Japan: J-Skip and J-Find Visas Offer New Pathways for Highly-Skilled or Highly-Educated Foreign Nationals

October 26, 2023

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Country / Territory

At a Glance

  • The Japanese government has adopted two new visa programs, called the Japan System for Special Highly Skilled Professionals (J-Skip) and the Future Creation Individual Visa (J-Find) Visa as part of its strategy to stimulate the economy.
  • The J-Skip Visa offers benefits such as eligibility to apply for permanent residency after a one-year stay in Japan, eligibility to use the Priority Lanes at Japanese airports and the ability for the visa holder’s spouse to apply for a visa that would allow for full-time employment in Japan, among other benefits.
  • The J-Find Visa offers recent qualifying graduates benefits such as the ability to look for a job, start a business or engage in other remunerative activities in Japan (activities which were not previously allowed for this group of foreign nationals).

The situation

The Japanese government has adopted two new visa programs, called the Japan System for Special Highly Skilled Professionals (J-Skip) and the Future Creation Individual Visa (J-Find) Visa as part of its strategy to stimulate the economy.

NEW VISA DETAILS AND BENEFITS

J-Skip Visa. This is an extension of the existing Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) visa.

The J-Skip Visa offers additional benefits on top of those of the HSP visa, including:

  • Their spouse is eligible to apply for a visa that would allow for full-time employment in Japan;
  • Eligibility to apply for permanent residency after a one-year stay in Japan;
  • The ability to hire two domestic helpers;
  • The ability to sponsor their parents/parents-in-law to stay in Japan (subject to certain conditions);
  • Eligibility to use the Priority Lanes at Japanese airports; and
  • Priority processing of their visa application.

J-Find Visa. This is a new visa category.

The J-Find visa is intended for foreign nationals who have:

  • Graduated in the last five years from an eligible university with at least a Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent;
  • Sufficient funds support themselves in Japan (approximately JPY 200,000); and
  • Are seeking to find a job, start a business or engage in other remunerative activities in Japan.

This group of foreign nationals was previously not eligible to conduct these activities in Japan.

The stay granted is up to two years (discretionary).

Through these new visa programs, the government is seeking to attract more young, highly-skilled, experienced and knowledgeable foreign nationals to offset the rapidly aging population and decades-long low birthrates, which has created a severe workforce shortage.

With Japan’s immigration policies traditionally viewed as relatively insular and not necessarily conducive to the global market, these initiatives signal to the world that Japan is cognizant of the increasing need to open the country to overseas businesses and talents.

Coupled with initiatives such as the recent digitization of the Certificate of Eligibility, and its intention to create a digital nomad visa, the overall immigration strategy by the Japan government is a welcome step in the right direction to making Japan a more attractive foreign population destination.

However, the efficacy of these initiatives remains to be seen, as the Highly Skilled Professional visa (introduced in 2012) did not see as high uptake rates as the Japan government hoped. Moreover, other factors aside from immigration policies, such as Japan’s working culture, language barrier and relatively high cost of living, are regarded as obstacles that the country faces in the race for talent.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].

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