Japan’s new visa system to attract foreign talents

Japan is set to launch a revamped and streamlined system for granting highly skilled professional visas to foreign workers on April 21, according to an announcement by the Immigration Services Agency on Friday.

The new system is aimed at attracting more overseas talents to Japan and will provide preferential treatment to foreign applicants who meet specific conditions, such as holding a master’s degree and earning an annual income of at least 20 million yen (150,000 U.S. dollars).

Critics have previously pointed out that Japan’s current points-based system is overly complex, especially at a time when countries worldwide are competing to attract skilled workers.

Under the current system, points are allocated based on various categories such as academic and employment backgrounds, as well as annual income. Applicants with points exceeding a certain threshold are granted a five-year highly skilled professional visa and can apply for a visa with indefinite stay after three years.

The new system will allow applicants engaged in advanced academic research, specialized or technical activities to obtain a five-year visa if they have a master’s degree or higher and an annual income of at least 20 million yen (150,000 U.S. dollars), or a work history of 10 years or more with an annual income of at least 20 million yen (150,000 U.S. dollars).

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 at least 40 million yen (300,000 U.S. dollars).

Applicants who meet the simplified requirements and are granted five-year visas will be eligible for a permanent visa after residing in Japan for just one year, compared to the current requirement of three years.

The introduction of this new measure follows Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s directive to relevant ministries to consider reforms that would attract highly skilled human resources to Japan, including the establishment of a world-class system, as reported by Kyodo News.