Hello. This is Hong from IMS Legal Professional Corporation. The automobile transportation industry (truck, taxi, and bus drivers) was added as a new field of the Specified Skilled Worker status of residence (visa) in March 2024, and acceptance will begin at the end of 2024. This industry has a "specified activity period (特定活動期間)" that is not available in other fields, and I would like to explain this system to you today.
The "Specified Activity Period"
The "specified activity period" is the period of stay and preparation for foreigners to come to Japan on a "Designated Activities (No. 55)" visa to later obtain a "Specified Skilled Worker (i)" visa, which is scheduled to be added by the revised designated activities public notice scheduled to come into effect at the end of January 2025. (This also applies to applicants changing to the SSW (i) visa within Japan.)
In order to obtain a SSW (i) visa for the automobile transportation industry, in addition to the normal requirements for SSW (i), a Japanese driver's license is required; in the taxi and bus categories, it is necessary to complete the new driver training prescribed by law. If you do not meet these requirements, you will not be able to obtain SSW (i), so you should aim to obtain SSW (i) during the specified activity period.
Please note that those who already wish to change to a SSW (i) visa as a special measure (outside the designated activities public notice) are allowed to apply for a change to a "Designated Activities (6 months, work allowed)" visa in preparation for the transition, such as when they are unable to prepare the documents necessary for the application by the expiration date of their period of stay. However, this this is a different system.
Now, let's take a look at the period during which you can stay under the specific activity period and the type of work you can be engaged in during that period.
Period of Stay During the Specified Activity Period
■ Specified activity period for truck category: Maximum 6 months
■ Specified activity period for taxi/bus category: Maximum 1 year
Since the maximum periods cannot be extended, you must obtain a license and apply for a change to SSW (i) during the specified activity period.
Work That Can Be Performed During the Specified Activity Period
The activities specified are as follows:
Activities in which a person receives support in daily life, everyday life, or social life, based on an employment contract with an accepting organization, and receives training for new drivers (only for taxi or bus drivers) or performs ancillary tasks such as cleaning vehicles (only for tasks that do not require a driver's license), or receives training at a driving school.
Source: 特定活動の告示/Notification on Specified Activities
Specifically, the following activities are considered:
- Acquiring a Japanese driver's license through the procedure to switch from a foreign driver's license to a Japanese driver's license
- Taking new driver training (taxi/bus category only)
- Taking lessons at a driving school to obtain a driver's license
- Taking Japanese language training within the workplace
- Ancillary work that does not require a driver's license and that is normally performed by Japanese people working in the same business within the same workplace. The following are considered to be possible ancillary work:
- Interior cleaning work
- Car wash work (truck category)
- Fare settlement and management (taxi/bus category)
- Cleaning work within the office
- Other work that is incidental to the main business
In other words, the specified activity period is a period for applying for a Japanese driver's license, etc. Since the applicant cannot drive a car as a driver, they can only engage in work similar to the work that Japanese drivers normally do in the same business establishment.
In the case of the automobile transportation industry, basically, first, they hire and accept foreign workers. During the specified activity period, they then prepare to change (switch) to the SSW (i) visa within Japan, and have them work as drivers after obtaining SSW (i). Therefore, in the automobile transportation industry, two visa applications are required: a "Designated Activities No. 55" visa application, and an application to change to SSW (i). In addition, the "Designated Activities No. 55" visa for the specified activity period is the first type of visa under the specified skill system, so application documents will be announced in the future. For businesses that have no experience in visa application work, it is expected that the two required visa applications will be quite a burden, so it is essential to consult with a visa expert such as an administrative scrivener.
※Note: if there is a foreign employee in Japan who has the necessary Japanese driver's license and meets other requirements, they can apply directly for a change to SSW (i) status without going through the specified activity period.
The Process from Visa Application to Starting Work as a Driver
The following is just a rough outline of the process, but please use it as a reference.
- Hire foreign national from overseas
- Bring to Japan under the "Designated Activities No. 55" visa
- Apply for necessary licenses, etc.
- Change to "Specified Skilled Worker (i)" visa within Japan
If you are having trouble with visa application procedures when hiring foreign nationals, such as those applying for specific skills visas, please contact us.
For more information, please contact us below ↓
https://imsvisa.support/en/contact/
