What the score means
The Highly Skilled Professional (高度専門職) status uses a points table set by ministerial ordinance. You score points for your degree, career length, income, age and various bonuses, in whichever one of three activity categories fits your work. Reaching 70 points qualifies you for the status, which brings a five-year period of stay, permission for several activities at once, and work permission for your spouse.
The points also open the fastest routes to permanent residence. If you have held 70 points or more for 3 years, or 80 points or more for 1 year, you can apply for PR well before the usual ten years. You generally need to show you held the qualifying score both when you are judged and a set period before, so keep evidence of your salary and qualifications over time.
For the full picture of the PR routes, read the permanent residence guide. To keep an eye on your current residence-card expiry while you build toward PR, use the free visa renewal tracker.
Important limits
- The specialized/technical and business-management categories require an annual income of at least 3,000,000 yen to qualify at all.
- Income means the yearly amount from your main receiving organisation, bonuses included.
- Some bonuses depend on lists the Minister of Justice publishes (designated universities, training, growth fields); check whether your case is actually on them.
- This tool does not cover the separate "special highly skilled" (J-Skip) route, which is based on income plus a degree or long experience rather than points.
Source
Point items and values: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, official point-calculation sheet (ポイント計算表), moj.go.jp/isa/content/930001657.pdf, and the points-evaluation page. Permanent-residence special provisions for HSP points: ISA (isa.go.jp). Checked .