Eligible Occupations and Education Requirements for the Gijinkoku Visa: The Line Between Jobs You Can and Can't Hire For

Key points

● Gijinkoku-eligible occupations fall broadly into three fields—Engineer, Specialist in Humanities, and International Services—each requiring different expertise.

● If the relevance between the job duties and the major/work history is weak, denial is possible even for a university graduate.

● Simple labor (factory line work, floor service, warehouse cargo handling, etc.) is out of scope regardless of field.

● There are cases where duties span multiple fields within a single status of residence, and how the contract/job description is written directly affects the examination.

Occupations You Can Hire in the “Engineer” Field

Jobs applying specialized knowledge in science and engineering fields are eligible. Representative occupations include:

● Systems engineers, programmers, IT consultants

● Mechanical designers, electrical/electronic engineers

● Production control / quality control engineers

● Architectural/civil engineering designers (note: construction management may require a different status of residence, so verification is needed)

A university major in a field such as information engineering, mechanical engineering, or electrical/electronic engineering, or 10+ years of practical experience in the relevant field, is required.

Occupations You Can Hire in the “Specialist in Humanities” Field

Jobs applying specialized knowledge in humanities fields are eligible.

● Accounting/finance, HR/labor management

● Marketing, planning roles

● Legal affairs, compliance

● Corporate planning, business development

Majors such as economics, business administration, and law are typical examples, but there are cases where a major is accepted even if its name does not match the job duties, provided the substantive content of the curriculum is relevant to the work.

Occupations You Can Hire in the “International Services” Field

Jobs applying language skills and cross-cultural understanding are eligible.

● Interpretation/translation

● Overseas sales, trade operations

● Language instructors (direct employment by a school corporation may fall under a different category)

● PR / overseas PR, inbound support

The International Services field differs from the other two in that the requirement can be met with 3+ years of practical experience even without a university degree. However, hiring a new graduate with no practical experience on the basis of International Services alone is basically difficult, and the university-graduation education requirement must be separately met.

Concrete Examples of Out-of-Scope Duties

The following duties are regarded as “simple labor” that does not require expertise and are out of scope for Gijinkoku regardless of field.

● Factory manufacturing line work

● Restaurant floor service / cooking assistance

● Sorting and cargo handling inside warehouses

● On-site work such as cleaning and security

● Sales-clerk work at convenience stores, etc. (when centered on cashier/restocking)

For such duties, you need to consider handling them under a different status of residence or framework, such as Specified Skilled Worker or activities outside status (part-time work by international students, etc.).

Points to Watch in “Concurrent Duties” Cases

In practice, there are situations where you may want to assign a Gijinkoku worker both managerial and on-site duties—for example, “we hired them as an engineer, but we'd like them to help with warehouse work during busy seasons.”

In the status-of-residence examination, it is premised that the specialized duties corresponding to the status are the “primary duties.” If the proportion of simple labor grows large, there is a risk of being judged to have effectively deviated from the scope of the status, so it is important to organize the descriptions in the job description and employment contract to center on specialized duties.

[Comparison Table] Guide to Eligible Occupations and Education Requirements by Field

Field	Representative occupations	Education requirement guide	Substitution by experience
Engineer	Systems engineer, mechanical designer	University graduate in a science/engineering field	10+ years of practical experience
Specialist in Humanities	Accounting, HR, marketing, legal	University graduate in a humanities field	10+ years of practical experience
International Services	Interpretation/translation, overseas sales, trade operations	University graduate (major sometimes not required)	3+ years of practical experience

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Will it be denied if the university major and job duties do not completely match?

A: A complete match is not mandatory, but substantive relevance between the major content and the job duties is required. For cases judged to have weak relevance, see the related article “Learning from Gijinkoku Visa Denials” for concrete explanations.

Q: Can we hire someone for interpretation/translation who has not graduated from university?

A: In the International Services field, 3+ years of practical experience can substitute for the education requirement, but for someone with no practical experience, university graduation is required in principle.

Q: Can talent hired as an engineer help with on-site work?

A: As long as the specialized duties are the primary duties, certain incidental duties may not be a problem, but if the proportion of simple labor grows large, there is a risk of deviating from the scope of the status of residence. We recommend clarifying the job content in the contract as well.

Q: Can we hire under Gijinkoku for duties not listed in the occupation list?

A: Judgment is based not on the job title alone but on whether the actual job duties require expertise. If you are unsure, we recommend consulting an expert such as an administrative scrivener (gyoseishoshi).

Summary—“Expertise” and “Alignment of Job Duties” Decide Whether You Can Hire

Whether you can hire under the Gijinkoku visa is decided not by the job title alone but by how well the major/work history aligns with the actual job duties. Clarifying from the job-description stage that the intended position centers on specialized duties leads to smooth approval.

At KakehashiX, we match and introduce JLPT-certified Indonesian talent hireable under the Gijinkoku visa, by occupation and major. For consultations on hiring conditions, register as a company or contact us at kakehashi-x@ventures-link.com.

Sources

● Status of Residence “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” | Immigration Services Agency of Japan

● On the Clarification of the Status of Residence “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” | Immigration Services Agency of Japan