FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (GENERAL)
Top 10 FAQ
TESOL/TEFL certification is not a requirement for participation on the JET Program but such certification will be an asset during the selection process.
Applicants for the ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) position are not required to have prior knowledge of the Japanese language, although it is beneficial and highly recommended to have some speaking ability before going to Japan.
Those applying for the CIR (Coordinator for International Relations) position must have at least a semi-advanced to advanced level of Japanese proficiency. CIR duties usually involve translation and interpretation of official government communication, so as a benchmark applicants should have approximately JLPT level N2 or above Japanese proficiency in order to be considered eligible.
Yes. U.S. citizens living abroad are welcome to apply! Our 2025 JET Program Interviews will be conducted online. Candidates for the 2025 application cycle will be allowed to interview from their homes in the United States and from abroad.
There is no age limit to apply to participate on the JET Program.
The JET Program application is a competitive process. Several thousand applications are received each year, about half of all applications will be invited to interview, and then only the top candidates are selected for participation. General statistics about JETs currently in Japan can be found here.
Applicants to the JET Program in the U.S. must:
- Be a U.S. citizen
- Complete a Bachelor’s degree by June 27th, 2025
- Have native-level English speaking proficiency
- Not have lived in Japan for a total of six years or longer in a 10-year period prior to the departure year
To see full descriptions of eligibility criteria, please go to Eligibility Criteria page.
JET recruits participants from a variety of cultural, personal, and academic backgrounds. Applicants who demonstrate a background in Japanese studies or in TEFL/TESL may have an advantage in the application process; over and above these qualifications, JET seeks flexible, open-minded, and enthusiastic young people with a genuine interest in Japan, English education, and intercultural exchange.
Applicants selected for Early Placement may depart any time between early April and July 2025.
Summer Departure 1: Saturday, July 26th, 2025
Summer Departure 2 (“Group A”): Saturday, August 2nd, 2025
Summer Departure 3 (“Group B”): After August 2nd, 2025*
*Exact date will be determined later. This date(s) are reserved for alternates who are upgraded and JET participants who could not depart in the 1st or 2nd wave due to extenuating circumstances (e.g. contracted Covid-19).
The application for the 2025 JET Program will open in mid to late September of 2024. The 2025 JET application will close on Friday, November 15th, 2024 at 11:59pm HST. Applications for 2026 departures will begin in September of 2025.
The goal of the JET Program is to enhance internationalization in local communities in Japan, and there is a relatively low demand for JET participants by urban local authorities. Few JET participants are therefore placed in large cities. The majority of JET participants are placed in small to medium sized cities or in small towns and villages.
Eligibility
Yes, if you will be graduating from an accredited university with a Bachelor’s degree by June 27th, 2025, you are eligible to apply for the 2025 JET Program. Please bear in mind that your degree must be officially conferred by that date; simply completing all requirements for graduation is not sufficient.
When applying, you must also provide an official statement from your college or university stating that you are currently enrolled and your expected date of graduation. We will accept a statement or certificate of expected graduation from the registrar’s office, from a dean’s office, the National Student Clearinghouse, or an academic adviser.
NOTE: If the date listed is too vague to determine that you will graduate by June 27th, 2025 (e.g. Summer 2025, etc.) it will not be accepted as adequate proof of expected date of graduation. It is the applicant’s responsibility to check that the date is correct.
Yes. However, dual citizens of the U.S. and Japan must renounce their Japanese citizenship before departing for Japan if accepted. Japanese law requires that individuals choose either Japanese nationality or their other nationality. To apply for the JET Program, you must prove that you have U.S. nationality, therefore it is not possible to also hold Japanese nationality as a JET participant.
If you have dual nationality with the United States and another country, this does not affect your eligibility for the JET Program, however, if you have nationality with another country that also participates on the JET Program (such as Canada, Australia, etc.) you can only apply through ONE of these countries.
No. Regardless of experience, an applicant must have a Bachelor’s degree by June 27th, 2025 in order to be eligible for the 2025 JET Program.
No, to be considered eligible in the United States, you must have U.S. citizenship by the application deadline. Please contact the Embassy of Japan of your country of citizenship to learn more about applying for the JET Program. A list of countries currently participating on the JET Program is available at the JET Program international website.
No. To be considered eligible for the 2025 JET Program in the United States, you must hold at least a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university by June 27th, 2025.
Applicants should read the information on disqualification listed under the eligibility requirements page. Applications with criminal records will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. It is important to honestly answer the questions regarding criminal history in the application and provide as full and detailed an explanation as possible. This includes any criminal history which occurred while the individual was a juvenile or which the individual believes to have been expunged from their record. The ruling law for the JET Program is Japanese law which requires full disclosure of all criminal history. Individuals with a criminal history will be required to provide an FBI background check (instructions for doing so are provided in the application).
How to Apply
No. JET applications are only available in the fall and there is only one application cycle every year. The only exception to this is application for SEA positions (if available), which are posted in February and due in the spring.
You can only apply for one at a time, not both concurrently. Please do not submit more than one application. However, if you mark “Yes” in Question 26b (only visible if you are applying for a CIR position), you will be given the option to be considered as an ALT, IF AND ONLY IF
1) there are more qualified CIR applicants than CIR positions available;
2) you are not offered a CIR position but you meet all eligibility requirements for the CIR position, including Japanese fluency; AND
3) are eligible to be an ALT by having sufficient ALT-related experience
As of September 2018, the US JET Program has moved to a 100% online application process. Please see the information on the How to Apply page for detailed instructions on application procedures and requirements.
Applications that are incomplete (i.e. missing or insufficient Required Documents) cannot be reviewed, and each year a number of applications are disqualified for this reason.
Other than ensuring that your application is complete, tips to strengthen your application include:
- Demonstrating Japanese study (by formal study, taking the JLPT, etc.)
- Gaining teaching/tutoring experience
- Broadening your involvement in volunteer activities
Interviews & Notification
No. Once you have submitted your application, your interview location cannot be changed.
When choosing an interview location:
Candidates for the 2025 application cycle will be allowed to interview from their homes in the United States and from abroad. Applicants must choose a designated U.S. location for their interview. Interview locations are dependent upon the U.S. city which participants plan to depart from if selected for the 2025 JET Program. A full list of departure locations for U.S. applicants is listed here. Please keep in mind that leading up to departure, all successful JET Program applicants will attend a mandatory Pre-Departure Orientation in their departure city. Flights from the designated airport to Japan will be covered by the JET participants’ Contracting Organization, however, participants are responsible to get themselves to the designated airport.
*Special Circumstances (Applicants residing in or “departing” from Japan)
For 2025 Program applicants who have a residence status in Japan other than temporary visitor (i.e. ‘Tourist’):
Interviews – Although interviews will be online, these applicants will still interview remotely with one of our JET Program Offices in the United States. For those with residence status, please choose the interview location associated with your hometown or family’s local consulate.
Departure – Individuals who are residing in Japan can choose to “depart” from within Japan and will be exempted from the Pre-Departure Orientation. They will join other JETs at the Post-Arrival Orientation in Tokyo.
No. All decisions are relevant for the current application year only. Please notify your JET Program coordinator as soon as possible that if you find that you are no longer able to participate. Applicants must reapply to participate in the following year.
JET Program USA has 19 offices across the United States which act as interview sites and departure locations.
Salt Lake City, Utah, is a special case in that the city is only a departure location and not an interview location for our Program.
Applicants intending to depart from Salt Lake City, Utah, for the 2025 JET Program must interview virtually with the Consulate-General of Japan in Denver, Colorado. After acceptance into the Program in the spring of 2025, successful applicants must inform the Denver JET Program Coordinator of their intention to depart for Japan from Salt Lake City. The Denver JET Program Coordinator will make the necessary arrangements for their departure from Utah.
Interview notifications are typically sent to applicants in early January. Applicants will be contacted directly by the JET Program coordinator at their interview location. The interviews themselves typically take place in late January or early February. Exact dates are determined by each interview location.
JET Program USA has 19 offices across the United States which act as interview sites and departure locations. Candidates are encouraged to choose whichever location is most accessible for them.
For the 2025 JET Program application cycle, interviews will be virtual. As with our 2021-2024 JET Program Interviews, candidates will be allowed to interview from their home in the US and from abroad.
You must apply to the JET Program through the JET Program Office in your country of citizenship. Thus, only US citizens may apply for the US JET Program. For a list of JET Program offices worldwide, please see here: http://jetprogramme.org/en/countries/.
For the 2025 JET Program application cycle, interviews will be virtual. As with our 2021-2024 JET Program Interviews, candidates will be allowed to interview from their homes in the US and from abroad.
Placement
Yes. Applicants may request up to three (3) locations on the application. However, while these placement requests will be taken into consideration, we cannot guarantee they will be met. Married and engaged couples may be given priority in their placement requests, but even in those cases where the couple is requesting to be placed with or near one another, it is possible that their assigned contracting organizations may be distant from one another. Couples should discuss and prepare for this possibility.
Departure
No, unless in special* or unforeseen circumstances. Our 2025 JET Program Interviews will be conducted online and in principle, an applicant’s interview location and departure location are to be the same.
When choosing an interview location:
Candidates for the 2025 application cycle will be allowed to interview from their homes in the United States and from abroad. Applicants must choose a designated U.S. location for their interview. Interview locations are dependent upon the U.S. city which participants plan to depart from if selected for the 2025 JET Program. A full list of departure locations for U.S. applicants is listed here. Please keep in mind that leading up to departure, all successful JET Program applicants will attend a mandatory Pre-Departure Orientation in their departure city. Flights from the designated airport to Japan will be covered by the JET participants’ Contracting Organization, however, participants are responsible to get themselves to the designated airport.
*Special Circumstances (Applicants residing in or “departing” from Japan)
2025 Program applicants who have a residence status in Japan other than temporary visitor (i.e. ‘Tourist’) can choose to depart directly from their home in Japan to Tokyo Orientation. Please note that this is an option for departure only and that these applicants with have to interview remotely with a U.S. location listed here.
*Individuals who are residing in Japan can choose to “depart” from within Japan and will be exempted from the Pre-Departure Orientation. They will join other JETs at the Post-Arrival Orientation in Tokyo. For these applicants, please choose the interview location associated with your hometown or family’s local consulate.
No. Transportation to/from Japan will be covered by your contracting organization. JET Program participants are responsible for the cost associated with transportation to the designated airport. However, please know that the JET Program will not cover dependents’ transportation or accommodation costs (i.e. those costs would be the responsibility of the JET and their family).
Live in Japan
Because Japan has very strict quarantine laws, we strongly discourage bringing pets. The initial on-boarding process is over-scheduled and does not provide JETs with the time necessary to take care of legal issues involved with importing an animal into Japan.
Legal spouses as recognized by Japan and children under the age of 18 may accompany JETs on a general dependent visa, which is valid for 3 years (it may be renewed if the JET re-contracts beyond a third year). Spouses and children must travel to Japan within 3 months of the dependent visa’s issuance. Please note that those on a dependent visa are not eligible to work unless they apply to a local immigration office.
No. JET participants are only allowed to work for their contracting organizations. Violation of this policy could result in termination of the JET’s contract and deportation.
We strongly recommend JETs bring (or have access to) at least $2,500-$3,000 with them for start-up costs, including set up of their apartment, utilities, and services like cell phones, internet, etc. JETs typically will not receive their first paychecks until the end of the first month, so they should plan to have enough money for basic necessities, including for food and potentially apartment deposits and rent.
Contracting organizations generally assist with housing for JETs, but the quality and cost can vary significantly depending on the location. Many new JETs “inherit housing” and sometimes are given or sold furniture from their predecessors. Once placement decisions have been made, current JETs and/or contracting organizations will usually contact new JETs and can provide more detailed information on living situations and any upfront expenses to expect.
Orientation & Training
Besides the pre-departure orientation, the Embassy and Consulates General host their own trainings, such as workshops or Q&A sessions presented by local JET alumni for new JET Program participants in the summer before departure.
After departure, all new JET participants will attend Tokyo Orientation before traveling to their placements. Prefectural JET associations will typically host an orientation for new JETs shortly after their arrival, and they may also organize a skills development conference for all JETs in that prefecture later in the year.
After JET
Yes. It is the participant’s responsibility to pursue continued employment if they wish to remain in Japan after completing their tenure with the JET Program. See the Immigration Bureau of Japan for additional information about restrictions.
The Program offers an After-JET Conference each year in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka to assist Program participants in their job search.
To receive proof of JET Program employment, visit the Japan Local Government Center website’s page on JET Certificate of Participation.
JET alumni are eligible to apply to return to Japan providing that they meet the following conditions:
- They must have finished their appointment three or more years prior to the departure year
- They must not have lived in Japan for six years or longer in a 10-year period prior to the departure year
- They did not withdraw from the JET Program after receiving placement in the year prior to the departure year