New Scheme to Require Only 1 Year to Get Permanent Residence in Japan

The Japanese government is considering reducing the required number of years for highly skilled workers to obtain Permanent Resident status from the current 5 years to 1 year. This is partly to attract and retain top talents from abroad (or as we commonly know, “foreign talents”).

The current requirement for foreigners to obtain Permanent Resident status is a minimum of 10 years of consecutive residence in Japan. Since May 2012, a new point-based scheme has allowed highly skilled foreigners to obtain the same status in 5 years. Points are calculated based on such criteria as one’s education, professional experience, annual income, and qualifications. Foreigners with over 70 points are considered “highly skilled.”

The recent amendment has reduced the required number of years from 5 to 3 for highly skilled workers with at least 70 points. Authorities are planning to reduce that number further to 1 year for outstanding highly skilled workers with above 80 points.

You can see the check sheet here.

How many points do you have?

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