Japan establishes new simplified visa pathway for qualified foreigners

The Japanese government decided to establish a new streamlined pathway for granting highly-skilled professional visas to foreigners with preferential treatment, in an effort to attract foreign talent.

As reported by Kyodo NewsWith this new measure, the government will grant visas to foreign applicants if they meet certain conditions, such as having an annual income of 20 million yen ($148,000) and a master’s degree.

Currently, the government grants the five-year highly-skilled professional visa through a points-based system, which are allocated based on categories such as academic and employment history and annual income.

But it has been seen as complex at a time when the global race to acquire skilled workers is intensifying.

Those who obtain the five-year visa with the simplified requirements will also be eligible for a permanent visa after one year of residence, compared to three years for current holders.

The new system “will grant extended preferential treatment to those with high-level capabilities,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at the ministerial meeting where the measure was decided.

The government intends to launch the new method in April, after soliciting public input.

Under the current system, launched in 2012, a total of 34,726 people obtained the five-year visa as of June last year, of whom 16,131 were residing in Japan as of June.

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Highly-skilled professional visas are granted for three types of activities: advanced academic research, advanced technical/specialist activities, and advanced business and management activities.

Although the points system is maintained, the new measure will allow the government to grant visas to applicants for advanced academic research or advanced technical/specialized activities if they have a master’s degree or higher and an annual income of 20 million yen or more, or an employment history of 10 years or more and an annual income of 20 million yen or more.

For those applying for advanced business and management activities, five-year visas will be granted if they have a work history of five years or more and an annual income of 40 million yen.

The government also decided at the ministerial meeting to make it easier for foreign young talents to find jobs in Japan.

Foreigners who have graduated from a university ranked in the top 100 on two world ranking lists designated by the Japan Immigration Services Agency will be granted a “designated activity” visa that will allow them to stay for up to two years with the purpose of looking for work.

The series of moves to acquire skilled foreign talent comes after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed relevant ministries in September last year to study reforms to accept highly-skilled human resources, including establishing a new system that ” ranks among the best in the world”.

In the same month, the prime minister cited the examples of Britain, France and Singapore, which provide preferential treatment in accepting foreign professionals, stating: “Japan still lacks highly-skilled foreign human resources.”

“Japan needs to strive to acquire talent through a high-quality human resources acceptance system and living environment,” he said.