Japan With Adi
The Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) visa lets people from abroad, including India, work in Japan in 19 fields such as nursing care, construction, manufacturing, hotels and agriculture. For SSW (i) you pass a skills test for your field and a Japanese test (JLPT N4 or higher, or JFT-Basic), then get a job offer from a Japanese employer.
By Aditya Dewangan · Updated 1 November 2026
What are SSW (i) and SSW (ii)?
The status is granted for 4 months, 6 months or 1 year at a time and renewed; it is not given for five years at once.
- SSW (i): work in Japan for up to five years in total. Your family cannot join you on this visa.
- SSW (ii): no upper limit on how long you stay, and your family can join you. It is open in 11 of the fields and needs its own skills test.
Which fields does SSW cover?
SSW (i) covers 19 fields: nursing care, building cleaning management, construction, industrial product manufacturing, shipbuilding and ship machinery, automobile repair and maintenance, aviation, accommodation, automobile transportation, railway, agriculture, fishery and aquaculture, food and beverage manufacturing, food service, forestry, wood industry, resource recycling, linen services, and logistics warehousing. In November 2026 the official site said the food service field was not taking new applications.
What Japanese level do you need?
- JLPT N4 or higher, or the JFT-Basic test from the Japan Foundation.
- Nursing care also asks you to pass the Nursing Care Japanese Language Evaluation Test.
- If you completed Technical Intern Training (ii) satisfactorily, you do not need to take these tests.
What is JFT-Basic?
A computer-based test of the Japanese needed for daily life, made mainly for people coming to Japan to work. It takes 60 minutes, is held in principle every month, and results come within five business days. Until July 2026 it only showed whether you reached A2, the level used for SSW; from August 2026 it also reports A1 and A2.1.
How do you get there from India?
- Reach JLPT N4 or pass JFT-Basic. The JLPT is held in July and December; JFT-Basic is offered far more often.
- Choose your field and pass its skills test. The official SSW site lists test dates in India for many fields.
- Find a Japanese employer who will hire you under SSW.
- With the job offer, the employer applies for your Certificate of Eligibility, and you then apply for the visa at the Embassy or Consulate of Japan.