Proposed Immigration Reform – You May Qualify for Permanent Residency After Only One Year of Residence in Japan

Introduction

On January 18, 2017, Ministry of Justice in Japan (“MOJ”) presented for public comments its draft amendments (“Proposed Amendments”) to relevant executive orders and guidelines related to Japan’s immigration law, which may drastically shorten the period of residency required to apply for permanent residency in Japan.

The purpose of the Proposed Amendments is to attract more highly skilled professionals from abroad who may contribute to Japan’s economic growth with their expertise, as declared by the Cabinet decision entitled “Japan Revival Strategy 2016” issued on June 2, 2016.

One of the most notable changes included in the Proposed Amendments relates to the durational residency requirement to qualify for permanent residency status, under which a foreign national currently needs to reside in Japan for at least 5 years to be so qualified.

The proposed reform seeks to shorten the period down to 1 year at minimum.

If adopted, such reform could drastically widen the scope of foreign professionals to be qualified for permanent residency in Japan.

 

 

Japan’s Recent Efforts of Immigration Reform to Attract Highly Skilled Professionals

The proposed reform is intended to follow a set of Japan’s recent immigration reforms designed to attract more highly skilled professionals from abroad, which took effect in 2012 (“2012 Reform”) and in 2015 (“2015 Reform”).

(a) 2012 Reform

The first step by Japanese government in this direction dates back to the 2012 Reform, which introduced ‘Points-based System for Highly Skilled Foreign Professionals’ (koudo-jinzai-pointo-seido) (“Point System”) in May of 2012.
Under the 2012 Reform, foreign nationals who seek to pursue activities in either of the 3 categories (academic research, specialized/technical activities, or business management) were to be measured (or, ‘scored’) on a certain scale[1] set by MOJ.  Some of the elements considered on the scale are shown in the table below along with the number of points given for each such element.

 

table 1

 

If a foreign national could score 70 points or more, he/she may be entitled to some preferential immigration treatments such as:

 

  • granting of residency permits for a period of 5 years (maximum fixed term permitted under Japanese immigration law)
  • multiple activities permitted (e.g., combining research and business management) instead of allowing only a single activity that underlies the relevant residency status
  • shortened durational requirement to apply for permanent residency – only after 5 years of residence (generally 10 years)
  • preferential immigration treatments to certain family members (e.g., spouses more easily qualified to work, and residency permits possibly granted to parents who would take care of the professional’s child younger than 7 years of age)

 

(b) 2015 Reform

While the 2012 Reform was a significant change in terms of its content and impact, it did not take the form of a legislative change, which would have allowed to create a new category of resident statuses in Japan.

Rather, it came in the form of a “public notice” (executive announcement) defining “designated activities” (tokutei-katsudou), a basket-clause type of activities that are designated by a Minister of Justice on a case-specific basis.

In April 2015, the legislative change came into effect that has introduced a new resident status category called “Highly Skilled Professional”, which basically accommodates foreign nationals qualified under the Point System introduced by the 2012 Reform.

 

Proposed Amendments (1) – Shortened Durational Requirement for Permanent Residency

For the purpose of making the Point System more attractive to highly skilled foreign professionals, the Proposed Amendments suggest to grant additional preferential immigration treatments to foreign nationals qualified under the Point System.

Among such additional treatments is the shortened durational requirement to qualify for permanent residency.

Under the current system, a foreign national must reside in Japan basically for a period of 10 years, and while the period could be shortened for the foreign nationals qualified under the Point System (i.e., those who scored 70 points or more), it still requires 5 years as mentioned above.

However, the Proposed Amendments suggest to further shorten the period to 3 years for a foreign national who has stayed for 3 consecutive years or more as a ‘highly skilled professional’ and should have earned 70 points or more at the point 3 years prior to the relevant permanent residency application.

Moreover, the Proposed Amendments further shorten the period down to only 1 year if the relevant foreign national has scored 80 points or more.

 

Proposed Amendments (2) – Additional Elements That Might Position You Higher in the Point Scale

Furthermore, the Proposed Amendments suggest additional elements that may allow you to earn more points than you do under the current scale.

For example, if you are to engage in academic research activities, you can currently earn no point unless you hold either a doctor’s degree or master’s degree (see the table above).

However, under the Proposed Amendments, you may be entitled to 10 points if you hold a bachelor’s degree.

If you are to engage in business management activities, the Proposed Amendments could earn you another 5 points if you have invested JPY100 million or more in the businesses you operate.

In the table below, you can see some of the ‘scoring’ elements to be added in the Proposed Amendments.

 

table 2

 

Conclusion

Since there could be changes to the Proposed Amendments depending on public opinions gathered through the public comments process, it is recommended that those who consider taking advantage of this new system continue to pay close attention to further developments.

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[1] http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_3/en/evaluate/index.html