Fair and ethical recruiting FERI
It stands for Fair and Ethical Recruitment Initiative, a private-sector initiative framework to promote “international standard migrant worker recruitment” that does not charge recruitment and placement fees and related costs from migrant workers coming to Japan by optimizing the migration intermediary function.
Regardless of their status of residence, such as technical internship, specified technical skills, or technical nationality, migrant workers who are placed in a vulnerable position are forced to bear high recruitment and placement costs and related expenses in order to come to Japan, or are forced to work under unfair working conditions, which are viewed as problems from the perspective of respect for workers’ rights internationally. This situation has been viewed as a problem from the perspective of respect for workers’ human rights internationally. In order to improve this situation and to make Japan “the country of choice” for migrant workers, JICA, ILO, JP-MIRA!
We have also briefed the relevant ministries and agencies in Japan and sending countries, seeking their understanding and cooperation as necessary. In sending and receiving countries, we hold stakeholder meetings to obtain the opinions of governments, international organizations, and associations of sending and receiving organizations.
Technical training (including future training employment), specified skills, and technical, humanities, and international work are assumed. However, the formal involvement of the agent in Japan and the sending agency in the sending country is required. Therefore, if there is no formal involvement of the sending organization in the country of the specified skills or the country of the technical worker, the applicant will not be eligible for this program. On the other hand, even if the applicant applies in person, if there is an agreement or service contract between the agent and the sending organization, and if it conforms to the laws and regulations of Japan and the sending country, the applicant is eligible for the program.
In Japan, the movement to promote appropriate acceptance is accelerating, and it is expected that FERI will become the sending and receiving institution of choice by improving its track record.
The FERI Guidelines are guidelines for international labor migration that define the functions and cost burdens that should be borne by employers, agents, and local sending agencies based on the ideal form of international labor migration.
The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 2011, require companies to formulate human rights policies and establish human rights DD and redress mechanisms. Furthermore, international guidelines such as the ILO/RBA stipulate that recruitment and placement fees and related costs should not be borne by migrant workers. In line with this trend, many host companies are now covering recruitment costs in order to meet international guidelines. In addition, it has also been reported that covering recruiting costs has benefits such as recruiting more qualified personnel and keeping turnover rates low, etc. For these reasons, more and more companies are willing to accept workers at a reduced cost.
We need to raise awareness of FERI among migrant workers through the stakeholders participating in FERI, governments, international organizations, NGOs, etc. Please help job seekers understand FERI as it is explained on the website of JP-MIRA! We also need to make sure that workers do not pay unnecessary fees.
The FERI Guidelines stipulate that “Sending institutions must recruit through FERI-certified recruiters themselves and may not recruit through third parties other than the sending institution (including, but not limited to, brokers). FERI guidelines state that “when a sending organization recruits for a FERI-certified job, the sending organization shall recruit the job itself and may not recruit through a third party (including but not limited to a broker) other than the sending organization.
If an educational institution, Japanese language school, etc. is only promoting institutional publicity and registration for work abroad in general, there is no problem; however, if it is introducing a person for employment based on individual job offers, it falls under the prohibited third-party involvement. In the former case, the sending institution is required to operate in such a way that no costs are incurred by the individual and to be responsible for the results.
We certify the job offer after confirming that it complies with the laws and regulations of Japan and the sending country, as well as the FERI guidelines.
Approximately two months after their arrival in Japan, questionnaires and interviews are conducted with migrant workers to confirm that there are no violations of the guidelines, and FERI certificates are issued to the sending/transferring agencies/employers involved.
Companies that receive a large number of FERI certifications in a given year will be recognized as outstanding companies.
We will interview migrant workers after their arrival in Japan to confirm whether there were any violations of the guidelines. At the same time, we will also conduct interviews with relevant parties as necessary.
Based on information from migrant workers and sending agencies, we will investigate cases of violations.
Migrant workers are interviewed annually after their arrival in Japan to ensure that there are no violations of the guidelines. If any violations are found, the FER!
In the case of FERI certification, the employer is responsible for all recruitment and placement fees and related costs (including medical care, insurance, skills and certification examinations, training, equipment, and travel and lodging), regardless of the name. Semi FERI, on the other hand, allows migrant workers to bear a portion of these recruitment and placement fees and related costs (training and training, travel and lodging), as stipulated in Section 6.13 (b) of the Guidelines, but only if the employer bears more than half of the total costs, and only if there is no third party involvement other than cost sharing. However, the employer must bear at least half of the total costs, and all obligations under the guidelines, including the exclusion of third party involvement, must be fulfilled, as in the case of FERI.
In FERI certification, the individual shall not be liable for any fees.
As stipulated in Section 2.4 of the Guidelines, the sending agency must provide accurate information on the job offer at the time of recruitment. In other words, tell them that the employer is responsible for the payment and that the migrant workers themselves do not have to pay, and do not accept the payment even if they want to.
As stipulated in Section 6.11 of the Guidelines, the FERI certified job offer prepared by the host company clearly states which qualified migrant workers it wishes to hire and that the employer will bear the costs required to do so. The amount that he/she should bear is also clearly stated.
As stipulated in Section 2.5 of the Guidelines, sending agencies must conduct recruitment themselves and cannot recruit through third parties such as brokers. Therefore, migrant workers who have already paid their fees to brokers cannot apply for FERI-certified job openings.
Section 6.11 of the Guidelines states that “The costs to be borne by the employer in the case of a job offer based on a FERI-certified job offer are covered until the migrant worker enters into a contract with the sending agency and begins working for the employer. Therefore, the employer is responsible for the costs incurred after the migrant worker signs a contract with the sending agency. However, please note that there are some costs that should be borne by the employer even before the contract is signed as follows.
According to the above-mentioned Guideline 6.11, it can be read that the employer does not have to bear the costs incurred before the migrant worker signs a contract with the sending agency when the job offer is based on a FERI certified job offer, but there is an exception (approved by the Guideline authors and the Steering Committee). In the following two cases, the employer must bear the costs of training even before the migrant worker signs a contract with the sending agency.
(1) Education costs related to education requested by the employer (regardless of whether it was stated in the job posting)
(2) If the sending agency received the candidate’s referral from another agency, the costs paid to that prior agency (including prior)
In other words, if neither (1) nor (2) above applies prior to the conclusion of a contract between the migrant worker and the sending organization, the migrant worker himself/herself may bear the costs. This includes “the cost of meeting the minimum requirements for the job” (e.g., passing the Japanese Language Proficiency Test N4 or the skills test, which are the minimum requirements for obtaining the status of residence in the case of specified skills) under the RBA standards before the contract is concluded, and the migrant worker is allowed to bear this cost. (However, the employer bears the costs incurred after the conclusion of the contract between the migrant worker and the sending organization, even if the costs are to fulfill the same minimum job requirements.)
In November 2025, the guideline was changed to “showers with appropriate water temperature at the residence of the migrant worker concerned” by the author of the guideline, GHRS Sugita Defense Sat. Therefore, please make your decision based on the actual situation in the sending country.
In November 2025, the following paragraph D was added by the guideline author, GHRS Sugita Defense Sat. If you provide a subsistence allowance to the yo-yo migrant workers and have them cook for themselves as part of their training, then there is no problem.
d. For migrant workers recruited based on FERI-certified job applications, the sending agency shall not collect any fees from the migrant workers and may provide a living allowance to the migrant workers and allow them to cook for themselves as part of their self-support education.
As FERI becomes better known, the number of migrant workers who wish to work there will naturally increase, so competition will be fierce.
There are no FERI-specific requirements regarding the level of skills and experience employers require of their workers.
Information on FERI-registered institutions will be shared among registered members on JP-MIRAI’s members-only website (LMS), so there will be opportunities for matching. However, JP-MIRAI does not guarantee the results.
Please apply as a “Paid Member C” for sending organizations and as a “Paid Member B” for intermediaries and host companies from the application form on the JP-MIRAI website. You will then apply for registration with FERI. At the time of application, you will be required to submit several documents. For details, please refer to the explanation on the application page.
The sending organization must have a legitimate license in the sending country, must not be under suspension or other disciplinary action, must pledge to comply with FERI guidelines, and, in principle, must have experience in sending migrant workers to Japan. In addition, the applicant must submit the required screening documents at the application stage.
Placement agents must have a legitimate business license in Japan, must not be under suspension or other disciplinary action, must pledge compliance with FERI guidelines, and, in principle, must have experience in sending migrant workers to Japan. Furthermore, the applicant must submit the required screening documents at the application stage.
The host company must be legally registered in Japan, must not have been suspended or otherwise disciplined for accepting foreign nationals, and must pledge to comply with FERI guidelines. Furthermore, the applicant must submit the required screening documents at the application stage.
If there are no problems, we expect about 2 weeks.
The annual membership fee for “Paid Membership B” is 66,000 yen (including consumption tax).
The annual membership fee for the “Paid Member C” is 30,000 yen per year, but the first year’s membership fee is waived.
In addition, the host company pays a fee of 20,000 yen per job for the FERI certification service, but this fee is waived until the end of 2025.
Membership dues are paid by credit card. Upon request, we can also issue an invoice and accept payment by bank transfer.
Once paid, the participation fee is non-refundable.
Compliance with Chapter 5 of the Guidelines is required, but there are no specific adverse conditions.
The worker will be treated in accordance with the system of the sending country/Japan. It is important that workers also understand Chapter 5 (Guidelines for Migrant Workers) of the Guidelines.
