Hire one foreign employee — how many counters do you need?

In short: hiring one foreign employee sets at least three procedures moving at once — the residence-status application, labour and social insurance enrolment and notifications, and housing. Because different licences are responsible, each becomes a separate contract. Get the order wrong and the start date moves.

This page is for owners and back-office staff of small and medium-sized companies hiring a foreign employee for the first time. It lays out what moves, in what order, under whose responsibility — and links out to the detailed articles.

What moves, and in what order?

Arranged as a timeline, the division of roles becomes visible.

Stage	What moves	Whose work
Offer to joining	Residence-status certification or change application	A gyoseishoshi (四葉行政書士事務所)
Before joining	Written working conditions and the employment contract (for the relationship with the period of stay, see Which expires first — the period of stay or the employment contract?)	A shakai hoken roumushi
Around joining	Housing and the corporate lease	A licensed real estate agent (四葉不動産株式会社)
On joining	Social and employment insurance enrolment; the foreign worker employment status notification	A shakai hoken roumushi
Monthly and yearly	Payroll, company housing as in-kind compensation, the annual calculation report and annual renewal	A shakai hoken roumushi
On returning home	Loss of insured status, separation notifications, settling the pension	A shakai hoken roumushi

Across the flow — entrance (residence status) → operation (monthly labour administration) → exit (return home) — the entrance belongs to the gyoseishoshi, operation and exit to the shakai hoken roumushi, and housing to the real estate agent. The lines follow the licences.

Where does the shakai hoken roumushi's work start and end?

Everything that recurs monthly and yearly after the hire. Social and employment insurance enrolment and loss, the foreign worker employment status notification, payroll and in-kind compensation, working-hours management (including the 28-hour limit for international students), and the procedures at departure. This office takes these on through its labour and social insurance service for foreign employment.

Conversely, this article does not cover — and this office does not handle — obtaining, changing or renewing a residence status. That is gyoseishoshi work; the company-side procedures and deadlines are covered by 四葉行政書士事務所 (a separate business from this office).

What does providing company housing add?

With foreign employees, the company often arranges the housing. Three things are added: finding the property and the corporate lease (the real estate agent), the company housing rules (the shakai hoken roumushi; see the "company housing rules" rows of the fee schedule) — and, most often overlooked, the housing counting as in-kind compensation in the standard remuneration. How much rent you collect from the employee changes the social insurance premiums. See Provide company housing, and social insurance premiums can rise.

How do I consult Yotsuba?

Yotsuba has real estate (四葉不動産株式会社), a gyoseishoshi office (四葉行政書士事務所) and a shakai hoken roumushi office (四葉社会保険労務士事務所) at the same location, so you have a single point of contact. However, each accepts work as an independent business, under a separate contract, with separate invoices and separate payment accounts. No referral fees change hands. Consultation is free of charge. We start by sorting out what to move first.

Whom to consult

Residence-status applications, changes and renewals go to 四葉行政書士事務所; property search and corporate leases to 四葉不動産株式会社 (each a separate business from this office, engaged under a separate contract). Payroll taxation and the year-end adjustment are for a tax accountant, registration for a judicial scrivener, and matters in dispute for an attorney. In every case, no referral fees change hands.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Can we ask for everything under one contract?
A. No. Residence status is gyoseishoshi work, labour and social insurance is shakai hoken roumushi work, and the property and corporate lease belong to a licensed real estate agent — the licences are separate by law. At Yotsuba you can consult through a single point of contact, but each engagement is accepted by an independent business, with separate contracts, invoices and payment accounts.

Q. Which procedure should move first?
A. Generally, the start date cannot be fixed until the residence status is settled. The practical order is: the residence status first (gyoseishoshi work), with the design of working conditions and the housing search running in parallel. This office handles the working-conditions side and everything after joining.

Q. Does social insurance treat foreign employees differently?
A. The enrolment criteria do not depend on nationality; foreign employees join social and employment insurance on the same tests as Japanese employees. What is specific to foreign employment is the employment status notification (at every hire and separation) and the pension settlement at departure — each covered in its own article.

Q. Is there a charge just to consult?
A. Consultation with this office is free. Fees for procedures and retainers are published in the fee schedule.

Sources for this article

• This article organises the division of roles (scope of practice); the statutory basis for each procedure is given in the linked articles
• Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant Act (社会保険労務士法, Act No. 89 of 1968), Article 2, paragraph 1 and Article 27 (only a shakai hoken roumushi may handle labour and social insurance procedures for a fee) — current text confirmed on e-Gov on 14 August 2026

This article is general information. Judgments that fit your particular circumstances are made by a qualified professional after a meeting. Written by Joji Uramatsu (Shakai Hoken Roumushi (Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant), Gyoseishoshi (Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialist), Registered Real Estate Transaction Specialist).