◆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