Myanmar is a significant source country for Specified Skilled Worker candidates, and the route is well used. Conditions and procedures have been subject to change, so confirm current requirements with the Japanese embassy, the relevant Myanmar authorities and the official Japanese bodies before acting on any plan.
The steps
- Language test - JFT-Basic, or JLPT N4 and above. JFT-Basic in Myanmar and how to register.
- Sector skills test for your field: the skills test explained.
- Employer, directly or through a licensed overseas employment agency.
- Contract, read before signing: reading an SSW contract.
- Myanmar departure formalities, including the overseas worker documentation required by the authorities.
- Certificate of Eligibility, applied for in Japan by your employer: Certificate of Eligibility explained.
- Visa at the Japanese embassy.
- Departure, registration 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.
Common sectors
Myanmar candidates are well represented in manufacturing, food and beverage manufacturing, nursing care, agriculture and construction.
Start with the exam
It costs nothing to find out where you stand. Our free exam demo is a full 48-question JFT-Basic mock under the real exam’s rules, and the practice test explains every answer in Burmese.