The purpose of the Japan training visa is to allow an applicant from any country to come to Japan under Technical Intern Training Program and train in an implementing organization in order to acquire technology, skills, and knowledge. Upon return from Japan, participants are expected to utilize their newly learned technology, skills, and knowledge in their home countries.

The primary goal for creation of this program was to allow for exchange and training of overseas-based workers by Japanese companies. Thus, it is nearly impossible to obtain such training visa as an individual applicant. Instead, one must be a part of an organization outside Japan that sends trainees to Japanese companies and organizations.

Trainees

 

• An applicant must be at least 18 years old.
• The technology, skills, or knowledge that the applicant wants to obtain should be impossible or extremely hard to obtain in the region of their residence.
• After the return from Japan, the applicants should apply the technology, skills, or knowledge that they acquired in Japan in their country.
• The technology, skills, or knowledge that an applicant wants to acquire should not be those that are learned through repetition of a simple work.
• All the activities that applicant intends to perform during the training should be allowed for the holder of the Japan training visa. Those include learning and acquisition of the technology, skills, and knowledge from a public or a private organization in Japan.

Application procedure

 

1. Make sure that both you as an applicant and the implementing company meet all the requirements set by the program.
2. Make sure that the chosen activity is permitted for a training visa holder and is in line with the training plan.
3. Collect all the necessary documents.
4. Submit the documents for the Training Visa Certificate of Eligibility (hereinafter COE) to the immigration service office in Japan. If you do not currently reside in Japan, a certified immigration specialist will help you with the procedure (more information follows below).
5. Wait for approval of the COE.
6. Pick up your COE from the same immigration office where the application was made.
7. Obtain the training status of resident (hereinafter SOR) by exchanging your COE for SOR. Your SOR will be indicated on your residence card.
8. Obtain your residence card at the airport if you come from outside Japan or at the immigration office if you reside in Japan. Carry the residence card with you all the time at all places.

There are two types of procedures for accepting technical intern trainees: individual enterprise type and supervising organization type.

• ❶ Individual enterprise type:
  A format whereby enterprises and other businesses in Japan (implementing organizations) accept employees of overseas local subsidiaries, joint venture companies, or trading partners for technical intern training
• ❷ Supervising organization type:
  A format whereby non-profit organizations such as business cooperatives and societies of commerce and industry (supervising organizations) accept technical intern trainees for technical intern training at affiliated enterprises (implementing organizations)

After technical intern trainees enter Japan, they undergo Japanese language lectures and other lectures to acquire knowledge and information necessary for their legal protection and then acquire practical Skills etc. under an employment relationship with a Japanese enterprise or other business (implementing organization) (in the case of the individual enterprise type training, the lecture implementation period need not begin immediately after entering the country).

There are three technical intern training categories for both the individual enterprise type and supervising organization type trainee acceptance formats: activities for Skill etc. acquisition in the first year after entering Japan (Technical Intern Training (i)), activities to enhance Skills etc. in the second and third years after entering Japan (Technical Intern Training (ii)), and activities to master Skills etc. in the fourth and fifth years after entering Japan (Technical Intern Training (iii)).

Statuses of residence corresponding to the technical intern training categories are indicated in the following table.

	Individual Enterprise Type	Supervising Organization Type
First year after entry (Acquisition of Skills, etc.)	Individual Enterprise Type Technical Intern Training (i) (Status of residence: Technical Intern Training (i)(a))	Supervising Organization Type Technical Intern Training (i) (Status of residence: Technical Intern Training (i) (b))
Second and third years after entry (Enhancement of Skills etc.)	Individual Enterprise Type Technical Intern Training (ii) (Status of residence: Technical Intern Training (ii)(a))	Supervising Organization Type Technical Intern Training (ii) (Status of residence: Technical Intern Training (ii)(b))
Fourth and fifth years after entry (Mastery of Skills etc.)	Individual Enterprise Type Technical Intern Training (iii) (Status of residence: Technical Intern Training (iii)(a))	Supervising Organization Type Technical Intern Training (iii) (Status of residence: Technical Intern Training (iii)(b))

In order to make the shift from Technical Intern Training (i) to Technical Intern Training (ii), or from Technical Intern Training (ii) to Technical Intern Training (iii), the technical intern trainee must pass the specified Technical Intern Training Evaluation Examination (in the case of shift to Technical Intern Training (ii), a written test and practical test, and in the case of shift to Technical Intern Training (iii), a practical test).

The occupations and work eligible for transition to Technical Intern Training (ii) or Technical Intern Training (iii) (occupations and work subject to transfer) are specified by ordinances of the competent ministries.

The main details of the process from technical intern trainee entry into Japan until return to the trainee’s home country under the new Technical Intern Training Act is shown in the figure below.