The expansion of Specified Skilled Worker (ii) — how family accompaniment and social insurance change the labour side

Bottom line first: Specified Skilled Worker (ii) differs greatly from (i) in that there is no cap on renewals of the period of stay and, where the requirements are met, family can be brought over. If family live in Japan they may become dependants for social insurance, and the longer the worker stays the more the employees' pension builds up. The labour design has to be rebuilt from a "leaves in five years" premise to one of long settlement.

Specified Skilled Worker is a residence status for accepting foreign nationals in fields with serious labour shortages (Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, Appended Table 1-2). There are (i) and (ii); (ii) is for those with skilled ability, and its residence treatment is clearly different from (i).

A Cabinet decision of 9 June 2023 (Reiwa 5) widened Specified Skilled Worker (ii) — until then limited to construction and shipbuilding/ship machinery — to every specified industry field except nursing care. As a result, moving a worker accepted under (i) up to (ii), bringing family and working long-term, has become realistic in many industries.

Whether a company's field is covered by (ii), and whether a worker meets the requirements, cannot be settled by an article. This article sets out how a move to (ii) affects labour and social insurance. The residence-status change application itself is the domain of the administrative scrivener (registered for filing on behalf), and is not handled by this office.

How does Specified Skilled Worker (ii) differ from (i)?

Whether there is a cap on renewal of the stay, and whether family can be brought over — those are the decisive differences.

Item	Specified Skilled Worker (i)	Specified Skilled Worker (ii)
Renewal of period of stay	Capped at five years in total	No cap (renewals can continue)
Family accompaniment	In principle not permitted	Spouse and children may accompany where requirements are met
Skill level required	Considerable knowledge and experience	Skilled ability
Support plan / support organisation	Accepting organisation has a support duty	Outside the support-plan scheme

With no cap on the stay, the worker can keep working in Japan for the long term. Being able to bring family means the base of daily life shifts to Japan. Both break the "returns home in five years" premise, and employment management and social insurance practice change from there. The skill test, practical experience and other requirements for moving up to (ii) are set by field, but whether a worker meets them and whether the residence-status change is granted is the domain the Immigration Services Agency decides.

Which industries gained access to (ii) in the 2023 expansion?

Every specified industry field except nursing care. The 9 June 2023 Cabinet decision widened the scope at a stroke.

Added at that time were nine fields — building cleaning, manufacture of materials/industrial machinery/electrical and electronic information, automobile maintenance, aviation, accommodation, agriculture, fishery, food and beverage manufacturing, and food service — plus the non-welding categories of shipbuilding/ship machinery. Together with the existing construction and shipbuilding/ship machinery, (ii) can now be accepted in every specified industry field except nursing care (operation of this began on 31 August 2023).

There is no (ii) in nursing care because the professional/technical residence status "Nursing Care" exists separately. The labour of foreign nursing-care workers is designed on the premise of (i) only, with no (ii). See labour and social insurance of Specified Skilled Workers in nursing care. Note that specified industry fields have continued to be added since, so please check the current list of covered fields on the Immigration Services Agency's official page (this article refers as of 2 September 2026).

When family are brought over, how do dependant status and social insurance change?

Family living in Japan may become dependants for health insurance where the requirements are met. This is a major practical difference from (i).

Under (i), family cannot be brought over, so dependants normally do not arise. When, under (ii), a spouse or child comes to Japan and has an address in Japan, dependant recognition comes into play. A health-insurance dependant must be mainly supported by the insured (as a guide, annual income below roughly 1.3 million yen and less than half the insured's income) and, since April 2020, must in principle have an address in Japan (Health Insurance Act, Article 3, paragraph 7). Family living in Japan meet this domestic-residence requirement.

When a family member who qualifies as a dependant arises, the employer files a notification of change of dependant. The filing needs documents confirming the family relationship and the support, and for foreign-national family the way status and income are confirmed can differ from a domestic case. The domestic-residence requirement and its exceptions are set out in the domestic-residence requirement for dependants and foreign employees. The residence procedures for the accompanying family themselves are the domain of the administrative scrivener.

What to watch in labour-condition notices and rules of employment for a worker moved to (ii)?

Even when the residence status changes, the rules on the labour contract and the labour-condition notice are the same as for a Japanese worker. On top of that, the items added from April 2024 come into play.

Under Article 15, paragraph 1 of the Labor Standards Act and Article 5 of its Enforcement Ordinance, wages, working hours and other labour conditions must be stated when the labour contract is concluded. From April 2024, all workers must be told the "scope of change of workplace and duties", and fixed-term workers must additionally be told the renewal cap, the opportunity to apply for open-ended conversion and the labour conditions after conversion. If, at the move to (ii), you switch from fixed-term to open-ended or revise the contract term, the items to be stated change there.

Because the statute does not specify a language, a Japanese notice can satisfy the legal duty; but the guideline on employment management of foreign workers asks that conditions be stated so they can be understood in the mother tongue or in plain Japanese. The whole of the April 2024 amendment is set out in how the labour-condition notice rules changed. The duty to draw up rules of employment is in how many employees make rules of employment mandatory.

On a premise of long-term work without returning home, how do pension and social insurance build up?

The employees' pension builds up as the insured period lengthens. For (ii), which assumes long-term work, the picture here changes from (i).

For someone who works a few years under (i) and returns home, there is, as set out in the lump-sum withdrawal payment and pension for a returning worker, a route to claim a lump-sum withdrawal payment where the requirements are met. By contrast, a worker who settles in Japan under (ii) and keeps paying contributions can, once the qualifying period (in principle ten years, i.e. 120 months) is met, stand on the side of receiving an old-age pension. Because a period covered by a lump-sum withdrawal payment is excluded from the pension calculation, on a long-term premise it can be better to look to the pension build-up than to the immediate lump sum. Which is more advantageous divides by the worker's residence outlook and the home country's system, and this office does not reach a blanket conclusion.

A worker from a country with a social-security agreement is also affected in how the Japanese and home-country coverage periods are treated. That health insurance, employees' pension, employment insurance and workers' accident insurance apply according to how one works (working hours, form of employment) rather than the residence status is unchanged between (i) and (ii).

Who handles the residence procedure and who handles labour and social insurance?

The entry-side residence status goes to the administrative scrivener; labour and social insurance after hiring go to the labour consultant. The handlers divide.

• The application for a change of residence status to Specified Skilled Worker (ii), residence procedures for accompanying family, various notifications as a registered support organisation, and dealings with immigration → the domain of the administrative scrivener (registered for filing). 四葉行政書士事務所 accepts this as a separate business entity
• Labour-condition notices, labour contracts, rules of employment, applying social and labour insurance and filing dependant notifications, and payroll → the domain of the Certified Social Insurance and Labour Consultant
• Where an individual labour dispute or collective bargaining develops → consult a lawyer (Bengoshi)

Hiring one foreign worker sets several windows moving — residence, labour and housing. A timeline is set out in how many windows it takes to hire one foreign worker, and the Hello Work notification on hiring and separation in notify Hello Work when you hire a foreign worker.

What can 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 do?

What this office takes on is rebuilding labour and social insurance in line with the move to (ii).

• Revising the labour-condition notice and labour contract for the move to (ii) (the April 2024 additions, mother-tongue support)
• Setting up the rules of employment and wage regulations, and contract design with open-ended conversion in view
• Social and labour insurance filings, including the notification of change of dependant for accompanying family
• Organising the outlook for employees' pension and health insurance on a long-term-work premise
• Filing the foreign-employment status notification (hiring and separation)

The following are not handled here.

• The application for a change of residence status to Specified Skilled Worker (ii), residence procedures for accompanying family, and registered-support-organisation notifications → 四葉行政書士事務所 accepts this as a separate business entity
• Individual labour disputes, collective bargaining or litigation → we refer you to a lawyer (Bengoshi)
• Tax treatment of wages and year-end adjustment → we connect you with a tax accountant (Zeirishi)
• Company registration procedures → we connect you with a judicial scrivener (Shiho Shoshi)
• Leases of company housing or dormitories → 四葉不動産株式会社 accepts this as a separate business entity

四葉不動産株式会社, 四葉行政書士事務所 and 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 each accept work as an independent business entity, under a separate contract. Where another professional is introduced, you contract with them directly, and this office receives no referral fee.

Consultations are free of charge. Fees are set out in the fee schedule; see also our services and how a consultation proceeds.

Frequently asked questions

Q. If we move a foreign worker employed under (i) to (ii), do the social-insurance procedures increase?
A. The worker's own insured status does not change automatically on the change of residence status if the working hours and form of employment are unchanged. What increases are the procedures relating to family. Because (ii) allows family accompaniment, if a spouse or child comes to Japan, lives with an address in Japan and meets the support and income requirements, they may become a health-insurance dependant (including the domestic-residence requirement of Article 3, paragraph 7 of the Health Insurance Act). In that case a notification of change of dependant is filed. The residence-status change application itself is the domain of the administrative scrivener, and is not handled by this office.

Q. Do accompanying family always become dependants?
A. No. Whether they become a dependant turns on whether they are mainly supported by the insured, whether annual income is within the standard (as a guide, below roughly 1.3 million yen and less than half the insured's income), and whether they have an address in Japan. If the family member works and earns income over the standard, that family member may be an insured person in their own right rather than a dependant. Each recognition is judged after confirming the income and support situation.

Q. Can Specified Skilled Worker (ii) be used in nursing care as well?
A. No. The 9 June 2023 Cabinet decision widened (ii) to every specified industry field except nursing care, but no (ii) is provided in the nursing-care field, because the professional/technical residence status "Nursing Care" exists separately. Foreign nursing-care workers are on the premise of (i) only, so labour design assuming family accompaniment and long settlement diverges from this article.

Q. Should a worker who will work long-term under (ii) not claim the lump-sum withdrawal payment?
A. It is not decided uniformly. The lump-sum withdrawal payment is a scheme for a returning worker to settle a short coverage period, and receiving it excludes that period from the pension calculation. If the worker settles in Japan, keeps paying contributions and is likely to meet the qualifying period (in principle ten years), they may stand on the side of receiving an old-age pension, so on a long-term premise it can be better to look to the pension build-up than the immediate lump sum. Which is more advantageous divides by the worker's residence outlook and the home country's system, and this office does not reach a blanket conclusion.

Basis for this article

• Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (出入国管理及び難民認定法, Cabinet Order No. 319 of 1951), Appended Table 1-2 — the residence status "Specified Skilled Worker" ((i) and (ii))
• On adding target fields for Specified Skilled Worker (ii) (Cabinet decision of 9 June 2023) — adding the nine fields (building cleaning; manufacture of materials/industrial machinery/electrical and electronic information; automobile maintenance; aviation; accommodation; agriculture; fishery; food and beverage manufacturing; food service) and the non-welding categories of shipbuilding/ship machinery, so that (ii) can be accepted in every specified industry field except nursing care (operation began 31 August 2023); nursing care is outside the scope because the residence status "Nursing Care" exists
• Immigration Services Agency, "Specified Skilled Worker system" and "On adding target fields for Specified Skilled Worker (ii)" (referred 2 September 2026) — (i) has a five-year total cap and in principle no family accompaniment; (ii) has no cap on renewal, permits accompaniment of spouse and children where requirements are met, and is outside the support-plan scheme
• Health Insurance Act (健康保険法, Act No. 70 of 1922), Article 3, paragraph 7 — a dependant must in principle have an address in Japan (subject to certain exceptions; in force 1 April 2020)
• Labor Standards Act (労働基準法, Act No. 49 of 1947), Article 15, paragraph 1, and Ordinance for Enforcement, Article 5 — statement of labour conditions at conclusion of the contract; the items added in force 1 April 2024 (scope of change of workplace and duties; for fixed-term contracts, the renewal cap, the open-ended-conversion application opportunity and the labour conditions after conversion)
• Guideline for employers to deal appropriately with the improvement of employment management of foreign workers (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Notification No. 276 of 2007) — the effort duty to state labour conditions in the mother tongue or another method the worker understands
• Employees' Pension Insurance Act (厚生年金保険法, Act No. 115 of 1954), Supplementary Provisions Article 29 (lump-sum withdrawal payment), and the old-age-pension qualifying period (in principle ten years)
• Act on Comprehensively Advancing Labour Measures, and Stabilising the Employment of Workers, etc., Article 28, paragraph 1 — the foreign-employment status notification
• Statutory texts were confirmed on 2 September 2026 from the e-Gov law data API (law IDs 326CO0000000319, Act No. 70 of 1922, 322AC0000000049, 322M40000100023 and Act No. 115 of 1954). The Cabinet decision and the Immigration Services Agency's official materials were confirmed the same day

This article does not determine whether any particular case qualifies. 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 can advise on revising the labour-condition notice and labour contract for a move to Specified Skilled Worker (ii), setting up the rules of employment and wage regulations, social and labour insurance procedures such as the dependant notification for accompanying family, and the foreign-employment status notification. The application for a change of residence status to (ii), residence procedures for accompanying family and registered-support-organisation notifications are not handled by this office; 四葉行政書士事務所 accepts them as a separate business entity. Individual labour disputes, collective bargaining and litigation we refer to a lawyer (Bengoshi); tax treatment of wages and year-end adjustment we connect you with a tax accountant (Zeirishi) for, and registration with a judicial scrivener (Shiho Shoshi). Leases of company housing or dormitories are accepted by 四葉不動産株式会社 as a separate business entity. If a different professional is needed, each is contracted separately, and there is no referral fee. Frequently asked questions are collected in the FAQ.

This article is general information. Individual determinations are made by a qualified professional after a consultation, in light of individual circumstances. Written by Joji Uramatsu (Shakai Hoken Roumushi, Gyoseishoshi, Registered Real Estate Transaction Specialist).