How to Verify a Japan Job Offer from India: Real Checks, Legal Fees, and Scam Red Flags
General information, not legal or immigration advice — see the note at the end.
"Japan will take 50,000 Indian workers." You've seen the headlines — they're real. India and Japan signed an Action Plan in July 2026 targeting 50,000 Indian workers and 500,000 total exchanges over five years. Here's the problem: every honest headline like that also becomes a script for dishonest agents. Even Itochu — one of Japan's largest trading houses — had to issue a public advisory because fake job offers were circulating in its name in India.
The good news? Most fake Japan offers collapse under 20 minutes of checking — because the genuine system runs on public, official lists you can search for free. This article gives you the exact checks, the fees that are actually legal, and the red flags that end the conversation. By the end, you'll be able to test any "Japan job offer" against the official record — before you pay anyone a rupee.
Key takeaway: every legitimate India→Japan work route leaves a paper trail on official lists — India's eMigrate RA register and NSDC's Sending Organisation list on one side, Japan's ISA and OTIT registries on the other. If an agent or offer doesn't appear where it should, or asks for money the rules don't allow (India caps RA service charges at ₹30,000 + GST), walk away. No genuine Japanese employer needs you to pay for the job itself.
Why fake "Japan jobs" are surging right now
Japan genuinely needs workers — the Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) program alone spans 16 shortage fields (with further expansion planned), and the new Ikusei Shuro system launches in April 2027. India genuinely signed up to send people — the July 2026 summit made that official.
But that's exactly what makes the moment dangerous. Scam recruitment tends to spike where three things meet: a famous headline ("50,000 jobs!"), a complex process most applicants don't understand, and a large gap between Indian and Japanese salaries that makes people willing to pay upfront. India's Ministry of External Affairs has repeatedly warned about fake overseas job offers and agents overcharging desperate applicants, and its embassies circulate standing advisories on overcharging and illegal recruitment.
Here's the thing: the same complexity that scammers exploit is also your best weapon. Japan's system is unusually well-documented. Let's use that.
The 20-minute verification framework: check both sides
A genuine India→Japan job offer touches two governments. So verify it on both sides. A scammer can fake a letterhead; they can't insert themselves into official registries.
India-side checks (10 minutes)
1. Is the agent a licensed Recruiting Agent (RA)? Under India's Emigration Act, 1983, anyone recruiting Indians for overseas jobs must be registered with the Protector General of Emigrants. Every legal RA has a licence number — which, by rule, must be displayed in their office and in every advertisement. Check the agent's name and RA number against the "List of active RAs" on emigrate.gov.in. Over 1,700 agencies are registered; if yours isn't on the list, that's not a paperwork gap — unregistered recruitment for overseas jobs is a criminal offence in India.
2. For TITP: is the sending organisation NSDC-empanelled? Japan's Technical Intern Training Program from India runs only through Sending Organisations empanelled by the National Skill Development Corporation, under NSDC's official TITP guidelines. The current list is public on NSDC's Sending Organisation page. Not on it? Then they cannot legally send you under TITP, full stop.
3. For SSW: know that no agent is required at all. India and Japan signed the SSW Memorandum of Cooperation in January 2021 (NSDC — Specified Skilled Worker). Unlike TITP, SSW has no mandatory sending organisation — you can pass the JFT-Basic or JLPT and the sector skills test, apply to Japanese employers, and process the visa without any Indian agency involved. So when someone says "you can only get SSW through us," that sentence itself is a red flag.
Japan-side checks (10 minutes)
4. Does the Japanese employer exist — and is its support organisation registered? Most SSW workers are supported by a registered support organisation (登録支援機関), and Japan's Immigration Services Agency publishes the full searchable registry — thousands of organisations, updated regularly. Ask your agent: which Japanese company, and which registered support organisation? A genuine agent answers in one email. A fake one goes vague. Then look the company itself up in Japan's corporate number registry (houjin-bangou.nta.go.jp) — every real Japanese company has a 13-digit corporate number.
5. For TITP: check OTIT. The Organization for Technical Intern Training (OTIT) licenses Japan-side supervising organisations — and publicly names organisations it has punished or banned. If the Japan-side partner isn't licensed, or appears on a penalty list, you have your answer.
What does 20 minutes of checking buy you? Nearly everything. A scammer can forge an offer letter in an afternoon; getting into five government registries across two countries is another matter entirely.
What you can legally be charged — and what should cost ₹0
Money is where fake offers reveal themselves. Put the numbers side by side:
| Item | Legal position | What you should pay |
|---|---|---|
| RA service charge (India) | Capped by Emigration Act rules; receipt mandatory (MEA advisory) | Max ₹30,000 + 18% GST |
| Japan visa fee (Indian nationals) | Unchanged even after Japan's July 2026 global fee hike (BusinessToday) | ₹500 |
| JFT-Basic exam (India) | Prometric official fee | ~₹3,540 (details) |
| "Placement fee" to a Japanese employer or its agent | Japanese law generally prohibits charging job seekers for placement | ₹0 |
| "Deposit" or "security money" under TITP | Deposits and penalty contracts are prohibited under Japan's technical intern training rules (OTIT) | ₹0 |
| Your own real costs | Language classes, skills-test fees, medicals, flights | Varies — paid to the actual provider, never bundled into an agent's "package" |
Two takeaways from that table. First, the entire government-fee side of a Japan move is astonishingly cheap — a ₹500 visa and a ₹3,540 exam. Second, the ₹2–8 lakh "packages" some agents quote are mostly charges the rules don't recognise. If you've already been overcharged by a registered RA, you're not powerless: MEA advisories note you can pursue recovery against the RA's ₹50 lakh bank guarantee through the Protector of Emigrants — one more reason to insist on that receipt.
(Figures above are as published in July 2026; fees and rules change — always verify the current numbers on the official pages linked before paying anything.)
Red flags that end the conversation
No single red flag proves fraud — but each one should make you stop and re-run the checks above:
- Upfront money before any verifiable offer — especially "registration fees" to see job listings.
- A guaranteed job or guaranteed visa. Nobody can guarantee a visa — approval sits with Japanese immigration alone. Genuine agents say "eligible," "shortlisted," "typically."
- "No Japanese needed, no interview, direct selection." Every mainstream work route needs language proof (which level for which visa) and real employer selection.
- Pressure and deadlines — "pay today, only 2 seats left." Government programs don't work on FOMO.
- Payment to personal UPI/bank accounts, or fees with no receipt (receipts are legally required).
- Offer letters from famous names with free-mail addresses — remember the Itochu case: real companies' names get borrowed precisely because they're trusted. Verify the domain, then verify the company independently.
- "SSW only through us" — as above, SSW needs no agent at all.
A note of fairness: many registered RAs and NSDC-empanelled SOs do honest, valuable work — preparing candidates, arranging interviews, handling logistics. This article isn't "never use an agent." It's verify, then trust — the honest ones will happily show you their licence, because it's their biggest selling point.
A worked example: testing a real-looking offer
Say you receive: "Selected for food-processing job, Osaka. SSW visa. Package: ₹4.5 lakh covering training, visa guarantee, placement. Pay ₹1 lakh to block your seat this week."
Run the framework. RA licence number in the ad? Not mentioned — check the sender on emigrate.gov.in. "Visa guarantee"? Nobody can promise that. ₹4.5 lakh? The legal RA service charge is ₹30,000 + GST, and SSW requires no agent anyway. Name of the Japanese employer and its registered support organisation? Ask — then search the ISA registry. "Block your seat this week"? Pressure tactic. Verdict: five failures out of five checks. Twenty minutes, ₹1 lakh saved.
Now flip it. A genuine offer typically looks like: a named Japanese company you can find in the corporate registry, a request for your JFT-Basic/JLPT result and skills-test certificate, a real interview (usually online), a written employment contract before any visa filing, and — if an agent is involved — a licence number they volunteer and fees within the legal cap, with receipts.
Your next step
The one thing to remember: real offers survive verification; fake ones need you to skip it. Before any payment, run the 20-minute, two-sided check — eMigrate and NSDC on the Indian side, ISA and OTIT on the Japanese side.
Your first move this week: read How to Work in Japan from India to know which route fits you — because the single best scam-protection is knowing exactly how the legitimate path works. The door to Japan is genuinely open. Walk through the real one.
This article is general information, not legal, immigration, tax, financial, or medical advice. Rules, fees, and figures change and vary by individual circumstances — verify the latest details with official sources (e.g. the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, India's Ministry of External Affairs/eMigrate, and the relevant embassy or test body) and consult a qualified professional before making decisions.