Apostille and Certified Translation for Indian Software Engineers Going to Japan

A senior backend engineer from Mercari India Bengaluru, BTech CS from BITS Pilani Pilani campus 2017, four years at Walmart Global Tech Bengaluru followed by three years at Mercari's Bengaluru R&D office (Mercari is the Tokyo-listed C2C marketplace), with a direct Mercari Tokyo offer for a senior staff engineer role at the Tokyo Roppongi Hills HQ in hand. JPY 14 million annual base on the Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) visa under the points-based system. His existing relationship with the Mercari engineering organisation made the internal transfer cleaner than an external Japanese hire would normally be. The Mercari HR file in Tokyo needed apostille on his BITS Pilani BTech, MEA apostille on his class-twelve CBSE certificate, certified Japanese translation by a Japan-listed translator (the Embassy of Japan in Delhi maintains a list), MEA apostille on his marriage certificate from the Bengaluru Sub-Registrar, and a fresh PCC from the Bengaluru Passport Seva Kendra Lalbagh. Japan has been a Hague apostille destination for Indian documents since 27 July 1970, so the route stayed clean through MEA Patiala House. The Karnataka HRD step ran through the State Higher Education Department Multistoreyed Building Bengaluru for the marriage certificate. MEA apostille at Patiala House Delhi. Around four weeks end to end. The HSP visa was stamped at the Embassy of Japan Delhi within ten days of file submission. Typical arrival is at Haneda for the October 2026 start on schedule.

That sequence is the sequence behind most Indian software-engineer moves to Japan in 2026. Japan has historically been one of the least-Indian-engineer-friendly destinations among major economies. The language barrier was real, the corporate culture was insular, and the immigration system favoured intra-company transferees from Japanese multinationals over external Indian hires. That has changed, slowly but visibly, since the Japanese government's 2017 introduction of the Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) visa and the more aggressive 2022-2024 push to recruit non-Japanese engineering talent in response to Japan's deepening demographic crisis. In 2026, Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama and Nagoya employers are hiring Indian software engineers in volumes that would have been hard to imagine ten years earlier. This page is for the Indian software engineer, data scientist or specialist who is considering or has been offered a position with a Japanese employer in 2026.

What is Singapore's Highly Skilled Professional visa for senior tech roles?

The HSP visa is the senior-track route most Indian engineers should target for Japan in 2026. HSP uses a points-based scoring system across academic credentials, professional career, annual income and bonus factors. Candidates need 70 points to qualify. 80 points unlock additional benefits (faster permanent residence in one to three years, easier spouse work permit, parent visit ease).

Academic Background Points. Doctoral degree 30 points. Master's degree 20 points. Bachelor's degree 10 points. Indian BTech qualifies as bachelor's; Indian MTech as master's; Indian PhD as doctoral. Dual-degree holders claim points from both.

Professional Career Points. Years of relevant experience score from 5 points (3-5 years) to 25 points (10+ years).

Annual Income Points. JPY 4 million = 10 points. JPY 7 million = 20 points. JPY 10 million = 30 points. JPY 12.5 million = 40 points. Senior Indian engineers at Mercari, Rakuten, Woven by Toyota, SoftBank portfolio companies and the major US tech Japan offices typically land JPY 8 to 14 million offers (approximately INR 45 to 80 lakhs), scoring 20-40 points on income.

Bonus Points. PhD in STEM from a top-100 global university (10 points). Working in a research field (10 points). Patents held (15 points). Awards (10 points). Japanese language at JLPT N1 (15 points) or N2 (10 points). Spouse with relevant qualifications (5 points).

The HSP scoring is generous to Indian PhD holders, senior engineers with 10+ years of experience and high salary, and candidates with patents or research publications.

The Engineer/Specialist in Humanities visa as the alternative

For Indian engineers who do not qualify for HSP (typically 3-5 years of experience, Bachelor's degree, salary JPY 4-8 million range), the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa is the workhorse route. It does not have HSP's points-based benefits but is functionally similar for day-to-day life. Most Indian engineers in Japan in 2026 are on this visa, not HSP.

The Certificate of Eligibility (COE) process

For both HSP and Engineer visas, the Japanese employer files a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) application with the Japanese Immigration Services Agency in Tokyo. The COE is the pre-approval that allows the candidate to apply for a visa stamp at the Japanese consulate in India.

The COE application includes the candidate's apostilled academic credentials, the employer's company registration documents, the role description, the salary offer, the candidate's resume, and the passport copy. Processing time: one to three months from COE filing to COE issuance.

After COE issuance, the candidate applies for the visa stamp at the Embassy of Japan in New Delhi or the Japanese Consulates in Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru or Kolkata. Visa stamping takes five to ten working days after the COE.

The apostille and Japanese translation bundle

Japan has been a Hague Apostille destination for Indian documents since 27 July 1970 (Japan is an original signatory to the Convention). MEA apostille is the standard authentication.

State HRD attestation on the engineering degree at the relevant state directorate (Karnataka SHED Multistoreyed Building Bengaluru for BITS Pilani Bengaluru and PESU; Telangana SHED Tarnaka for IIIT Hyderabad and BITS Pilani Hyderabad campus; Maharashtra Mantralaya Mumbai for IIT Bombay, COEP, VJTI; Tamil Nadu DTE Guindy for IIT Madras and NIT Trichy; AP SHED Mangalagiri): five to fourteen working days.

MEA apostille at the Patiala House Delhi counter on the degree, marksheets, transcript, marriage certificate, birth certificates and PCC: three to five working days.

Certified Japanese translation by a Japan-listed translator (the Embassy of Japan in Delhi maintains a list; the Japanese Immigration Services Agency accepts these): seven to fourteen working days for a complete academic set. SiZA Multi Lingual Translators handles Japanese translation accepted by Japanese employers, the COE application and the consulate.

PSK Police Clearance Certificate at the home Passport Seva Kendra: seven to twenty-one working days.

The whole route runs five to eight weeks in parallel.

Japanese language: when it's required, when it's recommended

JLPT N5 (basic) is sufficient for most English-medium Japanese tech roles in 2026. Rakuten, Mercari, Woven by Toyota, SoftBank's portfolio companies and the major US tech offices in Japan operate primarily in English internally. Daily life in Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama still requires functional Japanese for landlord interactions, supermarket use, train announcements during travel disruption, and most administrative encounters.

For HSP visa bonus points, JLPT N2 unlocks 10 points and N1 unlocks 15 points. Most Indian engineers who plan a long-arc Japan move target N2 within two years of arrival. The Japan Foundation and the Japan India Friendship Forum run Japanese language courses in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune and Kolkata.

Where Japan is hiring Indian software engineers in 2026

The hiring is concentrated across six employer clusters.

Industrial automation and robotics. Fanuc (the global industrial-robot leader, headquartered near Mount Fuji), Yaskawa Electric, Mitsubishi Electric, Omron, Denso, Hitachi Group. These hire Indian software engineers for embedded systems, robotics control, vision systems and PLC programming.

Enterprise software and the SaaS scene. SAP Japan, Salesforce Japan, Oracle Japan, Microsoft Japan, AWS Japan, Google Japan. The Japanese-headquartered enterprise software firms: Rakuten (the largest Japanese tech employer of Indian engineers, with significant English-medium teams), Mercari, LINE Yahoo (post-merger), SmartNews, Sansan, freee, Money Forward, SmartHR.

Gaming and entertainment software. Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation), Nintendo, Bandai Namco, Square Enix, Konami, Sega, Capcom, Koei Tecmo. These hire Indian engineers for game engine development, online services, ML for game AI and live-ops.

The Japanese trading houses (sogo shosha): Mitsui and Co, Mitsubishi Corporation, Itochu, Marubeni, Sumitomo, Toyota Tsusho. These firms have invested in digital transformation and now hire Indian engineers into their IT and innovation arms.

The automotive software domain. Toyota Motor Corporation, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, Mazda. Toyota's CARIAD-equivalent Toyota Motor IT Solutions and Woven by Toyota (the autonomous-driving and mobility software subsidiary in Tokyo Nihonbashi) actively recruit Indian senior software engineers.

The financial services tech scene. SoftBank Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Nomura, SBI Holdings, MUFG Bank. SoftBank Group has been a particularly aggressive hirer of Indian engineering talent across its Vision Fund portfolio companies and its core operations.

The Indian-origin firms with senior Japan operations: TCS Japan, Infosys Japan, Wipro Japan, HCL Japan, Tech Mahindra Japan.

What we run from Noida on a Japan engineer file

A Japan software engineering file reaches SiZA after the COE process has started or the Japanese employer's offer is in hand. The candidate sends the engineering degree, marksheets, transcript, marriage certificate, children's birth certificates and passport on WhatsApp to +91 9220161774. We confirm the state HRD route, run the apostille and Japanese translation work, and prepare the documentation set the Japanese employer's HR team will ask for.

When the originals reach our Noida office at C-25, C Block, Sector 8, the work runs state HRD where applicable, MEA apostille at Patiala House Delhi on the bundled academic and civil documents, certified Japanese translation by Japan-listed translators, and tracked return courier. The translated set is in the candidate's hands ready for the Japanese employer's COE submission and the visa stamping at the Japanese consulate in India.

What SiZA does not handle: the COE filing by the Japanese employer with the Immigration Services Agency, the COE evaluation, the Japanese consulate visa interview, the JLPT exam, the post-arrival Zairyu Card (residence card) issuance at Haneda or Narita, or the apartment search and ward-office Anmeldung-equivalent registration in Japan.

Two related pages on the SiZA site: MEA apostille services, certified Japanese translation, professionals-going-abroad audience guide. For a free scan-review on your Japan engineering file, WhatsApp +91 9220161774.