Japan Publishes Names of 93 Universities Whose Graduates Qualify For a 2-Year Job-Search Stay
- Japan introduced the Future Creation Talent System, known as J-Find, to allow graduates of top global universities to stay in the country for up to two years
- The scheme covers graduates who completed undergraduate or postgraduate programmes at any of 93 listed universities ranked as of October 2026
- No African university made the list, meaning graduates from institutions across the continent cannot apply directly under the J-Find scheme
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Japan has released the official list of 93 overseas universities whose graduates are eligible to apply for a two-year stay in the country under a new immigration scheme designed to attract top global talent.
The programme, called the Future Creation Talent System (J-Find), grants eligible graduates a "Designated Activities (Future Creation Talent)" residence status, during which they can search for employment or prepare to launch a business in Japan for up to two years.
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Japan's J-Find scheme: Which universities qualify
To be eligible, applicants must have graduated from one of the 93 listed universities or completed a graduate programme there and been awarded a degree or professional degree. The rankings used to compile the list were current as of October 2026.
The full list of qualifying universities is as follows:
1. Aarhus University
2. Boston University
3. Brown University
4. California Institute of Technology
5. Carnegie Mellon University
6. City University of Hong Kong
7. Columbia University
8. Cornell University
9. Delft University of Technology
10. Duke University
11. Fudan University
12. Harbin Institute of Technology
13. Harvard University
14. Heidelberg University (Universität Heidelberg)
15. Imperial College London
16. Institut Polytechnique de Paris
17. Johns Hopkins University
18. Karolinska Institute
19. King's College London
20. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
21. KU Leuven
22. Kyoto University
23. LMU München (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
24. London School of Economics and Political Science
25. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
26. McGill University
27. Monash University
28. Nanjing University
29. Nanyang Technological University
30. National University of Singapore
31. New York University
32. Northwestern University
33. Paris-Saclay University (Université Paris-Saclay)
34. Peking University
35. Princeton University
36. PSL Research University Paris (PSL)
37. Purdue University – West Lafayette
38. Seoul National University
39. Shanghai Jiao Tong University
40. Sorbonne University
41. Stanford University
42. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
43. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich)
44. Technical University of Munich
45. The Australian National University
46. The Chinese University of Hong Kong
47. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
48. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
49. The Ohio State University
50. The University of Edinburgh
51. The University of Glasgow
52. The University of Hong Kong
53. The University of Manchester
54. The University of Melbourne
55. The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney)
56. The University of Queensland
57. The University of Sydney
58. The University of Texas at Austin
59. The University of Tokyo
60. Tsinghua University
61. University College London (UCL)
62. University of Amsterdam
63. University of Birmingham
64. University of Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)
65. University of Bristol
66. University of British Columbia
67. University of California, Berkeley
68. University of California, Irvine
69. University of California, Los Angeles
70. University of California, San Diego
71. University of California, Santa Barbara
72. University of Cambridge
73. University of Chicago
74. University of Copenhagen
75. University of Groningen
76. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
77. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
78. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
79. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
80. University of Oxford
81. University of Pennsylvania
82. University of Science and Technology of China
83. University of Southern California
84. University of Toronto
85. University of Washington
86. University of Wisconsin-Madison
87. University of Zurich
88. Uppsala University
89. Vanderbilt University
90. Washington University in St. Louis
91. Yale University
92. Yonsei University (Seoul Campus)
93. Zhejiang University
What the absence of African universities means
Not a single African university appears on the list. Graduates of institutions across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and the rest of the continent are therefore unable to qualify for J-Find through their home universities, regardless of academic performance.
Those wishing to benefit from the scheme would need to have completed a degree or postgraduate qualification at one of the 93 listed institutions.
The list draws heavily from universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and other parts of Asia and Europe, reflecting the global ranking criteria Japan used in compiling its eligible institutions.
Japan lists countries eligible for eVisa
Meanwhile, Legit.ng recently reported that Japan updated its eVisa eligibility list, allowing nationals and residents of selected countries to apply for tourist visas online from May 15, 2026.
The government listed nine countries and regions whose eligible residents can apply directly through its eVisa website. It also outlined separate application requirements for travellers from other countries, including those who must apply through accredited travel agencies.
Source: Legit.ng
