Permission to engage in an activity other than those permitted by the status of residence previously granted is a permission needed to perform paid activities or activities to operate a business that generates income not currently included in a foreign national's status of residence.
Those with a status of residence (students and people with permission to work) in Appendix 1 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (hereinafter "Immigration Control Act") are eligible.
Those with a status of residence ("Permanent Resident" and "Long-Term Resident") in Appendix 2 of the Immigration Control Act are not eligible for permission to engage in an activity other than those permitted by the status of residence previously granted because they do not have restrictions on their work activities.
The requirements for permission to engage in an activity other than those permitted by the status of residence previously granted are as follows.
(Procedural basis: Immigration Control Act, Article 19, Paragraph 2)
If all of the following requirements are met, permission to engage in an activity other than those permitted by the status of residence previously granted will be granted.
(1) Engaging in the activity of the application will not interfere with the activity pertaining to the status of residence that the applicant currently holds.
(2) The applicant must be engaged in activities related to their current status of residence.
(3) Activities related to the application must fall within the activities in the status of residence text of Table 1 or 2 of Appendix 1 of the Immigration Control Act.
(Note) This requirement is not required for the unspecified permission described in section 2 (1) below.
(4) The activity for which the application is made does not fall into any of the following categories:
(5) The foreign national has not received or been notified of the issuance of a detention order or opinion hearing notification
(6) The foreign national does not exhibit bad behavior
(7) For those performing activities on a status of residence based on a contract with a public or private Japanese organization, this organization agrees to the foreign national engaging in an activity other than those permitted by the status of residence previously granted
The permission to engage in an activity other than those permitted by the status of residence previously granted is split into two types.
It is possible to receive both types of permission. However, if someone who possesses one permission attempts to newly acquire another permission, they will only be granted this permission if it is determined that it would not hinder the activities related to their current status of residence based on the current permission they have received.
(1) Unspecified permission
If applying to perform activities to operate a business that receives income or paid activities for up to 28 hours a week, the foreign national will receive unspecified permission if they fulfill all the conditions, excluding (3) in 1 above. It is expected they will work as a temporary part-time worker.
Examples of people who are eligible for permission:
(2) Permission to engage in a specified activity
In principle, the requirements in 1 above (general principles) must be met.
When those who apply for permission outside of the scope of (1) above, or who possess permission to work, perform activities fitting other work permission, they are permitted to perform these activities on an individual basis once the name, business, and other required aspects are determined.
Examples of people who are eligible for permission:
Submit the application and required documents to the Regional Immigration Services Bureau with jurisdiction over the applicant's place of residence
* For info about the application form, see here - PDF Excel
* Required documents vary depending on the applicant's status of residence and the type of permission. Please also refer to the links below for each status of residence.
Status of residence
* Click here to find out about the Regional Immigration Services Bureau that has jurisdiction over your place of residence