Japan enters the global immigration war; plans new visa pathways to attract high earners, top grads

Japan has announced that it will establish a new, simplified immigration pathways for high-income earners and graduates of high-ranking foreign universities as the global race for talented workers intensifies.

The new immigration pathways, to be implemented in April following a public comment process, are called the Japan System for Special Highly Skilled Professionals (J-Skip) and the Japan System for Future Creation Individual Visa (J-Find).

It would include foreign researchers and engineers with an annual income of at least ¥20 million ($148,000), and a master's degree or more than 10 years of work experience.


The government also announced it would make it easier for "young people with high potential" to seek jobs in Japan.

J-Find
The J-Find system is a job seeker visa that will grant graduates from top foreign universities an extended period of stay as they search for employment in Japan. Family members will also be able to accompany them.

A foreigner who has graduated from a university ranked in the top 100 in two world ranking lists designated by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan within the last five years and have at least ¥200,000 ($1,480) upon arrival in Japan will be granted a "designated activities" visa that will enable them to stay for up to two years and look for jobs.

The rankings the ministry will be using are QS Top Universities, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Academic Ranking of World Universities.

Currently, graduates can stay in Japan for 90 days under the "short-term stay" status to search for a job, but J-Find would extend that to two years.

J-Skip
You can use the J-Skip pathway if you are...

• a researcher
• an engineer
• a high-level manager

They would be able to skip the current point-based system and automatically be considered for a highly skilled professional visa as long as they meet specific income and work experience requirements.

Under the current system which was introduced in 2012, a person is considered for the highly skilled professional status only when they achieve 70 points or more via the “preferential immigration treatment system”. The system scores applicants on academic background, research done and proficiency in Japanese.

Those who gain the status begin as Level 1 professionals with a five-year stay and work within their professional field.

They then have the ability to move to Level 2 after three years of work, which allows them to stay in the country indefinitely, with virtually no restrictions on work.

Researchers or engineers must have a master's degree or higher and an annual income of ¥20 million, or at least 10 years of work experience and an annual income of ¥20 million or more.

Managers must have five years of experience or more and an annual income of at least ¥40 million.

If granted the 'highly skilled professional' status, individuals would be permitted to move to Level 2 after only one year of working and living in Japan.

Their spouses can pursue full-time work, and employ two foreign domestic workers, instead of the one that is currently permitted.