Hello. This is Ito from IMS Legal Professional Corporation. We have received inquiries from clients who wish to hire domestic workers and request assistance with the renewal of the residence period for their employed domestic workers. Recently, such inquiries have been frequent.
Residency status of the employer
The employment of domestic workers is divided into two categories: "Pre-entry same employer type" and "Domestic situation type." The "Pre-entry same employer type" requires that the domestic worker has been continuously employed by the same employer for over one year before coming to Japan.
Additionally, not everyone can hire a foreign domestic worker. The residency status for employing domestic workers under the "Domestic situation type" is limited to "Business Manger," "Legal/Accounting," and "Highly Skilled Professional" categories. Employing domestic workers under the "Domestic situation type" and the Highly Skilled Professional category requires specific criteria, and it is not possible to hire domestic workers under the residency status of "Engineer/Specialist in humanities/International services."
The "Domestic situation type" requires a reason such as having a child under 13 years of age at the time of application or being unable to perform household chores due to illness, full-time work, etc., due to dual-income situations. Domestic workers must meet minimum requirements, including being at least 18 years old and earning a monthly salary of over 200,000 yen.
Number of domestic workers that can be employed
Requirements differ between "Business Manger," "Legal/Accounting," and "Highly Skilled Professional" categories, with the "Highly Skilled Professional" category requiring the household's annual income of the employer to be over 10 million yen. Although there are no specific requirements for "Business Manger" and "Legal/Accounting," proof of economic capacity to employ domestic workers is necessary. While only one domestic worker per household is allowed, individuals classified under the financial professional category of "Highly Skilled Professional" can hire two domestic workers as an exception. Financial professionals under the "Highly Skilled Professional" category engage in business specified in Article 28(2) of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, investment advisory/agency business specified in Article 28(3), or investment management business specified in Article 28(4). To hire two domestic workers, the household's annual income must be over 30 million yen.
When the employer changes residency status
In principle, if the residency status is changed from those listed above, the requirements are not met, and it becomes impossible to hire domestic workers. However, if a person becomes a permanent resident and has special circumstances requiring the employment of domestic workers, and the Immigration Bureau agrees with the reason, there may still be a possibility to continue employing domestic workers. If the Immigration Bureau does not agree with the reason provided and the application for renewal of the domestic worker's residence period is not approved but the employer still wants to continue employing the domestic worker, they will need to change the residency status to one that allows employing domestic workers.
If there is no particular desire to employ foreign nationals and the intention is to receive household support from foreign nationals, there is also the option to request dispatch from a qualified operator under the Strategic Special Zone Program for Accepting Foreign Workers for Household Support.
For more information, please contact us below ↓
https://imsvisa.support/en/contact/
