Certificate of Eligibility for Japan: Requirements and Timeline

Key Takeaways

• The Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is a pre-approval from Japan's Immigration Services Agency (ISA). It is not a visa. You use it when you apply for the visa at the Embassy and when you land in Japan.
• For a worker still in the Philippines, the employer's side does the filing, at an immigration office in Japan. The ISA charges no fee for a COE application, so a "COE fee" on someone's bill does not come from the government.
• The ISA's standard processing time is 1 to 3 months. For SSW (i), its own monthly averages between August 2025 and July 2026 ran from 58.6 to 75.1 days, and 64.1 days in July 2026.
• A COE issued now is valid for 3 months from the date of issue. Ask for the issue date the day it arrives.
• Since 17 March 2023 the COE can be received by e-mail, and the employer can forward that e-mail to you abroad.
• Food service is the exception. The ISA temporarily stopped issuing COEs for that field on 13 April 2026, and on 10 September 2026 it was still working through applications received up to 31 January 2026.

What the COE is, and where it sits

The ISA describes the COE as an application made before entry, to show that the work you plan to do in Japan fits a status of residence and meets the conditions for landing. Once you have it, you show it at the visa application and at landing, and the visa and the landing permission can be issued promptly.

It does not replace the visa. The Embassy of Japan still issues the visa, and the DMW still issues your OEC. In the usual order for a Filipino worker, the COE comes after the tests and after your employer is registered through the Migrant Workers Office, and before the visa. We walk through the whole order in SSW requirements for Filipinos.

Who files it, and who pays

The ISA's page for the COE application lists who may submit it:

Two rules from the same page show what this means in practice. The forms are handed in at an immigration office during weekday hours, and mailing them in is not accepted. So when you are still in the Philippines, the filing is done in Japan, by your employer or by a professional the employer hires. Online filing is also possible.

The page states the fee in one line: no fee is charged. An employer may pay a scrivener or a lawyer to prepare the file, and that cost belongs to the employer. If an agency puts a "COE fee" on your bill, ask what it is for. It appears in the list of illegal fees in Placement Fee for Japan: What You Should Never Pay.

Ask your agency for three things in writing:

• The name of the company that is filing the COE application
• The date the ISA accepted the application
• The issue date, once the COE arrives

What goes into the application

The ISA's page for SSW is organized in three parts:

• Your part: the application form with one photo that meets the ISA's photo standard.
• The employer's part: documents about the organization that will accept you.
• The field's part: a separate document set for each SSW field, such as caregiving, construction, agriculture, or food service.

That page does not list every certificate that goes into each set. Ask your employer or agency for the checklist for your field, and ask which of your own papers they need, for example your passport pages and your test results. Read every document that carries your name before it goes to Immigration, and keep a copy.

The TB screening certificate (not for SSW, for now)

Japan asks most Filipino nationals coming for a medium or long stay to get a TB Clearance Certificate first. It comes from a chest X-ray and other tests at a designated Panel Clinic, and it has to be submitted when the COE is applied for. The applicant pays for the screening, and the certificate is valid for 180 days from the date of the chest X-ray, in principle.

Specified skilled workers are on the list of groups that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare calls temporarily exempt (page updated 25 September 2026). Technical intern trainees are not named on that list. If you are going on another route, or someone tells you the certificate is needed, read the Ministry's JPETS page yourself. An exemption that is called temporary can end.

How long it takes

The ISA gives a standard processing time of 1 month to 3 months for a COE application. It also publishes real averages every month. For SSW (i), the average number of days from the day the application was accepted to the day the COE was issued looked like this:

Three notes from the ISA's own sheets explain how to read this:

• The figure counts the days until approval, and it includes the time an applicant took to send extra documents. Rejected and withdrawn applications are not counted.
• The July 2026 sheet says the SSW (i) figure leaves out food service applications, because of the measures described below.
• The numbers are averages. Your own case can be faster or slower, so a promise of a fixed date deserves a question.

In round terms, plan for about two months after the ISA accepts the application, not from the day you sign your contract. The time before your employer files is separate, and the ISA's numbers do not cover it.

How long the COE is valid

For a COE issued on or after 1 August 2022, the ISA says it is valid for 3 months from the date of issue. Count from the issue date, and finish the visa step well inside those 3 months. In the version we read on 26 September 2026, the Embassy's visa page lists a Visa Center run by VFS Services Philippines, opened in April 2025, and says visa reservations are made on the VFS site. Check that page for the current way to apply for your visa type, and book early.

The e-mail COE

Since 17 March 2023 the ISA has let the person who files receive the COE by e-mail. For you, that is usually your employer's side. These are the points that matter to you:

• The e-mail can be forwarded to the foreign national overseas. It saves the courier cost and the days it takes to send paper abroad.
• You can show the e-mail on your smartphone when you apply for the visa and when you land.
• If someone applies for the visa on your behalf, the ISA says the paper original, a copy, or a printout of the e-mail must be submitted.
• The e-mail version shows the same details as the paper one, except that the photo does not appear.

So ask your employer or agency to forward the e-mail, or at least a scan, as soon as it arrives. You should not have to wait for a courier to find out that your COE was issued.

Food service: the COE stop

One SSW field is in a different situation. On 13 April 2026 the ISA announced that it was temporarily stopping COE issuance for food service, at the request of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. COE applications for that field received on or after that day are not issued.

The ISA's status page, updated on 10 September 2026, says it gives priority to status-change applications, and that it issues food service COEs, when it can, in the order applications were received. At that date it was working on applications received up to 31 January 2026. The page also says the ISA cannot answer questions about the status of an individual application.

If food service is your field:

• Ask your agency in writing for the date your COE application was received by the ISA. That date decides where you are in the order.
• Be careful with anyone who says money can move you up. The ISA says it issues in the order applications were received.

The notice is about food service only. It does not name any other field.

What to do, and what to watch for

1. Ask who files, and get the company name in writing. Check the agency's license first. You can do it yourself with how to read the DMW list.
2. Do not pay a "COE fee." The ISA charges none.
3. Ask for the ISA acceptance date, then the issue date, and put both in your own notes.
4. Ask to be sent the e-mail COE or a scan.
5. Count 3 months from the issue date, and book the visa appointment early.
6. Keep every receipt, message, and copy in your own name, not in a friend's account.

Then comes the OEC, which you cannot skip. We cover that step in what an OEC is.

Sources

• Immigration Services Agency of Japan: 在留資格認定証明書交付申請 (COE application). Purpose, who may file, where to file, mail not accepted, no fee, standard processing time 1 to 3 months
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan: 在留資格認定証明書の電子化について (e-mail COE). Started 17 March 2023, forwarding to the applicant abroad, smartphone display, printout when an agent applies
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan: New handling regarding the period of validity of the certificate of eligibility (22 June 2022). COEs issued on or after 1 August 2022 are valid for 3 months
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan: Status of Residence "Specified Skilled Worker". Structure of the COE application documents for SSW (i)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan: 在留審査処理期間 (processing periods). Monthly sheets from August 2025 to July 2026, and the July 2026 note on food service
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan: 特定技能「外食業分野」における在留資格認定証明書交付の一時停止措置について (13 April 2026) and 審査状況 (10 September 2026)
• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Japan Pre-Entry Tuberculosis Screening (JPETS), updated 25 September 2026
• Embassy of Japan in the Philippines: Visa/Consular Services, Visa Center and visa reservations
• Hanapon: /check, /routes, /find-help