the tax office and the municipality. As an administrative scrivener (gyoseishoshi, 行政書士) office, we can prepare on your behalf the Specified Skilled Worker notification documents that the accepting company submits. For labour, social insurance, tax and legal concerns as well, our office serves as your point of contact, working in cooperation with partner professionals.
Post-hiring procedures are split among seven filing destinations
First, the overall picture. The procedures that follow the hiring of a foreign national fall broadly into the following seven filing destinations. The right-hand column shows who handles each one when you entrust the work to our office.
| Filing destination | Main procedures | Handled by |
|---|---|---|
| Immigration Services Agency of Japan (immigration) | Specified Skilled Worker ad hoc notifications (随時届出) and periodic notifications (定期届出); extension of the period of stay | Our office |
| Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) | Changes to the Construction Specified Skilled Worker Acceptance Plan (建設特定技能受入計画); acceptance reports and resignation reports | Our office |
| Hello Work | Employment insurance enrolment and loss of insured status (also serves as the notification of employment status of foreign nationals (外国人雇用状況の届出)) | Partner certified social insurance and labour consultant (社会保険労務士) |
| Pension office | Health insurance and employees’ pension insurance enrolment and loss of insured status; Report on Base Monthly Remuneration (算定基礎届) | Partner social insurance and labour consultant |
| Labour Bureau / Labour Standards Inspection Office | Annual labour insurance renewal (労働保険の年度更新) | Partner social insurance and labour consultant |
| Tax office | Payment of withholding income tax; year-end tax adjustment (年末調整); statutory information returns (法定調書); financial statements and tax returns | Company (payment) / partner certified public tax accountant (税理士) |
| Municipality | Special collection of resident tax (住民税の特別徴収); salary payment reports (給与支払報告書); letter of confirmation of cooperation (協力確認書) | Company / partner tax accountant / our office |
The figures that appear in these procedures all originate in the monthly payroll and the books. Our office keeps the books as a bookkeeping service.
Note that if you employ someone under a residence status other than Specified Skilled Worker (such as Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services), the company in principle need not file with immigration, provided it has filed the notification of employment status of foreign nationals with Hello Work. The worker, on the other hand, has a duty to notify immigration within 14 days. We explain this mechanism together with the relevant provisions in Notification Calendar for Companies Employing Foreign Nationals.
Procedures on hiring
These are the main procedures when you hire a construction skilled worker under Specified Skilled Worker (i) (特定技能1号).
| When | Where | What | Handled by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before the residence status application (when accepting a Specified Skilled Worker foreign national for the first time) | The municipalities where the business site and the residence are located | Letter of confirmation of cooperation | Our office |
| Within 5 days of joining | Pension office | Notification of Acquisition of Insured Status for health insurance and employees’ pension insurance. For persons whose My Number is not linked to their basic pension number, among others, the Notification of Name in Roman Letters (ローマ字氏名届) must also be submitted | Partner social insurance and labour consultant |
| By the 10th of the month following joining | Hello Work | Notification of Acquisition of Insured Status for employment insurance (also serves as the notification of employment status of foreign nationals) | Partner social insurance and labour consultant |
| Within 14 days of settling on a residence | Municipality | Notification of place of residence by the worker | The worker (accompanied by our office as a Registered Support Organization (登録支援機関) where necessary) |
| In principle within 1 month after acceptance | MLIT | Acceptance report for the Specified Skilled Worker (i) foreign national. For persons coming from overseas, also a document showing the CCUS skilled worker ID | Our office (we also handle CCUS skilled worker registration on your behalf) |
| By the first payday | Within the company | Receive the Declaration for Exemption for Dependents (扶養控除等申告書) and prepare for tax withholding | Company / partner tax accountant |
| Roughly 3 to 6 months after acceptance | Foundation for International Transfer of Skills and Knowledge in Construction (FITS, 国際建設技能振興機構) | Have the worker attend the post-acceptance training (受入れ後講習) (treated as a working day) | Company |
For the deadline of the employment insurance acquisition notification and how to file for persons who do not become insured, see Notification Calendar for Companies Employing Foreign Nationals. The process up to hiring is summarized in Hiring Foreign Nationals in the Construction Industry | A One-Stop Process from Finding Workers to Residence Procedures.
Monthly and annual procedures
| When | Where | What | Handled by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly (by the 10th of the month following the month in which wages were paid) | Tax office | Payment of withholding income tax. If the number of employees receiving pay is always fewer than 10, a special rule allows six months’ worth to be paid together on July 10 and January 20 of the following year | Company (supported by the partner tax accountant) |
| Monthly (by the 10th of the month following the month of deduction) | Municipality | Paying in the specially collected resident tax | Company |
| Monthly (by the last day of the following month) | Japan Pension Service (direct debit or payment notice) | Payment of health insurance and employees’ pension insurance premiums | Company |
| Monthly | ― | Recording payments of wages, premiums and taxes in the books | Our office (bookkeeping service) |
| April 1 – May 31 | Immigration | Specified Skilled Worker periodic notification (for the previous fiscal year) | Our office |
| Around the end of May | Sent by the municipality | Notice of the amount of resident tax to be specially collected. The new amount is deducted from June wages onward | Company |
| June 1 – July 10 | Labour Bureau, Labour Standards Inspection Office, etc. | Annual labour insurance renewal | Partner social insurance and labour consultant |
| July 1 – July 10 | Pension office | Report on Base Monthly Remuneration | Partner social insurance and labour consultant |
| December – January | Within the company | Year-end tax adjustment | Company (supported by the partner tax accountant) |
| By January 31 | Municipality / tax office | Statutory information returns, such as salary payment reports and withholding tax slips | Partner tax accountant |
| At the end of the business year | Tax office, etc. | Financial statements and tax returns | Partner tax accountant |
If a deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, it may move to a later day. Please check each authority’s guidance.
Procedures when things change or the worker leaves
| Situation | Where, what and deadline | Handled by |
|---|---|---|
| The period of stay is about to expire | Application for extension of the period of stay to immigration (from roughly 3 months before expiry) | Our office |
| The employment contract has changed (a reduction in base pay, a change in the place of work, job category or prescribed working hours, etc.) | Notification of change of the employment contract to immigration (within 14 days). An application for change or a notification of change of the MLIT acceptance plan may also be required | Our office |
| The support plan or the contract with the Registered Support Organization has changed | Notification to immigration (within 14 days) | Our office |
| The worker cannot work for 1 month or more because of illness, injury, childcare leave, etc., or his or her whereabouts are unknown | Notification of difficulty in continuing acceptance to immigration (within 14 days) | Our office |
| The worker has left | Notification of termination of the employment contract to immigration (within 14 days); resignation report to MLIT (promptly); notification of loss of employment insurance status to Hello Work (within 10 days from the day after separation); notification of loss of insured status to the pension office (within 5 days); Notification of Change in Salaried Employee Status (給与所得者異動届出書) to the municipality (by the 10th of the following month) | Our office / partner social insurance and labour consultant / company |
When a worker leaves, there are five filing destinations at once. The notification to immigration is required even after the worker has left or returned home, as long as the event arose while he or she was residing as a Specified Skilled Worker. Please also tell the worker that he or she has a duty to notify immigration of the termination of the employment contract within 14 days.
Let us also check the penalties for failing to file, or filing false, Specified Skilled Worker notifications. The notifications of a change to, termination of or new conclusion of an employment contract, and, within the periodic notification, the notification of the names, activities and other particulars of the Specified Skilled Worker foreign nationals being accepted, are subject to a fine of not more than 300,000 yen (Article 71-4, item 1 of the Immigration Control Act). Other notifications by a Specified Skilled Worker accepting organization (特定技能所属機関) are subject to a non-penal administrative fine (karyō) of not more than 100,000 yen (Article 77-2, item 1 of the same Act).
In the construction field, pay must be a “monthly salary”
Specified Skilled Worker in the construction field also has rules on how wages are paid. Here are the key points from the operational guidelines (construction field) of the Ministry of Justice and MLIT.
- Equal or higher: Pay remuneration at least equal to that of a Japanese skilled worker with equivalent skills, on a stable basis, and raise pay as the worker’s skills develop.
- Monthly salary: Pay “an amount calculated on a one-month basis” (the total of base pay, allowances paid at a fixed amount every month, and overtime pay). Even if other staff at the company are not paid a monthly salary, a monthly salary is required for Specified Skilled Worker foreign nationals.
- Days off due to weather: Deducting from base pay for absences for the worker’s own reasons (excluding annual paid leave) is permissible. However, treating a suspension of site work for company reasons or because of the weather as an absence is not permitted. For a work stoppage due to reasons attributable to the employer, at least 60% of average wages must be paid under the Labour Standards Act.
- Method of payment: Pay by transfer to a savings account (or to an account with a funds transfer service provider designated by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare), obtaining the worker’s consent at the stage of the advance explanation of important matters (重要事項事前説明).
If you change the remuneration or other items stated in the acceptance plan, an application for change or a notification of change to MLIT is required. If you change the employment contract, for example by lowering base pay, a notification to immigration is also required. Calculating monthly salaries and managing attendance fall within the field of expertise of social insurance and labour consultants. For the full set of additional standards, see Specified Skilled Worker in the Construction Field | The Special Requirements of CCUS Registration and JAC Membership.
The Specified Skilled Worker periodic notification is now annual
The periodic notification by a Specified Skilled Worker accepting organization (a company employing Specified Skilled Worker foreign nationals) changed from quarterly to once a year under a ministerial ordinance amendment that took effect on April 1, Reiwa 7 (2025). The notification is now called the “Notification on the Status of Acceptance, Activities and Support Implementation.”
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Covered period | April 1 – March 31 of the following year (any fiscal year with even one day of acceptance) |
| Filing period | April 1 – May 31 of the following fiscal year |
| Example | The period from April 2025 to March 2026 is filed between April 1 and May 31, 2026 |
| Where to file | The electronic notification system, or the Regional Immigration Services Bureau with jurisdiction over the location of the head office |
| Main contents | Status of acceptance; status of remuneration payments (wages paid regularly every month, bonuses, deductions, and the pay raise rate where the worker has been employed continuously for 2 years or more); status of support implementation |
| Main attachments | Materials on the payment of labour insurance and social insurance premiums, a national tax payment certificate, materials on the payment of resident tax, etc. (organizations meeting certain standards may omit them) |
The Immigration Services Agency’s preparation guidelines warn that if the periodic notification is not filed, or if the notification documents show that standards are not met and the situation is not corrected, acceptance will in principle no longer be permitted.
What we would like you to note here is where the materials for the notification come from. Remuneration figures come from the wage ledger and the books; materials on premium payments from the social insurance procedures; tax payment materials from the tax procedures; and the status of support implementation from the support records. If each of these is handled by a different person, you tend to end up scrambling for documents in May. And because the filing is now only once a year, it is also more likely that no one remembers how it was done the previous time. For an overview of the obligations of accepting companies, see Obligations of Companies Accepting Specified Skilled Workers.
Only administrative scriveners and attorneys can be entrusted with preparing notification documents
Some companies think, “We can just ask the Registered Support Organization we outsource support to to handle the notifications as well.” However, only administrative scriveners and attorneys can be entrusted with preparing the periodic and ad hoc notification documents that the accepting company submits. This is because preparing documents to be submitted to public offices for remuneration is the work of an administrative scrivener, and anyone who is not an administrative scrivener may not do so as a business for remuneration (Articles 1-3 and 19, paragraph 1 of the Administrative Scriveners Act).
The Immigration Services Agency’s Q&A likewise warns that only “persons holding the status of an administrative scrivener or attorney” may be entrusted with preparing notification documents, and that entrusting anyone else may violate the Administrative Scriveners Act and other laws and will also be regarded as a failure to make a proper notification. What an ordinary Registered Support Organization that is not an administrative scrivener can prepare is the part that concerns itself, such as the status of support implementation. The accepting company’s notification documents themselves must either be prepared by the company’s own officers or employees or be entrusted to an administrative scrivener or attorney. Because our office is both a Registered Support Organization and an administrative scrivener office, we can take on everything from the support records to the preparation of the notification documents in one package.
Common pitfalls
1. Delays in social insurance enrolment
The Japan Pension Service advises that if it is later found that an acquisition notification was not submitted, premiums must be paid retroactively to the time the event occurred. In the construction industry, enrolment in appropriate social insurance has been a requirement for a construction business licence (since October, Reiwa 2 (2020)), and MLIT’s Guidelines on Guidance for Subcontractors ask prime contractors, absent special reasons, not to admit to their sites workers whose enrolment in appropriate insurance cannot be confirmed. In the acceptance plan application as well, the number of full-time staff is checked against social insurance enrolment status.
2. Late paying-in of deducted resident tax
For Specified Skilled Worker, compliance with laws and regulations on labour, social insurance and taxes is a standard for acceptance. The operational guidelines state that if there are arrears because the company has not paid in resident tax specially collected from a Specified Skilled Worker foreign national, the company will not be regarded as complying with tax laws and regulations. Specially collected resident tax is money held on the worker’s behalf out of his or her wages. It is important to put in place a system for meeting the monthly payment deadline (the 10th of the following month).
3. Getting the treatment of family dependants wrong
Dependants under health insurance are in principle required to have an address in Japan (Japan Pension Service). To claim the income tax deduction for dependants for family members living abroad, documents evidencing the family relationship and documents evidencing remittances are required. Moreover, family members abroad aged 30 or over and under 70 qualify only if they are studying abroad, are persons with disabilities, or have received remittances for living expenses or the like of 380,000 yen or more in that year (National Tax Agency). You can rest easier if you tell the worker to prepare the documents before the year-end tax adjustment.
4. Missing notifications on resignation
Even where hiring procedures are built into internal workflows, resignations are easy to miss because the number of filing destinations jumps all at once. We recommend checking all five destinations, namely immigration, MLIT, Hello Work, the pension office and the municipality, on a single list on the day you are told of the resignation.
5. Getting the timing of the periodic notification wrong
Some companies still remember the old quarterly practice, while others forget the notification exists now that it is only once a year. Please put “April 1 to May 31 every year” in your company calendar.
When you entrust the work to our office
The procedures that follow the hiring of a foreign national involve different filing destinations and different specialist professionals. Even so, our office accepts all of a construction company’s concerns on a one-stop basis. Beyond administrative scrivener procedures, we deal with labour and social insurance in cooperation with our partner social insurance and labour consultant, with financial statements and tax returns in cooperation with our partner certified public tax accountant, and with legal issues in cooperation with our partner attorney.
What we can do because we are administrative scriveners
| Type of help | Our office (administrative scrivener and Registered Support Organization) | An ordinary Registered Support Organization that is not an administrative scrivener |
|---|---|---|
| Preparing the periodic and ad hoc notification documents submitted by the accepting company | Can prepare them on your behalf | Cannot prepare them on your behalf (only the parts that concern itself) |
| Preparing residence status application documents, such as for extension of the period of stay | Can do so | Cannot prepare them on your behalf |
| Acceptance reports and resignation reports to MLIT, and changes to the acceptance plan | Can act as your agent | Cannot act as your agent |
| Day-to-day living support in line with the support plan | Can do so | Can do so |
- Preparing notification documents on your behalf: We prepare, on behalf of the accepting company, the annual periodic notification and ad hoc notifications such as those for a change to or termination of the employment contract. Because the support records are also kept at our office, everything from gathering the materials to submission is done in one go.
- MLIT procedures: We have in fact filed many applications for certification of acceptance plans and many acceptance reports as agent. We also handle CCUS skilled worker registration on behalf of workers coming from overseas.
- Bookkeeping service: We record payments of wages, premiums and taxes in the books and assemble the figures needed for notifications and tax returns.
- Our office also handles renewals of and changes to construction business licences.
- A 98% approval record
Our representative previously served as chairman of a business cooperative (協同組合; a supervising organization and Registered Support Organization), working at the front line of the acceptance of technical intern trainees and Specified Skilled Worker foreign nationals and of the related procedures and support. He now serves as an advisor to that cooperative. He also served as a foreign employment counselor at the Chiba Public Employment Security Office (Hello Work Chiba), advising many companies hiring foreign nationals for the first time. For residence status applications, our representative, an administrative scrivener who has filed the notification required to act as an application agent (申請取次), submits applications to immigration on behalf of the company and the worker.
The first consultation is free for 60 minutes. Online consultations are available, and you are also welcome at our office, a 4-minute walk from the South Exit of JR Chiba Station. Consultations are available in Japanese and Chinese.
Summary
- The procedures that follow the hiring of a foreign national are split among seven filing destinations: immigration, MLIT, Hello Work, the pension office, the Labour Bureau, the tax office and the municipality.
- The Specified Skilled Worker periodic notification became once a year from April 1, Reiwa 7 (2025). The previous fiscal year is filed between April 1 and May 31 every year.
- The periodic notification requires materials on remuneration payments and on the payment of social insurance premiums, labour insurance premiums and taxes. If wages, social insurance and tax are each handled by different people, gathering the materials takes effort.
- Specified Skilled Worker in the construction field requires a monthly salary. Treating days off for weather or company reasons as absences is not permitted.
- Common pitfalls are late social insurance enrolment, late paying-in of resident tax, getting the treatment of family dependants wrong, and missed notifications on resignation.
- Only administrative scriveners and attorneys can be entrusted with preparing the accepting company’s notification documents. They cannot be entrusted to an ordinary Registered Support Organization that is not an administrative scrivener.
- As an administrative scrivener, our office prepares notification documents and acts as agent for MLIT procedures, and also provides bookkeeping. For labour, social insurance, tax and legal concerns as well, our office serves as your point of contact, working in cooperation with partner professionals.
This article is based on information published as of October 2026. Deadlines and forms 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 Japan Pension Service, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the National Tax Agency and your local municipality.