Student and Dependant residence statuses do not, by themselves, let you take a paid job in Japan. Usually you must first receive permission to work outside your status, then keep all your jobs together within 28 hours a week and avoid workplaces excluded by that permission. Students have a different limit during their institution's official long holidays; Dependant residents do not inherit that holiday allowance. Act Article 19 and regulation Article 19 set the framework.
Before agreeing to your first shift, put your residence card, any separate permission document and the proposed job description side by side. A pending application, a manager's assurance or a visa in your passport is not work permission. If the permission is missing, start the application today and set the employment start date after approval.
Read the status and the permission separately
“I am a student” and “I am somebody's spouse” are personal descriptions, not necessarily the residence status on your record. This guide concerns Student and Dependant—the latter is also called “Dependent” in official English materials. It does not turn every spouse into a Dependant: Japanese-national and permanent-resident spouse statuses follow different work rules. Check the family residence guide if you are unsure which family route you hold.
For a card holder, inspect the work restriction on the front and the permission entry on the back. Also read any passport endorsement or separate permission certificate; it may identify a particular employer, activity or condition. MHLW's employer guidance, printed pages 22–23, explains why checking only the front of a Student card is insufficient. Keep copies for your own records and show the actual documents to the employer.
The formal application is Permission to Engage in Activity Other Than That Permitted under the Status of Residence Previously Granted. It supplements the primary status; studying or remaining an eligible supported family member must still be the real basis of residence. Act Article 19 makes non-interference with the principal activity part of the permission framework.
Which route fits the proposed work?
| Situation | Do this before starting |
|---|---|
| Ordinary hourly employment, such as a daytime shop or office role, on Student/Dependant status | Check whether you already have comprehensive permission and whether the job, venue and combined hours fit. Otherwise apply to the regional ISA bureau. A workplace is not approved merely because its advertised job title sounds ordinary. |
| A second ordinary job | Give each employer your combined availability. The allowance belongs to you, not separately to each business. Check every relevant seven-day period before agreeing to extra shifts. |
| Freelance/project work, a business activity, or hours that cannot be objectively established | Take the contract, duties, payment arrangement and time-recording method to ISA. Ask whether individual permission is required; a personal estimate of “under 28 hours” does not settle eligibility. |
| A paid internship that exceeds the ordinary allowance | Ask the school and ISA about the exact placement before signing a start date. Neither course credit nor the label “internship” automatically enlarges your work permission. |
| A full-time job intended to replace study or dependent-family residence | Discuss a suitable change of status with ISA and the employer. An application alone does not authorize the new activities. |
Comprehensive permission generally covers qualifying work without naming a single employer; individual permission specifies the authorized activity and conditions. The statutory distinction is in regulation Article 19(5). Kyoto University's guidance identifies unmeasurable hours and full-time internships as cases requiring advance consultation. It is useful institutional guidance, not approval of your individual arrangement.
Apply through the right office, with a usable file
Already in Japan: the confirmed ordinary route is the regional immigration bureau/branch responsible for your residence. Use the current outside-activity application form. Regulation Article 19(1)–(4) provides for the application, supporting material, identification and how permission is recorded.
Prepare:
- Your passport and residence card, plus any current outside-activity permission.
- The completed application. Ask the office which version applies to comprehensive or individual permission and whether you need an appointment.
- For a specified activity, evidence of duties, workplace, remuneration, duration and proposed hours: an employment offer/contract and employer explanation are useful ways to make the activity clear. Ask which documents the office requires for your case rather than assume this is an exhaustive national checklist.
- Your current combined roster. Students should also have enrolment and academic-calendar information ready where relevant; these help explain continued study and a claimed holiday period.
If a school or employer offers to submit on your behalf, confirm that its staff member is authorized to handle the procedure. Article 19(3) permits specified representatives under stated conditions; it does not authorize every supervisor or family member automatically.
Arriving as a new Student: JASSO's official guidance says first-time entrants granted Student status for more than three months can apply at the airport or other landing point when landing permission is issued. Obtain the arrival-specific form and instructions from the school before travel. Confirm scholarship and school restrictions too. This is a Student arrival option, not a promise of approval or a universal airport service for Dependant residents. If you do not receive permission there, use the regional route after arrival and wait before working.
Using an online residence application: do not assume that access to the online system means a standalone work-permission application is available. Ask ISA or your authorized filer whether your particular extension/change application can include it, and how the permission will be delivered. The complete current online eligibility instructions could not be read for this review; the regional-office route above is the verified fallback.
Ask the receiving office about its current submission, collection and any fee requirements. No fixed approval time is promised here. A school's local estimate or statement about same-day handling is not a national guarantee. Inspect the granted conditions before scheduling work.
Count actual work across employers
For ordinary comprehensive permission, the limit is 28 hours per week in total. Tokyo Labour Bureau's printed page 23 table specifies that the total must remain within 28 whichever day starts the week. A payroll boundary does not reset immigration compliance.
Use one shared calendar for every job. Record actual start/finish times and breaks, and ask the employers how paid training, required preparation and overruns are recorded. Resolve uncertain working time before accepting a roster; do not erase time already worked to make a timesheet appear compliant.
Hypothetical ordinary week: 18 hours at a café plus 10 hours tutoring totals 28. An extra two-hour café shift would make 30 and does not fit the ordinary permission. The safe next step is to decline or rearrange the extra shift before it occurs, checking adjacent seven-day totals as well. Taking two hours off next month does not repair this week's excess.
The school-holiday rule belongs to Students
For Students, comprehensive permission allows up to eight hours per day during long holidays formally established in the institution's rules. Outside those periods the ordinary weekly limit applies. This distinction appears in regulation Article 19(5)(i) and MEXT's 28 April 2026 guidance, section 2(3).
Get the school's official start and end dates before accepting extra shifts, share them with every employer and revert to the ordinary roster when the holiday ends. A free timetable, weekend, public holiday, personal trip or leave of absence is not automatically that long holiday. The eight-hour immigration limit does not remove employment-law rest or working-time obligations; do not infer that it authorizes eight hours every day indefinitely.
Dependant residents remain under the ordinary 28-hour weekly permission, including during their child's or spouse's school vacation. They cannot borrow a student's holiday rule.
Check the establishment, not just your duties
The comprehensive permission excludes work at specified regulated entertainment/adult-business premises and specified sex-related businesses, as defined by the laws cited in regulation Article 19(5)(i). The premises restriction can apply even if your proposed job is cleaning, washing dishes or administration rather than serving customers. “Only a few hours” does not override it.
Ask the employer for the legal business category, premises address and any relevant licence, then show those facts and the job description to ISA if uncertain. Do not classify a venue solely from its English name or assume that every restaurant/bar has the same licensing position.
Important 1 October 2026 exception — Dependant residents at specifically licensed amusement premises: ISA's official notice (遊技場営業店舗における資格外活動許可について) now has a detailed Japanese indexed text of its eligibility, conditions and application documents. It describes a special individual-permission route only for people whose actual residence status is Dependant (家族滞在) to work at qualifying pachinko/amusement-business premises. Student and certain Designated Activities family-status holders are expressly excluded. The ordinary comprehensive 28-hour endorsement by itself does not authorize work at such premises. This is not permission for every bar, entertainment venue or adult business, and it is never automatic.
What ISA's published notice says to check before a first shift:
- Establishment licence: the employer must have the business licence within the specifically referenced Act on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business, Article 2(1)(4) or (5) categories, as approved under Article 3(1). A manager's description as a "game center" or "pachinko" is not proof that the particular premises qualify. Seek the actual business licence.
- Your own permission: apply for individual permission naming the actual establishment and job duties, meeting the continuing general outside-activity conditions and avoiding unlawful activities. Obtain the decision before working; a pending application or another employer's individual permit is not coverage.
- Employer undertakings: ISA requires a signed employer pledge about compliance with foreign-worker employment reporting/legal duties, recommending the specified residence-card arrangement referred to in the notice, and periodically checking all permitted outside-status work hours if the person has multiple jobs.
- Combined hours: all comprehensive and individual outside-status paid activities together must remain at 28 hours or less in every applicable week. Neither this special venue permit nor another parallel permission adds another 28-hour allowance.
Prepare the six categories the notice lists: (1) the application form; (2) a document explaining duties, hours and pay; (3) the employer's prescribed pledge; (4) the applicant's prescribed pledge; (5) evidence of the establishment's qualifying business licence; and (6) evidence of all other paid outside-status work and the total hours, including the proposed shifts. Bring your passport, residence card and current permission for ISA's general application checks. Use ISA's current forms, not a recreated sample.
Official 2026 evidence: the Immigration Services Agency directly published notice details the eligible licensed premises, applicant status, employer pledges and documents, and was directly read on 30 October 2026. It grants a chance to apply, never automatic permission. Use the actual current ISA forms and wait for approval.
Important exceptions—and when to stop and recheck
Some teaching/research assistance is exempt from the separate permission requirement. Regulation Article 19-3(iii) covers qualifying Student residents assisting education or research under a contract with the university where they study, or the specified upper years/advanced course of a college of technology; students studying exclusively Japanese are excluded. Ask the institution to confirm the actual contract and duties fit. It is not an exemption for every campus job, external tutoring business or role called “research.”
Graduation and leave matter before the card's expiry date. The comprehensive Student allowance is tied to enrolment. The labour bureau's page 23 guidance excludes work after graduation and during leave, withdrawal or removal from the school roll. Stop relying on the Student permission when that basis ends; contact the school's international office and ISA about the next status and permission before further shifts. A job offer or a long remaining date on the card does not solve this.
Residence renewal and work permission are separate checks. Put both on your calendar and raise continuation of outside-activity permission when arranging a renewal or change. Kyoto University's guidance warns that it does not automatically renew. Check the newly issued record. If an application is pending across an expiry date, ask ISA what existing authority, if any, continues in your exact circumstances; a standalone work-permission application does not extend residence. Do not invent a grace period or begin newly requested work while waiting.
If you already worked without permission or exceeded it: stop the non-compliant work, retain truthful contracts, attendance and pay records, and take the full facts to ISA; involve qualified immigration assistance if needed. Act Article 19 allows revocation of outside-activity permission for breaches. A later application does not retrospectively approve earlier shifts. This guide cannot promise a particular enforcement or renewal outcome.
Agree the checks with the employer before the roster is final
Use this short script:
“My residence status is ___. My work permission says ___. I already work ___ hours elsewhere. Please confirm the actual duties and business category at this address, and give me a written roster that fits my combined limit. My permission/status needs review on ___. If approval or school dates change, we must revise the start date or hours.”
The employer should inspect the permission, match it to the work, agree how other jobs and overruns will be reported, and set a reminder to recheck changed or renewed documents. Students should also tell the school about work as its procedures require: MEXT's 2026 guidance calls for institutions to monitor permission, duties and hours so employment does not undermine study. Immigration permission is not an exemption from ordinary employment obligations; the work guide covers the broader employment context.
If you have not moved yet, start with the visa and entry sequence. After landing, use the first-month resident checklist for municipal setup; those registrations do not grant work permission.
Before your next paid shift, put your actual residence card, granted outside-activity permission, every employer's hours and the workplace's legal business category in one place. If Student status ends on graduation or leave, do not rely on the old work permission; if a Dependant proposes a licensed amusement job, first obtain the venue-specific individual permit. A late start date is safer than an unapproved shift.