Work Permission by Status of Residence
Whether you may work in Japan depends on your status row, not on having a visa in the colloquial sense.1 Three buckets cover every case: work limited to the listed activity, no work without a separate grant, and no restriction at all.
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Immigration Services Agency's activity-permission pages. This article is general information, not legal or immigration advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed gyoseishoshi, or an immigration lawyer for a revocation-risk case.
Last verified: 2026-09.
Overview
ISA's three work logics sort every status. Activity-limited work covers the Table 1 work rows, each authorizing only its listed activity.1
No work in principle covers Student, Dependent, Cultural Activities, and Temporary Visitor, with a permission path for paid activity. No activity restriction covers the four Table 2 standing-based rows.21
Bucket 1: work-permitted, but only the listed activity
Each Table 1 work row authorizes only its listed activity: Engineer/Humanities/International Services covers specialist duties under a contract with a Japanese organization, Skilled Labor covers industrial craft work, and so on.1 Paid work outside the listed activity needs a separate grant first.2
The textbook mismatch is an Engineer-status holder waiting tables: restaurant service falls under no Table 1 work activity, so the status never covers it. Paid activity outside the permitted status without a grant breaches the Act's activity duty, which ISA counts among the compliance duties weighed against the holder.2
Bucket 2: no work in principle, permission path exists
Student, Dependent (家族滞在, kazoku taizai, "dependent stay"), Cultural Activities, and Temporary Visitor holders may not work as of right.2 Paid work requires the 資格外活動許可 (shikakugai katsudō kyoka, "Permission to Engage in Activity Other Than That Permitted by Status of Residence"), applied for before starting, under Act Article 19(2).2
Grants issue only where every requirement holds: the side work must not impede the main status activity, the holder must actually be performing that activity, the target work must fall under a Table 1(i) or (ii) activity (Specified Skilled Worker and Technical Intern Training excluded), the work must avoid adult-entertainment premises, no detention or removal process may be active, conduct must be good, and the employer or school must consent for organization-tied statuses.2
No fee is charged for the application (as of 2026-09; confirm current figures with the Immigration Services Agency).2 Standard processing runs 2 weeks to 2 months (as of 2026-09).2 Standalone filings go to the counter of the competent regional bureau on weekday mornings and afternoons; online filing exists only when combined with a change, extension, or acquisition application.2
The 28-hour rule and the vacation exception
Most students and dependents work under the 包括許可 (hōkatsu kyoka, "blanket permission"): a standing grant covering any qualifying part-time work within the hour cap, with no per-job filing.3 The cap is 28 hours per week; during the long vacation fixed by the educational institution's own rules, it becomes 8 hours per day.3
A student already holding a blanket grant needs no fresh grant for a new part-time job inside the cap.3 Dependent holders use the same Article 19(2) application route; students key their vacation exception to their own school's calendar, since start and end dates differ by institution.23
Two 15-hour jobs breach a 28-hour cap even though each job alone looks compliant.3 Add up all employers before accepting a second shift.
Bucket 3: no activity restriction
Permanent Resident, Spouse or Child of Japanese National, Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident, and Long-Term Resident carry no activity restriction: any lawful work, any employer, no hour cap, no separate grant.1 Table 2 rows state a standing or position rather than a permitted activity, which is structurally why no activity permission attaches to them.1
This is why marriage- and settlement-based statuses are described as full work permission. The freedom is not a separate document; it is the absence of a listed activity to stay inside.
Blanket vs individual permission
The standing grant most students and dependents hold is the blanket shape: qualifying part-time work within the cap, no per-job filing.3 Work that does not fit blanket scope, such as hours above the cap or activity outside qualifying bounds, needs a separately scoped grant tied to the named activity.2
ISA's application requires specifying the activity content, which is what separates the two shapes in practice: one filing covers the pattern, the other covers the job.2 Readers whose plans exceed blanket scope include Can You Freelance on Your Visa? in their reading, since freelance structures rarely fit blanket terms.
Good to know
Hours add up across every job combined
The weekly cap binds the holder, not the employer, so two compliant-looking jobs combine into one breach.3 Renewal evidence includes tax and withholding records that show actual hours and income, which is where undisclosed over-cap work becomes visible.
Adult-entertainment work is prohibited on permission
ISA excludes sex-industry and amusement-business premises work from every grant, blanket or individual.2 No hour count or employer consent overrides the exclusion.
Over-hour work surfaces at renewal time
Examiners read payment history as a direct measure of reliability, and over-cap patterns invite harder questions or shorter grants.2 Students nearing graduation should also read Working While on a Student Visa for the student-specific mechanics before the status change.
See also
- Working While on a Student Visa
- Dependent Visa: Spouses and Children of Residents
- From Student to Work: Japan's 6-Month Job-Hunting Bridge
- Can You Freelance on Your Visa?
- Engineer/Humanities/International Services Visa