Engineer Visa in the Hotel & Hospitality Industry | Approved vs. Denied Work

With the recovery of inbound tourism, hotels and tourism companies are increasingly hiring foreign workers. However, the boundary between approved and denied work is a particular issue in this industry.

Reference: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, “Clarification of Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services Residence Status”

Approved Work

Work	Reason	Category
Front desk (primarily foreign language)	Specialized language-based service	International Services
Foreign language concierge	Requires advanced language skills	International Services
Interpretation / Translation	Language-based specialized work	International Services
International marketing	Specialized planning work	Humanities
Overseas travel agency negotiations	Language-based sales	International Services

Denied Work

Work	Reason
Room cleaning	No specialized knowledge required
Bed making	Learnable through short training
Restaurant serving (hall service)	Simple labor
Cooking assistance	No specialized knowledge required
Luggage handling (bellboy)	Simple labor

Important: Room cleaning and bed making can be handled under the “Specified Skilled Worker (Accommodation)” visa instead.

Comparison with Specified Skilled Worker (Accommodation)

Item	Engineer Visa	Specified Skilled Worker
Target work	Specialized work (foreign language front desk, etc.)	All accommodation work (including cleaning)
Education requirement	University degree or 10 years experience	None (exam required)
Duration limit	No limit (renewable)	Type 1: max 5 years
Family	Allowed (Dependent visa)	Type 1: Not allowed

Our Support

For Engineer visa applications in the hospitality industry, trust Kaneko Hidetaka Administrative Scrivener Office.

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