Mongolia was among the earlier countries to sign a memorandum of cooperation with Japan on Specified Skilled Workers. The corridor is smaller than those from Southeast Asia but well established, helped by long-standing educational ties between the two countries.
Confirm current requirements with the Mongolian labour authorities, the Japanese embassy and the official Japanese bodies.
The steps
- Language test - JFT-Basic or JLPT N4 and above. JFT-Basic in Mongolia, how to register.
- Sector skills test: the skills test explained.
- Employer and contract: reading an SSW contract.
- Mongolian departure formalities and registration for overseas employment.
- Certificate of Eligibility from Japan: Certificate of Eligibility explained.
- Visa at the Japanese embassy.
- Departure, arrival and work. Your first month of Japanese at work.
Where candidates lose time
Waiting to start Japanese. The language test is the longest lead time and the only step entirely within your control. Nobody can sit it for you and no agency can accelerate it.
Deciding the sector late. The skills test is field-specific, so an undecided candidate cannot prepare: the sectors list.
Inconsistent documents. Your name must be spelled identically on your passport, your certificates and every form. A mismatch stalls a Certificate of Eligibility application.
On agencies and fees
Get every cost in writing, itemised, before paying anything. Verify any licence independently. No legitimate employer or agency holds your passport, and no legitimate arrangement requires a penalty payment for leaving a job.
Debt-funded migration is the single biggest risk to a worker’s wellbeing in Japan, because it removes the ability to walk away from a bad employer. Agency red flags and reading an SSW contract.
Two practical advantages
Grammar. Mongolian and Japanese share a similar sentence structure - subject, object, verb, with particles marking roles. Mongolian speakers typically find Japanese grammar more intuitive than speakers of European languages do, and reach usable sentence construction faster.
That advantage does not extend to vocabulary or kanji, which take the same work as for anyone.
Existing ties. Japanese-language education has a long history in Mongolia, and finding a teacher or a class is easier than in some other source countries.
One thing to prepare for
Winters in much of Japan are milder than in Mongolia, but the housing is different: less insulation, often heated room by room rather than centrally. Workers frequently report finding Japanese homes colder indoors than expected. Housing and rent.
Common sectors
Construction, manufacturing, agriculture, nursing care and food and beverage manufacturing.
Measure where you stand
The structural head start helps with grammar and not with the exam’s vocabulary. Find out where you actually are: our free exam demo is a full 48-question JFT-Basic mock under exam conditions.