In April 2019, the Government of Japan unveiled the ‘Specified Skilled Worker’ residency status, aimed at addressing Japan’s labor shortages by welcoming foreign individuals with specialized expertise and skills. By July 2022, Japan had entered into Memoranda of Cooperation (MoCs) for the Specified Skilled Worker program with 15 countries, Sri Lanka among them. In January 2021, Sri Lanka and Japan inked a Memorandum of Cooperation to facilitate the implementation of the ‘Specified Skilled Worker’ initiative between the two nations.