4-2 Part time work
If you have obtained permission to engage in an activity other than those permitted by your visa, you can work part-time with as long as it does not interfere with your studies. However, please keep the following points in mind:
The number of hours you can work is limited
You can only work up to twenty-eight hours a week, although the limit is increased to eight hours a day, forty hours a week during long-term vacation periods*.
※Summer vacation, winter vacation, and other vacation periods specified in the school regulations
Some locations and types of work are prohibited
You cannot work in locations that fall under Article 2 of the Act on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business.
Examples of prohibited part-time jobs:
・ Establishments where you attend to customers and provide food and beverages (clubs, cabarets, host clubs, etc.)
・Jobs in dark places (less than 10 lux)
・Establishments with private rooms or seating that make it too small to see the surrounding situation
・ Pachinko parlors, mahjong parlors, arcades, etc.
Advertising jobs (handing out flyers) and the cleaning of such establishments above are also prohibited.
If you are injured during part-time work
Injuries sustained while working part-time or accidents on the way to or from your part-time job are covered by workers’ accident compensation insurance. You will need to apply for this insurance, however, so download the application form from this link: this link:
For more information on workers’ accident compensation insurance and workers compensation, please visit the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website:the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website:
Useful links
● Permission to engage in an activity other than those permitted by your visa (Immigration Services Agency of Japan)
If you violate the regulations related to the permission to engage in an activity other than those permitted by your visa, your application to renew or change your visa status will be denied.
Note: There have been cases in which students were unable to enroll in a school they were admitted to or join a company that hired them because they had worked part-time in excess of the number of hours permitted.
What about online businesses and delivery services?
There are two types of permission to engage in an activity other than those permitted by the status of residence: “unspecified permission” and “permission to engage in a specified activity.” Part-time work for which an activity’s place and time can be objectively confirmed is subject to unspecified permission. Part-time jobs such as for online businesses and delivery services that deliver when there is an order are not subject to unspecified permission because the hours of work are not clearly defined beforehand. You must prepare a job description, contract and other required documents and apply for permission to engage in a specified activity.
Payment/part-time job salary from practical training or internships
These may be approved separately from regular activity other than those permitted by the status of residence (unspecified permission). Since regional immigration services bureaus determine this on an individual basis, bring the necessary documents (certificate of enrollment, academic transcripts, documents specifying the internship details and institutional remuneration, etc.) and come in for consultation.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan: “To those who wish to take part in an internship”