Highly Skilled Professional Visa



What is Highly Skilled Professional ?



Highly-skilled professional is a status of residence for foreigners who can contribute to the economic development of Japan with advanced skills and knowledge. We have introduced a point system for highly-skilled human resources. You can receive preferential immigration treatment.



Details of the system for highly-skilled professionals



Period of stay

Highly-skilled Professional No. 1 is granted a period of stay of 5 years from the first time. In the case of Highly Skilled Professional No. 2, the period of stay is indefinite.

*In the case of “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services”, either “3 months, 1 year, 3 years or 5 years” is permitted. It is extremely rare for a five-year period of stay to be granted all of a sudden, and usually five years is finally granted after several renewals.

Occupation

Highly skilled Professional No. 1 (イ)

Activities to conduct research, research guidance, or education based on a contract with a Japanese company, institution, etc. University professors, university researchers, etc.

Highly skilled Professional No. 1 (ロ)

Activities to engage in work that requires knowledge or skills in the fields of natural sciences or humanities based on contracts with Japanese companies and institutions IT engineer, accounting, consulting, etc.

Highly skilled Professional No. 1 (ハ)

Activities to run or manage a business in a Japanese company or institution Managers, officers, etc.

Highly skilled Professional No. 2

Only foreigners who have been engaged in the activities of “Highly Skilled Professional No.1” for 3 years or more can apply for a change to “No.2”.

Spouse’s employment

A spouse can work full-time by obtaining a “Designated activity visa”, and can work in a job that corresponds to the status of residence of “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” or “Instructor”.

Multiple activities

In the case of Highly Skilled Professional No. 1, multiple activities are permitted as long as they are related business management or research, and there is no need to apply for “activities other than those permitted under the status of residence”. For example, it is possible to conduct research in the IT field at a university while running an IT company.

Furthermore, in the case of Highly Skilled Professional No. 2, in conjunction with the activities of Highly Skilled Professional No. 1, almost all activities of work qualifications can be carried out.

Parental accompaniment

In the case of “Highly Skilled Professionals,” a parent is permitted to bring a child under the age of seven. However, the condition is that the annual household income is 8 million yen or more.

Permanent residence application

In the case of “Highly Skilled Professional No. 1”, residence for 3 years or more, in the case of “Highly Skilled Professional No. 2”, residence for 1 year or more, it is possible to apply for permanent residence.

Accompanying domestic servants

In the case of “Highly skilled professional”, if certain conditions such as annual household income and amount of remuneration for domestic workers are met, a domestic worker is allowed to accompany them.

Priority processing of immigration and visa procedures

Normally, it takes about 2 weeks to 3 months for immigration and residence procedures.

However, in the case of “Highly Skilled Professionals”, when applying for the “Application for Certificate of Eligibility (preliminary examination for immigration)”, the application will be processed within 10 days. It is within 5 days for “application for renewal/change of status of residence (residence examination)”.

Highly-skilled Professional point system



The activities of highly skilled professionals are classified into three categories: “high-level academic research activities,” “high-level professional/technical activities,” and “high-level management/administrative activities.” According to the characteristics of each category, points are set for each item such as “educational background,” “work experience,” and “annual income.