Vietnam is among the largest sources of Specified Skilled Worker candidates. The route is established, and it runs largely through licensed labour dispatch companies regulated by the Vietnamese authorities.
Confirm current requirements with the Department of Overseas Labour, the Japanese embassy and the official Japanese bodies - rules on both sides change.
The steps
1. Language test. JFT-Basic or JLPT N4 and above. JFT-Basic is held regularly in Vietnam: JFT-Basic in Vietnam, how to register.
2. Sector skills test for the field you intend to work in: the skills test explained.
3. A licensed dispatch company, unless you are recruited directly. Verify the licence independently rather than accepting a claim.
4. Employer and contract. The contract is the enforceable document, not what you were told: reading an SSW contract.
5. Certificate of Eligibility, applied for in Japan by your employer: Certificate of Eligibility explained.
6. Visa at the Japanese embassy.
7. Departure and the first month. Your first month of Japanese at work.
Fees: ask early and in writing
Vietnam’s overseas employment sector has regulated fee limits, and charges above them are a persistent problem. Debt-funded migration is the single biggest risk to a candidate’s wellbeing in Japan, because it removes the ability to leave a bad employer.
Before paying anything:
- Ask for the full itemised cost, in writing.
- Ask what is refundable and under what conditions.
- Check the figure against the legal limits.
- Never surrender your passport to anyone.
Agency red flags lists the warning signs in detail.
If you are a former technical intern
Vietnamese candidates frequently come to SSW from the Technical Intern Training Programme. The transition has its own rules and can, depending on your field and completion status, be simpler than the standard route.
SSW versus technical intern training explains the differences that matter - including the important one: SSW allows you to change employer within your field, which TITP does not. Changing jobs on SSW.
Sectors
Vietnamese candidates work across the full range of fields. The larger ones:
Begin with the language
It is the longest lead time and the part no intermediary can do for you. Our free exam demo is a full JFT-Basic mock under exam conditions, and the practice test explains every answer in Vietnamese.