As the tightening of foreign worker visas progresses, unscrupulous brokers are using Chinese social media to spread fabricated “employment status” arrangements behind the use of Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visas, advertising that workers need neither report to work nor speak Japanese.
The Immigration Services Agency of Japan tightened the implementation of the “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” status of residence visa in two stages, in March and April this year. The measures are intended to restrict worker dispatch arrangements and make language proficiency requirements mandatory, but new illicit businesses exploiting gaps in the regulations have emerged.
Approximately 4.12 million foreign nationals reside in Japan, including an estimated 2.57 million workers. The Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa, with approximately 470,000 holders, has become the largest category among work-related visas, overtaking the Technical Intern Training Program. Efforts to substitute nominal employment for actual work have come to light.
Unscrupulous brokers repeatedly use social media to advertise that anyone can become an employee of a Japanese company simply by paying money, even without Japanese-language ability, academic qualifications or practical experience. Interviews confirmed that people were being directed to WeChat via Chinese social media.
The new system was prompted by the strengthening of regulations on improper acquisition of status following the increase in the capital requirement for the Business Manager visa in October 2025. Use of the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa is increasingly becoming the primary means of circumventing those regulations.