Five Key Issues Registered Support Organizations Should Consider When the Specified Skilled Worker “Food Service Industry” Quota Is Reached

Introduction: Purpose of This Material

On March 27, 2026, the Immigration Services Agency of Japan announced that the number of Specified Skilled Worker (i) residents in the food service industry is expected to reach the acceptance ceiling of 50,000, and indicated a policy of, in principle, suspending new acceptances from April 13 onward.

Many of you have likely already reviewed the content of the Immigration Services Agency announcement. Rather than summarizing the announcement itself, this material organizes five key issues directly tied to management decisions for registered support organizations.

Issue 1: Quantifying the “remaining capacity” in other fields

When considering shifting personnel from food service to other fields, the most important decision-making factor is “which fields have how much remaining capacity.” The figures below are based on published data.

† Expected acceptance figures are based on the Cabinet Decision of March 29, 2024 (materials published by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan). For the food service industry, the March 27, 2026 announcement by the Immigration Services Agency explicitly states “50,000.” The expected acceptance figures were revised by the Cabinet Decision of January 23, 2026, with the total for all fields set at 805,700; for the latest field-by-field figures, refer to information published by the Immigration Services Agency. The number of residents is based on Table 2 of the Immigration Services Agency’s “Number of Foreign Nationals Residing in Japan under Specified Skilled Worker (i) Status (as of the end of June 2025).” Note that the figures have increased further as of April 2026.

Issue 2: Practical hurdles in changing fields — the barrier of non-interchangeable exams

People often say, “They can just move from food service to manufacture of food and beverages,” but it is important to note that the skills evaluation exams are not interchangeable.

Procedures required for transition from food service to manufacture of food and beverages

Route for technical intern training graduates

If a person has successfully completed Technical Intern Training (ii), the Specified Skilled Worker fields to which they may transition are designated by job category.

• Medical and welfare facility meal preparation work → Food service industry and manufacture of food and beverages (transition to both is possible)
• Technical intern training job categories related to manufacture of food and beverages → Manufacture of food and beverages (skills exam exemption)
• No technical intern training job category directly corresponds to food service

Issue 3: What can be done by April 13 — practical judgment on last-minute filings

There are about 10 days remaining. A calm assessment follows.

Items that may still be possible

• Application for permission to change status of residence (domestic residents): Applications “accepted before” April 13 will be processed sequentially within the expected acceptance ceiling. However, screening usually takes two to three months, so this means “getting onto the examination track,” not “a guarantee of approval.”
• Application for Certificate of Eligibility (new entrants from overseas): Same as above. However, the Immigration Services Agency has clearly stated that it will prioritize processing applications for change of status of residence (domestic cases), so issuance of COEs is expected to be significantly delayed.

Issue 4: Reassessing Specified Skilled Worker (ii) as an “alternative route”

Often overlooked, Specified Skilled Worker (ii) is not counted toward the expected acceptance ceiling. This treatment has remained consistent since the system began in 2019.

In other words:

• Even if the Type i ceiling for the food service industry reaches 50,000, transitioning to Type ii in the food service industry avoids the ceiling constraint
• The Type ii evaluation exam for the food service industry is being implemented (following the expansion of eligible fields from 2023)
• However, Type ii requires “proficient skills,” specifically at least two years of practical experience, passing the Type ii evaluation exam, and Japanese Language Proficiency Test N3 or higher

Use case for registered support organizations

Foreign personnel who have stayed in Japan for three to four years as Specified Skilled Worker (i) in food service are at the timing to consider transitioning to Type ii. Transitioning to Type ii means:

• No upper limit on the period of stay (renewable)
• Family accompaniment becomes possible
• Support obligations by registered support organizations no longer apply (= commissioned support fee revenue for registered support organizations disappears)

Issue 5: Predicting the “next field to stop” and acting in advance

The food service industry is the first field in the Specified Skilled Worker system to reach the acceptance ceiling as a full-scale long-term suspension (although there was a precedent in 2022 when industrial machinery manufacturing temporarily stopped due to exceeding the ceiling, which was resolved in a short period through the integration of the three manufacturing fields). However, other fields carry the same risk.

Fields to watch in order of high utilization rate

1. Manufacture of food and beverages (utilization rate approx. 60%): Has the largest number of residents and a fast pace of increase. Inflow from food service may accelerate this further. Risk that the ceiling issue will surface in two to three years.
2. Construction (utilization rate approx. 54%): There are also limits based on the number of full-time employees at each company, so the sense of capacity pressure is greater than the field-wide figures suggest.
3. Agriculture (utilization rate approx. 45%): The utilization rate fluctuates throughout the year due to seasonality, but the trend is upward.

Implications for the management strategies of registered support organizations

• Dependence on a single field is a management risk. Registered support organizations that grew as food-service-only operators are the most affected this time.
• Structures capable of handling multiple fields, including administrative scrivener networks, exam information, and client bases, should be built at an early stage.
• Whether cross-field application management can be handled through a system will determine the competitiveness of registered support organizations going forward.

Summary: Three actions

This material was prepared based on publicly available information as of April 3, 2026. For the latest operational status, refer to information published by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.
This material is intended for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. For decisions on individual applications, consult an administrative scrivener or other specialist.