Japan Unemployment Insurance for Foreign Workers: Can You Claim 雇用保険?

At a Glance

If you lose your job in Japan and your employer was enrolling you in employment insurance (雇用保険, koyou hoken), you can claim unemployment benefits (基本手当, kihon teate) at Hello Work — regardless of your nationality. There is no special foreign-worker exclusion.

The two conditions that qualify you:

1. Working ≥ 20 scheduled hours per week at the time you were enrolled
2. Expected to be employed for ≥ 31 consecutive days when you were hired

If both were true when you started, your employer was legally required to enroll you. Benefits then depend on how long you were insured and why you left.

The critical caveat for work-visa holders: Collecting unemployment benefits does not, by itself, put your visa at risk. But being unemployed for 3+ months without actively job-seeking can trigger visa cancellation under the Immigration Act — independent of whether you are receiving benefits. You must actively job-search while collecting, and maintain records.

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Who Is Covered — and Who Is Not

Covered under standard conditions (≥ 20 hrs/week, ≥ 31-day expectation)

• 技術・人文知識・国際業務 (Engineer / Humanities / International Services)
• 特定技能 1号・2号 (Specified Skilled Worker)
• 定住者 (Long-Term Resident)
• 永住者 (Permanent Resident)
• 日本人配偶者等 (Spouse of Japanese National)
• 家族滞在 (Family Stay) — only if you have a 資格外活動許可 (work permit) and the 20-hr/week condition is met

Excluded

Category	Reason
経営・管理 (Business Manager)	Business owners/managers are excluded as non-employee workers
留学 (Student visa) — daytime students	昼間学生 (day students under School Education Law) are excluded
特定活動: Working Holiday	Purpose is vacation, not employment — formally excluded from enrollment
Foreign government employees	Excluded if covered under a home-country scheme

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