Contents
- 1. The rule for vocational school graduates
- 2. Case 1: Creative courses, language jobs (refused)
- 3. Case 2: Hospitality and communication courses — one approved, two refused
- 4. Case 3: Business and beauty courses — what you actually studied counts
- 5. If you change jobs within the first few years
- 6. A quick check before you apply
Key points
- For graduates of Japanese vocational schools (senmon gakko), the ISA requires a considerable degree of connection between the subjects studied and the job. This is stricter than for university graduates.
- Language jobs: graduates of voice acting, illustration and jewelry design courses were refused jobs as interpreters or translators. Speaking several languages does not replace related studies.
- Similar course names, different results: what decides the case is whether the actual job uses the knowledge from the subjects you took, not the name of your department.
- Graduates of courses certified by the Ministry of Education are judged more flexibly, and so are people who have worked about three years in a job related to their studies.
About these cases
This series explains cases that the ISA itself has published. Because they are public, we can discuss them in detail while keeping our clients’ matters confidential. We have summarized them in English; the original Japanese text prevails. The ISA notes that each application is decided on its own facts. For Part 1 (pay, training and interpreting work), see Approved or Refused? 3 Official ISA Cases on the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services Visa.
1. The rule for vocational school graduates
To get the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services (ESI) status on the basis of a Japanese vocational school, you must have completed a specialized course (senmon katei) and received the title senmonshi (Diploma) or kodo senmonshi (Advanced Diploma). You must also have studied subjects related to the job. For the basic requirements of this visa, see our Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa guide.
How close that connection must be depends on the type of school. According to the ISA’s published guidelines:
- University graduates (in Japan or abroad): the connection is judged flexibly, because universities give broad academic education.
- Vocational school graduates: a considerable degree of connection is required in principle, because vocational schools train students for specific jobs.
- Even if you did not directly major in the field, the ISA looks at everything you studied. If you are found to have gained the knowledge the job needs, the application is judged as a whole.
- Graduates of vocational school courses certified by the Minister of Education under the program to support international students’ careers are judged flexibly. The published refusal cases below do not include these graduates.
- After you have worked about three years in a job found to be related to your studies, the connection with your next job is judged flexibly.
In practice, the connection is shown with your transcript and the school’s curriculum. Very general skills, such as using Word and Excel, are usually not enough to show a connection with a specific job.
2. Case 1: Creative courses, language jobs (refused)
What happened
The ISA has published three refusals that follow the same pattern:
- A graduate of a voice acting course applied to work at a hotel with many foreign guests, doing translation and interpreting as lobby staff. Refused: no connection with the subjects studied.
- A graduate of an illustration course was hired by a staffing and job placement company to sell clothing, with translation and interpreting, at a store with many foreign customers. The ISA found that the work was really customer service using the applicant’s native language. The subjects studied (color, design, illustration techniques) had no connection with it, and the applicant had no experience in translation or interpreting. Refused.
- A graduate of a jewelry design course applied to work at a computer-related services company, handling inquiries from foreign customers and doing interpreting and translation. Refused: no connection with the subjects studied.
What to learn from it
- For a vocational school graduate, being able to speak your native language, Japanese and English is not a substitute for related studies. An interpreting or translation job generally needs studies in translation, interpreting or advanced language.
- Japanese classes at a basic level (conversation, reading, listening, kanji), or classes that only international students take, are not treated as studies in translation or interpreting.
- As the illustration case shows, the ISA also checks what the “interpreting” job really is. If it is mainly sales or customer service, it may not be qualifying work at all. Part 1 of this series explains the cases on how much interpreting work is enough.
3. Case 2: Hospitality and communication courses — one approved, two refused
These three cases involve courses with similar names. The results depended on what the job actually required.
Approved: teaching customer service to foreign staff
A graduate of an international communication course, who had studied communication skills, hospitality training, cross-cultural communication, career design and tourism services, was hired by a company providing staffing, staff development and training services. The job was management work, such as training foreign staff in customer service and managing them. This was approved.
Refused: managing foreign workers at an engineer staffing company
A graduate of a hospitality course, who had studied hotel studies, front desk and accommodation, food and beverage hygiene, restaurant service, the basics of hospitality and Japanese culture, applied to work at a company that dispatches engineers. The job was managing and supervising foreign employees, teaching them the company’s manuals and handling labor management. Refused: no connection with the subjects studied.
Refused: store management and product development at a restaurant company
A graduate of an international communication course, who had studied hospitality, foreign languages, cross-cultural communication and tourism services, applied to work at a restaurant company in store management, product development, new store development, sales promotion planning and franchise development. The ISA found that this work requires knowledge of business management and marketing, and the application was refused for lack of connection.
What to learn from it
- Hospitality studies fit a job that teaches hospitality, such as training staff in customer service. They do not automatically fit general management, labor management or business planning.
- Two graduates of courses with the same name received different results. Your department’s name does not decide the case; the job description and your subjects do.
- Before applying, compare the job’s main duties with your transcript, line by line. If the duties need knowledge you did not study, such as marketing or labor law, the risk is high.
4. Case 3: Business and beauty courses — what you actually studied counts
Approved: hiring and training staff at a restaurant company’s head office
A graduate of an international business course, who had studied tourism, hotel practice, food and beverage practice, food service theory, retail marketing, bookkeeping and business manners, was hired by the business development office at the head office of a restaurant company. The job was recruiting and training part-time staff and preparing materials for new employees. This was approved.
Refused: sales at a real estate company
A graduate of an international business course, who had studied mainly English, together with computer practice, bookkeeping, customs procedures, trade practice, international logistics and business basics, applied to work in the sales department of a real estate company (apartment rentals). The ISA found that the main subject was English and that very little of the coursework related to real estate or sales. The application was refused for lack of connection.
Approved: product development at a cosmetics company
A graduate of a beauty course was hired by a cosmetics sales company to work on product development and marketing for beauty products, through work as a beauty advisor. This was approved. Note that working as a hairdresser or nail technician is generally not covered by the ESI status.
What to learn from it
- Both business graduates came from courses called “international business”. The approved graduate had studied subjects that matched the job (food service, retail marketing, hotel practice). The refused graduate had studied mainly English.
- If your main subject was a language, a sales or office job in an unrelated industry is risky. A job that uses the language professionally, such as translation or overseas trade, may fit better.
- A skills-based course such as beauty can lead to an ESI job when the job uses the knowledge in a planning or professional role, not the hands-on skill itself.
5. If you change jobs within the first few years
The connection with your studies matters again when you change jobs. Until you have worked about three years in a job related to your studies, your next job should also be related to them. If it is not, your next extension of period of stay may be refused, even if the new job itself is the kind of work the ESI status covers.
If you are planning to change jobs, check the new job’s duties against your transcript before you accept the offer. You can also apply for a Certificate of Authorized Employment (shuro shikaku shomeisho) to have the ISA confirm in advance that the new job fits your status. For what to do after you leave a job, see Quit Your Job in Japan? Health Insurance, Pension and Immigration Steps to Take Within 14 Days.
6. A quick check before you apply
- Did you receive the title senmonshi or kodo senmonshi? Check your graduation certificate.
- Is your course certified by the Ministry of Education under the program to support international students’ careers? Ask your school.
- Which of the job’s main duties use knowledge from the subjects on your transcript? Can you point to specific subjects for each duty?
- If the job is translation or interpreting, did you study translation or interpreting, or advanced language at more than a basic level?
- Is the job mainly sales, customer service or hands-on work? If so, it may not be covered by the ESI status at all.
If you are still a student, see also our step-by-step guide for graduating in 2027 and changing from Student to ESI.
Not sure whether your studies fit the job?
The connection between your studies and the job is much easier to explain before the application is filed than after a refusal. If you would like us to handle the application, send us an inquiry. We will tell you whether we can help and which of our services fits. If you are preparing the application yourself, our Document Check service can review it before you file.
Sources
- Immigration Services Agency, “Clarification of the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services status of residence” (Japanese)
- Immigration Services Agency, “Clarification of the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services status of residence” (consolidated version with attachments) (Japanese, PDF)
- Immigration Services Agency, Attachment 3: Approved and refused cases (Japanese, PDF)
Disclaimer: This article is provided for general information only and is not legal advice on any individual case. The information is based on sources available as of October 29, 2026. Laws, guidelines and their application may change without notice. The cases described are summaries of examples published by the Immigration Services Agency and do not guarantee the outcome of any other application. TKG Immigration Consulting Office accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of this information. In case of any difference between our English descriptions and the original Japanese texts, the Japanese texts prevail.