SSW Visa Documents Checklist: What You and Your Employer File

The paperwork for a Specified Skilled Worker visa splits into two halves: the documents you provide and the documents your employer provides. The pillar overview sketches the application flow in a paragraph; this article goes one layer deeper into the document checklist itself — every item, who provides it, what it proves, and where the common omissions are.

This matters because SSW is structured differently from the regular work visa. A normal work-visa file leans on your degree and the employer's financial standing; an SSW file leans on proven practical skill, functional Japanese, and a registered support commitment. That shifts the centre of gravity of the paperwork toward test certificates, the 登録支援計画書 (registered support plan), and — for Technical Intern graduates — the completion certificate that waives the tests entirely.

1. Two application paths, two document sets

Where you physically are when you apply decides the first split in your paperwork. The requirements are the same either way; only the procedural wrapper differs.

Path A — overseas: the Certificate of Eligibility (COE). If you are outside Japan, your employer (or their registered support organisation) files a 在留資格認定証明書交付申請 (Application for Certificate of Eligibility) with the Immigration Services Agency inside Japan, on your behalf. The COE application itself is free to file. Once issued, you take the COE plus your passport, visa application form, and photograph to the Japanese embassy or consulate in your country, which issues the actual visa (Immigration Services Agency, SSW status page). The COE is the document that proves to the embassy that you have already been screened for the status.

Path B — already in Japan: change of status. If you already hold another status of residence (for example, you are finishing Technical Intern Training), you file a 在留資格変更許可申請 (Application for Permission to Change Status of Residence) instead of a COE. This one is not free: since the April 2025 fee revision it costs 6,000 yen in person or 5,500 yen online. Renewing an existing SSW period later (the 在留期間更新許可申請) carries the same 6,000 / 5,500 yen fee.

The substantive documents — proof of your skill, your language level, your employment, and your employer's support plan — are common to both paths. The difference is the cover form (COE application vs change-of-status application) and whether you also need the embassy-stage visa paperwork.

2. The registered support plan: employer's core document

Before the itemised checklist, one document deserves to be singled out because it has no equivalent in the regular work-visa file: the 登録支援計画書 (registered support plan).

A company hiring a Type 1 worker must provide a defined package of registered support — pre-arrival orientation, help opening a bank account and finding housing, interpreting and language assistance, guidance on public procedures, and a consultation and complaint route. The 登録支援計画書 is the written plan that sets out exactly how all of this will be delivered for you specifically (Immigration Services Agency, SSW status page). It is filed as part of the employer-side documents (Table 2, below).

If your employer cannot run the support in-house, they must contract a registered support organisation (登録支援機関) to deliver it. In that case the plan still names you as the supported worker, but a registered third party carries the obligation. The requirements article covers why this duty exists; here the key point is that the plan itself is a required filing, not a courtesy — without it the application does not proceed.

3. The official three-table structure

The Immigration Services Agency organises the SSW document list into three tables, and they are the skeleton of any SSW file (Immigration Services Agency, SSW status page):

• Table 1 (第1表) — documents about the applicant (you): your application form, photo, passport copy, CV, skills and language certificates, and medical certificate.
• Table 2 (第2表) — documents about the receiving organisation (your employer): company registration, financial statements, the employment contract, insurance enrolment proof, salary explanation, and the registered support plan.
• Table 3 (第3表) — field-specific documents: each of the 16 sectors adds its own additional items, so the exact list depends on which sector you are in.

The rest of this checklist follows that structure, then covers the embassy stage for overseas applicants and the documents a Technical Intern graduate files instead.

4. Table 1: documents you provide

These are the applicant-side items, drawn from the official SSW application list and the ISA status page. Unless waived, you need all of them.

Application form (申請書). You and your company fill this out together. The form differs depending on your path — a COE application form for the overseas route, a change-of-status form for the in-Japan route.

Photograph. One photo measuring 4 cm × 3 cm, attached to the application form. This is the size the COE application form expects; note the embassy-stage visa photograph (§7) may use a different size depending on the consulate, so do not assume one photo works for both stages.

Passport copy (or Certificate of Status of Residence). For a COE application you submit a copy of your passport; for a change of status you present your passport and residence card (SSW required documents).

CV / employment records (経歴書). A statement of your work history prepared by you. This is not the academic transcript the regular work visa wants — SSW does not require a degree — it is a practical record of where you have worked and what you did.

Skills-test pass certificate (技能を証明する文書). Proof that you passed the sector-specific skills test for your field. This is one of the two exams that gate SSW Type 1 entry, and the certificate is the document that proves it.

Japanese-language proficiency certificate (日本語能力を証明する文書). Proof that you passed the language test — the JFT-Basic (A2) or JLPT N4, with the sector-specific nuances (nursing care's extra evaluation test, taxi/bus drivers needing N3) covered in the tests article.

Medical examination certificate (健康診断書). A medical check certificate. This confirms you are fit for the work — a requirement specific to SSW that the regular work visa does not impose in the same way. The official SSW reference formats include a standard health-check form available from the ISA's SSW forms list.

The critical detail is that both test certificates are mandatory for a cold-start applicant. If you have not sat and passed both exams, you cannot substitute a degree or experience the way the regular work visa allows — the certificates are the gate.

5. Table 2: documents your employer provides

These are the receiving-organisation items. Your employer prepares them; you do not, but you should know what they are because gaps here delay your application as much as gaps in your own file (ISA SSW status page).

Company registration (登記事項証明書). The official registry extract proving the company legally exists and is registered to operate in its sector.

Financial statements (決算書). The company's most recent financial statements, showing it is a going concern able to employ you. This parallels the regular work visa documents, where the employer's financial standing is central.

Insurance enrolment proof. Documents showing the company's enrolment status in labour insurance (労働保険) and social insurance (社会保険) — evidence that it meets its obligations as an employer.

Employment contract / conditions (雇用条件書). The written employment contract stating your duties, hours, and pay. SSW has a specific rule that your compensation must be at or above the level paid to a Japanese worker doing equivalent work, so the contract is examined for this, not just for its existence.

Salary explanation (報酬に関する書類). A document explaining your remuneration amount and how it was set — the "equal or higher than equivalent Japanese worker" check made explicit.

Registered support plan (登録支援計画書). The support plan described in §2 — the SSW-specific document that has no counterpart in the regular work-visa file.

Labour management official appointment notice. Confirmation that the company has appointed the official responsible for managing foreign-worker labour conditions (労務管理) and made the required notification. Exact naming and any supplementary employer items can vary by sector, so treat the ISA SSW status page as the authority for the current list.

One simplification worth knowing: if the receiving organisation has already accepted an SSW worker in the same fiscal year, some of the Table 2 employer documents are not required to be re-submitted for subsequent applications (ISA SSW status page). Your employer should check whether this shortcut applies.

6. Table 3: sector-specific documents

Each of the 16 sectors layers its own additional documents onto the common Tables 1 and 2 (ISA SSW status page). The content varies by field — caregiving, construction, food service, agriculture, and so on each have supervising bodies that specify what extra proof they want.

Because the sector-specific list changes as supervising ministries update their rules, the safe approach is to read your field's page on the official SSW site and confirm the current Table 3 items before filing. Do not assume another sector's checklist applies to yours — the items that distinguish, say, nursing care from construction are exactly what Table 3 captures.

7. The Technical Intern test-waiver substitute

For workers who completed Technical Intern Training (技能実習), one of the most important substitutions in the whole checklist applies: you replace both test certificates with your Technical Intern completion certificate.

Specifically, if you completed Technical Intern Training No. 2 (技能実習2号) in a matching field, you file your two-year Technical Intern Training completion certificate instead of the skills-test and language-test certificates (SSW required documents). The intern experience is treated as evidence of the same skill, so the two tests that gate a cold-start applicant are waived for you.

Two conditions make or break this substitute:

• The field must match. The waiver applies only when your SSW sector is the same field you trained in as a Technical Intern. Switching sectors means the completion certificate no longer covers the new field's skill, and the tests come back into play.
• The completion certificate is the document. This is the single item that replaces two certificates, so its correctness and currency matter. From April 2027 the Technical Intern system is replaced by the Ikusei Shūrō system, but the substitute principle — completion record standing in for the tests — carries over, because the destination (SSW) and its test gate stay the same.

For everyone else — applicants coming from overseas or from a non-intern background — the two test certificates in Table 1 are unavoidable.

8. The embassy stage (overseas applicants only)

If you are on the COE path, getting the COE issued is not the last step. Once your employer sends you the issued COE, you apply for the actual visa at the Japanese embassy or consulate in your country. That embassy-stage application needs its own small set of documents (SSW required documents; MOFA, SSW working visa):

• Passport
• Visa application form (one copy; some nationalities, such as Russia/CIS, need two)
• Photograph — note the embassy photo size can differ from the 4 cm × 3 cm COE-stage photo, so check your specific consulate's specification
• The Certificate of Eligibility (the COE your employer obtained)

If you are already in Japan on the change-of-status path, you skip this stage entirely — there is no embassy visit, because you are not entering from outside.

9. Translation, format, and filing habits

A few rules apply across the whole file, and they are the same habits that govern other Japanese immigration documents:

• Translations. Documents in a language other than Japanese or English generally need a Japanese translation attached (SSW required documents). Plan for this if any of your certificates — employment records, medical forms, prior qualifications — are in a third language.
• Keep originals. Submitted materials are normally not returned. If an original is difficult to replace, bring it for inspection but submit a copy where the rules allow.
• Recency. As with other applications, certificates issued in Japan should be recent — check issue dates before filing rather than gathering documents too early.
• One-sided A4. Official forms are printed one-sided on A4 paper, the same standard used across immigration filings.

Summary: the complete checklist

Assemble your SSW file around the three tables, then add the path-specific wrapper and any embassy-stage items:

1. Decide your path — COE (overseas, free to file) or change of status (in-Japan, 6,000 yen / 5,500 yen online since April 2025).
2. Table 1 (you): application form, 4 cm × 3 cm photo, passport copy, CV, skills-test certificate, language-test certificate, and medical examination certificate (SSW required documents).
3. Table 2 (employer): company registration, financial statements, insurance enrolment proof, employment contract, salary explanation, and the 登録支援計画書 registered support plan (ISA SSW status page).
4. Table 3 (sector): your field's additional documents, confirmed on the official SSW sector directory.
5. If you are a Technical Intern graduate, substitute your two-year 技能実習2号 completion certificate for the two test certificates — same field only.
6. If overseas, add the embassy stage: passport, visa application form, photograph, and the issued COE.
7. Throughout, attach Japanese translations to non-Japanese/English documents, keep originals, and confirm dates and sector-specific items against the official sources before filing.

This is general information only and not legal advice.

Common questions