Highly Skilled Professional Visa: The Complete Point System Guide for 2026

The Highly Skilled Professional visa is the most generous work status Japan offers. If you can score 70 points or more on the government's official point table — built from your education, work experience, salary, age, and a long list of bonus items — you receive a uniform 5-year period of stay, the right to bring a parent or a domestic worker under certain conditions, full-time work permission for your spouse in designated work fields, and a fast track to permanent residency in as little as 1 year instead of the usual 10.

The status is officially called Highly Skilled Professional, written 高度専門職 in Japanese (you will see it abbreviated as "HSP"). It comes in two stages: HSP (i), granted with a 5-year period of stay, and HSP (ii), which has no time limit at all. Since April 2023 there has also been a shortcut called J-Skip that lets high earners qualify without calculating points.

This guide walks through the entire point table line by line, shows a worked example, explains every preferential treatment, and covers fees, documents, and the mistakes that most often sink applications. All figures are taken from the Immigration Services Agency's current point calculation table and fee schedule.

What Is the Highly Skilled Professional Visa?

Japan introduced a points-based preferential immigration system in May 2012 and created the Highly Skilled Professional residence status itself in April 2015. The goal is simple: attract researchers, engineers, and executives whom the government considers likely to contribute to innovation and economic growth, and reward them with treatment no other work visa provides.

Unlike the ordinary Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services status, which is assessed qualitatively, HSP is assessed by an objective scoring table. You either reach 70 points or you do not. That makes it one of the few Japanese visas where you can calculate your eligibility yourself, in advance, with near certainty.

Two practical features define the status. First, it is tied to a specific employer: when HSP is granted, you receive a designation letter naming the organization where you may work, and changing employers requires a new application. Second, your points are checked not only when the visa is first granted but also when you extend it, so the score you claim needs to be one you can maintain.

The Three Categories: (i)(a), (i)(b), and (i)(c)

HSP (i) is divided into three activity categories. You apply under the one that matches the work you will actually perform in Japan.

How the 70-Point System Works

Your score is the sum of points from five core elements — education, professional career, annual salary, age, and research achievements — plus bonus points for things like Japanese-language ability, qualifications, and graduating from a highly ranked university. The passing score is 70.

Three rules matter before you start counting:

• Salary means remuneration from your main accepting organization in Japan — base pay plus bonuses. For intra-company transfers from abroad, pay from the overseas entity can be included. Expense-style allowances such as commuting reimbursement do not count. For new applications, the figure used is the salary you are expected to receive over the coming year.
• Work experience counts only if it relates to the job you will perform. Ten years of total employment is irrelevant; ten years in the relevant field is what scores.
• Every point must be proven with documents. Degree certificates, employment verification letters from past employers, license certificates, JLPT results — if you cannot document an item, you cannot claim it.

The Immigration Services Agency publishes the official point calculation table and an Excel self-check sheet on its website. If you want to find the original Japanese documents, search for "高度専門職 ポイント計算表" — the spreadsheet on the moj.go.jp domain is the authoritative version.

The Point Table: Education, Career, Salary, and Age

Education

Professional career (relevant experience only)

Annual salary — categories (i)(a) and (i)(b)

Salary points are age-banded: the younger you are, the lower the salary that still earns points.

Annual salary — category (i)(c)

Managers have no age points, so salary carries more weight: ¥30 million+ scores 50 points, ¥25 million+ scores 40, ¥20 million+ scores 30, ¥15 million+ scores 20, and ¥10 million+ scores 10.

Age — categories (i)(a) and (i)(b) only

• Under 30: 15 points
• 30 to 34: 10 points
• 35 to 39: 5 points
• 40 and over: 0 points

Research achievements — (i)(a) and (i)(b)

Each of the following earns 20 points in category (i)(a) and 15 points in (i)(b). In category (i)(a), satisfying two or more items raises the total to 25 points.

• At least one patented invention
• At least three research projects funded by grants from a foreign government, conducted before entering Japan
• At least three published papers in academic journals registered in databases used by Japanese national institutions, where you are the responsible or lead author
• Other comparable achievements (for example major international awards), assessed individually by the Minister of Justice

Position and investment — (i)(c) only

• Representative director or representative executive officer: 10 points
• Director or executive officer: 5 points
• Investment of ¥100 million or more in your own business: 5 points

Bonus Points That Push You Over 70

Bonus items are where borderline applications are won. The current table includes:

• JLPT N1 (or BJT Business Japanese Test score of 480+, or a foreign university degree majoring in Japanese): 15 points
• JLPT N2 (or BJT 400+), if you do not already claim the N1 bonus or the Japanese-degree bonus: 10 points
• Degree earned at a Japanese higher-education institution: 10 points
• Graduation from a university designated by the Minister of Justice: 10 points — this covers universities ranked in the top 300 of at least two major world rankings (QS, Times Higher Education, ARWU), schools funded under the Top Global University Project, and partner universities of the Innovative Asia initiative
• Japanese national qualifications related to your duties (categories (i)(b) and (i)(c)): 5 points each, up to 10 points
• Information-technology qualifications listed in the Ministry of Justice 'IT Notice' (which can include some non-Japanese certifications): counted together with the national qualifications above, 5 points each up to a combined 10 points
• Working at an organization receiving designated innovation-promotion support measures: 10 points (a further 10 if the employer is a small or medium-sized enterprise)
• Working at an SME whose R&D spending exceeds 3% of revenue: 5 points
• Engaging in an advanced project in a designated growth field: 10 points
• Completing training designated by ministerial notice: 5 points
• Engaging in investment-management business: 10 points
• Working at an organization covered by designated local-government support measures for attracting highly skilled foreign professionals: 10 points

Note the interaction rules: you cannot stack the N2 bonus on top of the N1 bonus or the Japanese-degree bonus, and a Japanese university degree also satisfies the general education item at the same time as earning its own 10-point bonus.

A Worked Example: 70 Points in Practice

Consider a 32-year-old software engineer applying under category (i)(b): master's degree in computer science from a foreign university, 6 years of relevant experience, an offered salary of ¥6.5 million, and JLPT N2.

Exactly 70 — a pass, but with zero margin. If this engineer's salary dropped to ¥5.9 million at renewal time, the score would fall to 65 and the extension would fail. Upgrading N2 to N1 (+5 net) or having graduated from a designated top-300 university (+10) builds in a buffer. This is why strong applications aim for 75 or more, not exactly 70.

The Seven Preferential Treatments

HSP (i) status grants preferential treatment that no ordinary work visa offers:

1. Multiple activities. You may combine activities that would normally require separate statuses — for example, conducting university research while also running a related business.
2. A uniform 5-year period of stay, the longest available, renewable on application.
3. Relaxed permanent residency requirements. 70+ points for 3 years, or 80+ points for 1 year, instead of the usual 10 years of residence (details below).
4. Full-time work for your spouse. Your spouse may work in fields corresponding to the Research, Education, Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services, and Entertainment statuses under a Designated Activities permission, without meeting the education or experience requirements those statuses normally demand.
5. Bringing a parent. One parent (yours or your spouse's) may live with you to help care for a child under 7 or to support you or your spouse during pregnancy, provided household income is ¥8 million or more and the parent lives in your household.
6. Hiring a foreign domestic worker. Permitted with household income of ¥10 million or more, subject to conditions such as having employed the worker abroad for at least a year before transfer, or having a child under 13 or a spouse unable to handle housework.
7. Priority processing. The Immigration Services Agency's published targets are 10 days for Certificate of Eligibility applications and 5 days for in-country applications filed by Highly Skilled Professionals. Real-world times vary with workload, but HSP files genuinely move faster than standard work-visa files.

HSP (ii): Residence With No Time Limit

After you have engaged in HSP (i) activities in Japan for at least 3 years, you can apply to change to HSP (ii). The main requirements are: your planned activity still falls under one of the three categories, you still score 70 points or more, your conduct has been good, and you have properly met public obligations such as tax and social insurance payments.

HSP (ii) keeps every HSP (i) benefit and adds two major upgrades:

• The period of stay becomes indefinite. No more renewals.
• Work restrictions are almost entirely lifted. Alongside your principal activity, you may engage in nearly the full range of activities permitted under Japan's work statuses, and you are no longer locked to a single designated employer in the way HSP (i) holders are.

One caution: HSP (ii) is still an activity-based status, not permanent residency. If you stop engaging in the qualifying activity for 6 months or more without justifiable reason, the status can be revoked. Many HSP holders therefore treat HSP (ii) and permanent residency as parallel goals rather than substitutes.

J-Skip: Qualifying Without Counting Points

In April 2023 Japan launched the Special Highly Skilled Professional system, commonly called J-Skip, which grants HSP status on income and background alone — no point calculation at all.

J-Skip holders receive the same 1-year fast track to permanent residency as applicants scoring 80 points or more. They also receive enhanced treatment beyond the standard HSP package: eligibility to change to HSP (ii) after just 1 year instead of 3, the ability to hire up to two domestic workers when household income is ¥30 million or more (without the usual family-circumstance conditions), expanded full-time work permission for spouses in additional designated fields such as Professor, Artist, Religious Activities, Journalist, and Skilled Labor, and access to priority lanes at major airports.

Do not confuse J-Skip with J-Find, which launched at the same time: J-Find is a separate Designated Activities status that lets recent graduates of top-ranked world universities stay in Japan for up to two years to job-hunt or prepare a startup. J-Find is for people looking for the opportunity; J-Skip and HSP are for people who already have it.

The Fast Track to Permanent Residency

Normally, permanent residency in Japan requires about 10 years of residence. The points system cuts that dramatically:

• 70–79 points: apply after 3 years. You must score 70+ at the time of application and demonstrate that you already scored 70+ three years earlier, maintaining the level throughout.
• 80+ points: apply after 1 year. Same structure — 80+ now and 80+ one year before application.

Two nuances are worth knowing. First, under the Permanent Residence Guidelines you do not need to actually hold HSP status to use this fast track: an engineer on an ordinary work visa who can document 70+ points today and 70+ points three years ago may apply on the same relaxed schedule. Second, the guidelines were revised on June 10, 2024 to make explicit that the points must have been maintained continuously over the qualifying period — a one-time spike to 70 is not enough.

Permanent residency screening also examines your tax, pension, and health insurance payment history strictly. Late payments — even ones you later corrected — are a leading cause of refusal, so keep payment records clean and keep the evidence.

How to Apply: Procedure and Documents

There are two routes into HSP (i):

1. From outside Japan: a permitted applicant such as the accepting organization, an authorized application agent, or another eligible representative applies for a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) at a regional immigration bureau, submitting the point calculation sheet and evidence. After the COE is issued, you obtain the visa at a Japanese embassy or consulate and enter Japan.
2. From inside Japan: if you already hold a work or student status, you file an Application for Change of Status of Residence, again with the point sheet and full evidence. Many engineers switch from the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services status this way without changing jobs.

The core documents, beyond the standard application form and photo, are:

• The completed point calculation sheet for your category
• Degree certificates (with certified translations where needed)
• Employment verification letters from previous employers stating position, duties, and exact dates — these prove your career points
• A document from your Japanese employer certifying your expected annual salary (employment contract or salary certificate); for renewals, withholding tax slips and tax certificates
• JLPT certificate or BJT score report, if claiming language points
• Evidence for each bonus item claimed: license certificates, patent registrations, publication lists with database registration, proof of the employer's designation under support measures, and so on
• Documents about the accepting organization (the volume depends on the employer's filing category; large listed companies submit very little, small companies submit financial statements and registry documents)

When approval is granted, you receive a designation letter naming your employer. Keep it with your passport: it defines where you are allowed to work.

Fees and Processing Times

Fees were revised on April 1, 2025, and currently stand as follows:

On timing: the official priority-processing targets for HSP applications are 10 days for COE applications and 5 days for in-country applications. In practice, expect anywhere from two weeks to two or three months depending on the bureau, the season, and how complete your evidence is. A file where every point is cleanly documented on first submission is the single biggest factor in fast processing.

Common Mistakes That Cost Points or Approvals

• Counting the wrong salary. Only remuneration from your main accepting organization counts (plus overseas-entity pay for intra-company transfers). Side-job income does not count, and expense-style allowances are excluded. Overstating salary is also dangerous: if the bureau's calculation disagrees with yours and you fall below 70, the application fails.
• Claiming unrelated work experience. Years spent in a different field score zero. Employment letters must show that the duties relate to the job you are taking in Japan.
• Forgetting that renewal re-tests your points. Aging out of the under-35 band, a salary cut, or an expired claim can drop a 70 to a 65 three years later. Build a buffer at first application.
• Changing jobs without re-applying. HSP is designated to one employer. Moving to a new company — even in the same role — requires a fresh application and a new designation, and your points are recalculated with the new salary.
• Stacking incompatible bonuses. N2 cannot be combined with N1 or with the Japanese-degree bonus. Read the exclusion notes on the official table before totaling.
• Neglecting tax and pension payments. Clean payment records are required for HSP (ii) and decisive for the permanent residency fast track. Set up automatic payments the month you arrive.
• Assuming a professional doctorate scores 30. Professional degrees (such as a JD) are treated as master's-level for the 30-point doctorate item; an MBA or MOT instead earns a separate +5 in categories (i)(b) and (i)(c).

Frequently Asked Questions