Hello, this is Iwaya of IMS Legal Professional Corporation. Some areas in Japan were hit by landslides and other severe damages due to the heavy rain last week. I would like to express my sympathy to all the people affected, and pray that they will be able to recover as soon as they possibly can.
Last week was another busy week for client inquiries. 109 requests for Japanese visas, 25 for U.S. visas, 12 for Vietnamese visas, 6 for naturalization, and 23 others of various types.
In this blog, I would like to talk about an inquiry we received regarding the “Highly Skilled Professional” Visa.
This customer had stayed in Japan for 2 years and had acquired a Highly Skilled Professional Visa more than a year ago with more than 80 points. Currently, due to his annual income, he had less than 80 points, but wanted to know if he could apply for “Permanent Residence.”
In this customer’s case, it might seem like he was applicable for the Permanent Residence visa. Unfortunately, since his Highly Skilled Professional Visa points were less than 80, he was not applicable at the moment. When applying for the Permanent Residence visa, you must submit a document, such as a point calculation table, proving you have 80 or more points. You can apply if you have at least 70 points, but in that case, your period of stay must be 3 years at the least. However, this customer’s period stay was about 2 years, so it was difficult to apply for Permanent Residence at the time.
Highly Skilled Professional visa
Those who possess a Highly Skilled Professional visa get preferential treatment for Permanent Residence. If you have 80 points or more, the shortest period of stay required is 1 year. If you have 70 points or more, the shortest period of stay required is 3 years to apply for the Permanent Residence visa.(※) However, this customer had less than 80 points and his period of stay was less than 3 years. That is why even if he had at least 70 points, he did not fall in the “If you have 70 points or more, the shortest period of stay required is 3 years” requirement, and could not apply for Permanent Residence.
(※) In fact, even if you do not hold a Highly Skilled Professional visa, if you continue to have 80 points or more (70 points or more) 1 year (3 year) before applying, you are applicable for the Permanent Residence visa. Please be aware; the period staying with a visa, such as “Student,” that is not a work visa is not included in the “1 year” or “3 year” requirement.
Also, even if you lose points after you acquire a “Highly Skilled Professional” visa due to reasons such as age or annual income, it will not affect your visa. However, when renewing your visa, you must fulfil the required points, so please be careful. Of course, if you cannot renew your Highly Skilled Professional visa because you do not have enough points, you can change your visa to a normal work visa (“Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services” visa, etc.).
Job Changes on Highly Skilled Professional visa
Furthermore, if you change jobs, you must reapply for the Highly Skilled Professional visa, which is one of the disadvantages of the Highly Skilled Professional visa. For the Highly Skilled Professional visa, the place of employment is specified on the “certificate of designation” sealed on your passport. Thus, when you change jobs, you need to recalculate your points, because naturally your annual income will change, and the “certificate of designation” must be changed to your new work place.
When changing jobs on normal work visas (“Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services” visa, etc.), there is no need for reapplying as long as the job activities are the same. On the other hand, even though the Highly Skilled Professional visa has a “5-year fixed term” period of stay, when changing jobs, you need to re-collect documents proving your points and re-apply for the visa, as stated above. Each visa has pros and cons.
At IMS, we support many apply for Permanent Residence from Highly Skilled Professional, change from a typical work visa to a Highly Skilled Professional visa, and COE applications for Highly Skilled Professional visa. If you need help applying for Permanent Residence from Highly Skilled Professional, etc., please consult us.
For more information, please contact us below ↓
https://imsvisa.support/en/contact/
