Nursing care (介護) is the largest and most distinctive Specified Skilled Worker field. It is also the one where the rules differ most from everything else, in both directions.
Verify before you act on this. The Specified Skilled Worker system is revised frequently — fields are added, caps are imposed, and requirements change. The Immigration Services Agency of Japan and the ministry responsible for your field are the sources that bind. This page is orientation, not authority.
You need three tests, not two
This is the most commonly missed requirement in the entire SSW programme.
| Test | Purpose |
|---|---|
| JFT-Basic 200+ or JLPT N4+ | General Japanese |
| Nursing Care Skills Evaluation Test | Can you do the job |
| Nursing Care Japanese Language Evaluation Test | Japanese specific to care work |
That third test is the surprise. It covers the vocabulary and communication of care work specifically — the body, symptoms, medication, daily assistance, reporting to colleagues and families.
Candidates routinely plan for two tests, pass both, and then discover a third. Confirm exactly which tests your route requires before you build a timeline, because the answer depends on the pathway and the employer.
There is no SSW (ii) in care — and that is not bad news
Most SSW fields now have a Type 2 status that removes the five-year cap and allows family. Nursing care does not.
Instead, care workers have something arguably better: the separate 介護 (Caregiver) status of residence, obtained by passing the national Certified Care Worker (介護福祉士) qualification.
That status has no maximum period of stay, permits family accompaniment, and is renewable indefinitely. In practical effect it delivers what SSW (ii) delivers, through a professional qualification rather than a skills test.
So the long-term route in care is:
- Enter on SSW (i) with the three tests
- Work, gaining the required practical experience
- Pass the Certified Care Worker national examination
- Move to the Caregiver status — no cap, family allowed
The national examination is demanding and it is in Japanese. It is also a real professional qualification, which is more than most SSW routes offer. See SSW to permanent residency.
What the work actually is
Assisting older and disabled people with daily life: bathing, eating, moving, toileting, and a great deal of communication with residents, families and colleagues.
Be honest with yourself about it. It is physically demanding, it involves shift work, and it is emotionally heavy in ways that are hard to appreciate in advance. It is also, for many people who do it, genuinely meaningful work with a real career ladder — which is not true of every field on the SSW list.
Your Japanese matters more here than in almost any other field. You are not working alongside machinery; you are communicating with vulnerable people, all day, and reporting accurately to colleagues. The extra language test exists for a reason.
Why so many people take this route
Demand. Japan’s care sector has a structural shortage that is not going away, which means intake is large, employers are actively recruiting, and the route is comparatively well established.
That also means it is well served by agencies, which is worth a note of caution — see agency red flags.
Where to start
Japanese has the longest lead time, and for care you need more of it than for any other field. Start now, aim past the minimum, and be aware that the care language test is additional.
Our free practice test is JFT-Basic-shaped and will tell you where your general Japanese sits today. For the care-specific test, seek material from the organisation administering it in your country.