FAQ for Highly Skilled Professionals (Extract)

Question:

Foreigners who are eligible for points for academic background

Answer:

Graduates of university, junior college and technical college with the "Advanced Diploma" are eligible for academic history points.
However, graduates of technical college with the "Diploma" are not eligible for points for academic background.

Question:

Payments included in "Remuneration"

Answer:

Base Salary, Bonus (including payments by foreign company where applicant belongs to)

Question:

Payments Not included in "Remuneration"

Answer:

Overtime Payment, Commuting/Dependent/Housing Allowances

Question:

Annual Household Income

Answer:

"Annual Household Income" is the aggregate of the annual amount of "Remuneration" of the highly skilled professional and his/her spouse in Japan.

The income from sources such as increases in the value of personally held stock does not fall under the category of "Remuneration" and can not be included in "Annual Household Income".

Question:

Baseline for Minimum Annual Salary

Answer:

This baseline is only applied to foreigners willing to engage in "Advanced Specialized/Technical Activities" and "Advanced Business Management Activities". If an applicant’s annual salary is below a certain amount, no score is given under this system. For example, if an applicant’s annual salary is below 3 million yen, no score is given even where his/her total aggregate score from other items exceeds 70 points.

Question:

Databases of Academic Papers

Answer:

The Immigration Bureau checks academic papers of applicants by using Elsevier's SciVerse Scopus database.

Question:

Can a highly skilled professional call his/her family later if a highly skilled professional previously enters into Japan?

Answer:

In addition to the dependent spouse and children of a foreign national admitted into Japan with a highly skilled professional, a highly skilled professional may come to Japan first and then call his/her spouse, children, and parent(s) of the highly skilled professional or his/her spouse later.

Question:

If a highly skilled foreign national, who currently has the status of residence of "Designated Activities", wishes to apply for the status of residence of "Highly Skilled Professional (ii)", is he/she first required to change his/her status of residence to "Highly Skilled Professional (i)" and then reside in Japan for three years before being able to apply?

Answer:

A foreign national who has been residing in Japan as a highly skilled foreign professional under the status of residence of "Designated Activities" and has been engaging in the activities coming under the status of residence for three years or more, may apply to change his/her status of residence directly to "Highly Skilled Professional (ii)".