This is the most underused status in the Japanese system, because it sounds like it is for someone else. It is a points table, and the points come from ordinary things — your degree, your salary, your age, your Japanese. Running the calculation takes ten minutes and can move permanent residency from ten years away to one.
What scores
Points are awarded across categories, and you need 70 to qualify:
- Academic background — a doctorate scores highest, then a master's, then a bachelor's. A second degree in a different field adds points.
- Professional experience — scaled by years, so a long career counts even without a higher degree.
- Annual salary — the largest single block for most people, and weighted against your age, so a good salary young scores more.
- Age — under 30 scores best, declining in bands.
- Japanese ability — N1 scores substantially, N2 less. A degree from a Japanese university also counts.
- Bonuses — research achievements, patents, national qualifications, graduating from a designated university, completing designated training, working for a small innovative company or one receiving innovation support.
The bonus categories are where people find the points they did not know they had. It is worth reading the full table rather than estimating from the headline items.
What you get
At 70 points
- A five-year period of stay, granted from the start
- Permanent residency after three years instead of ten
- Permission to combine activities across what would normally be several statuses
- Spouse may work full-time without needing their own qualifying status
- Preferential immigration processing
- Parents may accompany you under conditions, for childcare
- A domestic worker may be employed under conditions
At 80 points
Everything above, plus permanent residency after one year. If you are near 80, closing the gap — often with a language qualification — is worth more than almost anything else you could do with the time.
J-Skip and J-Find
Two newer routes sit alongside the points table.
J-Skip skips the points calculation for high earners: broadly, a master's degree plus a high annual salary, or ten years of professional experience plus a high salary, with the thresholds set by the Immigration Services Agency. It carries the strongest package of benefits.
J-Find is for recent graduates of highly ranked universities, allowing a period in Japan to look for work or prepare a business — a job-hunting status rather than a working one.
Applying
You submit the points calculation sheet with evidence for every item claimed: degree certificates, tax and salary documents, language certificates, employment history. Every point must be documented; a claimed point without evidence is simply not counted.
You can apply when changing status, when extending, or from abroad with a certificate of eligibility.
Worth checking if
- You hold a master's or doctorate
- You are under 35 and reasonably paid
- You have N2 or N1
- You studied at a Japanese university
- You work in research, or hold patents
Any two or three of those together and you may already be close. The calculation is free and the downside of checking is ten minutes.
The phrases
- 高度専門職の資格を申請したいです。 — Kōdo senmonshoku no shikaku o shinsei shitai desu. — I would like to apply for Highly Skilled Professional status.
- ポイント計算表を確認したいです。 — Pointo keisanhyō o kakunin shitai desu. — I would like to check the points calculation sheet.
Where to confirm this
Guides are dated rather than undated: last reviewed 21 August 2026. This is an organisational aid, not legal or immigration advice — always confirm anything consequential with your ward office, the Immigration Services Agency, or a qualified professional.