Apply for change of status of residence from "College Student" to "Work" as soon as possible!

 ◆Immigration Service Agency appeals

 For companies planning to hire foreign students from next April, it is recommended to apply for change of status of residence as early as possible. The Immigration Service Agency is calling for applications to be submitted between December 1 and the end of January, as applications by foreign students who plan to join a company in April are concentrated between January and March every year, and there is a possibility that the screening process will not be completed by the desired date if there are insufficient or late documents submitted. Before applying, please refer to the list of documents to be submitted on the Immigration Service  Agency's website and carefully check that all the necessary documents are in order. Insufficient documents may delay the date of the result and affect the procedure for joining the company.

◆New cases where required documents can be omitted

 From December 1, 2025, when applying for permission to change status of residence from "College Student" to "Engineer/Humanities/International Services" or "Research," it will be possible to omit some of the required documents if any of the following apply (temporary employment is not applicable). It is advisable to confirm whether or not you are eligible before submitting the application.

 1) Graduates (or prospective graduates) of Japanese universities (including graduates of graduate and junior colleges)

 2) Graduates of excellent universities abroad: Foreign universities ranked in the top 300 in two or more of the three world university rankings are eligible.

 3) When working at an institution that currently accepts individuals who have received permission to change their status of residence from “Student” to a work-eligible status: This applies when a foreign national holding the desired status of residence (limited to those who have received permission to change from the “Student” status) is currently employed by the institution and has received at least one extension of stay while working at that institution.

The Immigration Service Agency

To those who are planning to apply for a change of status from "College Student" to "Worker" 

https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/10_00240.html

One Year after the Enforcement of the Freelance Law, Current Status of Guidance on Violations

 

◆445 cases of violations

November 1 marked one year since the enforcement of the Freelance Business Transactions Law (hereinafter referred to as the "Freelance Law"), and the Fair Trade Commission, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, and Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, which are the ministries and agencies under the jurisdiction of the Law, announced the results of a survey (November 2024 to September 2025) conducted among 30,000 ordering businesses regarding their transactions with freelance workers. The results of the survey are now publicly available.

According to the results, the Fair Trade Commission issued 4 "recommendations" and 441 "instructions" for violations of the Freelance Law. The recommendations were made to major publishing companies, music schools, and others for violations of Article 3, Paragraph 1 (obligation to clearly state business terms), Article 4, Paragraph 5 (obligation to pay remuneration on time), and Article 5, Paragraph 2, Item 1 (prohibition of requests to provide unfair economic benefits) of the Act.

In addition, in March of this year, the Committee intensively investigated businesses in the game software industry, animation production work, and relaxation industry, and instructed 45 companies to correct the descriptions in contracts and purchase orders, the method of placing orders, and the method of setting payment due dates.

 ◆Attention should also be paid to anti-harassment measures and recruitment.

According to prefectural labor bureaus, there have been many cases of guidance, etc. concerning violations of the obligation to establish a system for anti-harassment measures (Article 14 of the Freelance Law) and the obligation to accurately display recruitment information (Article 14 of the same law).

The ordering business must take measures such as establishing a system for consultation to prevent harassment from harming the working environment of freelancers.

When recruiting freelancers through advertisements, etc., the information must not be false or misleading, and must be kept accurate and up-to-date.

When outsourcing work to freelancers, it is necessary to reconfirm the items regulated by the Freelance Law.

Record of the regular press conference of the Director-General dated November 5, 2025, Fair Trade Commission of Japan.
https://www.jftc.go.jp/houdou/teirei/2025/251105.html

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare "One year has passed since the enforcement of the Act on the Proper Treatment of Transactions between Freelancers and Business Operators!
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/bunya/freelance_00006.html