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Permanent Residence for Highly Skilled Professionals: 1-Year and 3-Year Routes Explained 【2026 Update】
“Can I apply for Permanent Residence immediately if I have 80 points?”
“Does 70 points mean I need three years?”
“Can I use the HSP route while holding Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services status?”
The key point is:
your current score alone is not enough.
For the 80-point route, you generally need to check:
now + one year ago.
For the 70-point route:
now + three years ago.
What Is the Highly Skilled Permanent Residence Route?
The ordinary Permanent Residence framework generally requires 10 years of residence in Japan.
For qualifying highly skilled foreign professionals, this residence requirement can be shortened substantially.
70 points or more: three-year route
80 points or more: one-year route
1. The 70-Point Three-Year Route
In general, the applicant needs to have:
70 or more points at the time of the Permanent Residence application
and
70 or more points at the relevant point three years earlier.
For example:
Three years ago: 75
Now: 80
may meet the point element of the three-year route.
2. The 80-Point One-Year Route
For the one-year route, the applicant generally needs:
80 or more points when applying
and
80 or more points at the relevant point one year earlier.
For example:
One year ago: 85
Now: 90
may satisfy the point element.
However:
One year ago: 75
Now: 85
does not normally satisfy the one-year point requirement.
Do You Need to Hold Highly Skilled Professional Status?
Not necessarily.
An applicant currently holding an ordinary work status, including Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services, may still qualify if they can establish the required points at the application date and the relevant earlier reference date.
You do not necessarily have to:
change to Highly Skilled Professional status first and then wait another one or three years.
How Are HSP Points Calculated?
The system has three main activity categories:
Advanced academic research
Advanced specialized/technical activities
Advanced business management
Scoring can include:
Academic background
Professional experience
Annual income
Age
Research achievements
Japanese-language ability
Japanese higher-education qualifications
Additional bonus categories
3. Academic Background
Doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees may carry different points.
Graduating from a Japanese higher-education institution may also qualify for separate bonus points in certain circumstances.
4. Professional Experience
Relevant professional experience can contribute points.
The important issue is not simply the applicant’s total number of years in employment.
The experience generally needs to be relevant to the highly skilled activity and capable of being documented.
5. Annual Income
Income is a major scoring category.
For advanced specialized/technical activities, age and income interact in determining available points.
The applicant also needs to review income at the historical reference date used for the one-year or three-year route.
Historical Points Must Be Calculated Using Historical Facts
When calculating points for one or three years ago, review the circumstances that existed at that time, including:
Age
Income
Years of experience accumulated at that point
Degrees already obtained
Japanese qualifications already obtained
Current achievements cannot simply be assumed to have existed at the earlier reference date.
Japanese Ability Can Add Points
JLPT N1 and, in qualifying circumstances, N2 can contribute points.
The date on which the qualification was obtained can be important when reconstructing a historical score.
Universities and Other Bonus Categories
Additional points may also be available for matters such as:
Degree obtained from a Japanese institution
Graduation from designated universities
Relevant Japanese national qualifications
Research achievements
Employment at qualifying organizations
Because point rules can be revised, applicants should use the current official point table when preparing the application.
The 80-Point Route Also Has Shorter Evidence Periods
For the one-year 80-point route, the standard document list generally requires:
Resident tax: most recent one year
Public pension: most recent one year
Public health insurance: most recent one year
6. The 70-Point Route
For the three-year 70-point route, resident-tax records generally cover:
the most recent three years.
Pension and public health-insurance records generally cover:
the most recent two years.
This differs from the five years of resident-tax evidence generally required under the ordinary work-status route.
Timely Payment Still Matters
A shorter evidence period does not make tax or social-insurance compliance unimportant.
Current Permanent Residence guidance places importance on public obligations being fulfilled by their proper deadlines.
Late payment can therefore remain relevant even where all amounts have since been paid.
80 Points Does Not Guarantee Permanent Residence
The point threshold mainly provides an exception to the ordinary residence-duration requirement.
Applicants must still satisfy the other Permanent Residence considerations, including:
Conduct
Stable livelihood
Taxes
Pension
Health insurance
Immigration notification duties
Compliance with the current status of residence
80 points is not an automatic approval.
Changing Jobs Can Change Your Score
A job change may affect:
Income
Duties
Employer
Bonus-point eligibility
Relevance of work experience
Applicants planning Permanent Residence soon should check whether the necessary score will remain after the change.
Age Can Also Reduce Points
Age is part of the HSP scoring system.
Crossing into a new age category may therefore reduce a score.
This can matter where an applicant is close to the 70- or 80-point threshold.
What If You Already Have an Official Point Result?
Applicants who have previously received an official Highly Skilled Professional point-result notification may be able to use it as part of the Permanent Residence evidence.
However:
HSP recognition does not automatically mean the applicant had 80 points.
The basic HSP threshold is 70 points.
The one-year route still requires proof of the relevant 80-point level.
A Score Only Helps If You Can Prove It
A self-calculated score of 85 is not enough by itself.
The claimed points need supporting evidence.
For example:
Degree certificates
Employment certificates
Income evidence
Japanese-language certificates
Professional qualifications
The practical question is therefore not only:
“How many points do I calculate?”
but also:
“What documents prove those points?”
J-Skip Is a Separate System
Japan’s Special Highly Skilled Professional system, commonly referred to as J-Skip, operates under separate criteria based on matters such as education, professional experience, and high income.
It should not be confused with the ordinary 70- and 80-point routes.
Permanent Residence Fee From October 2026
Highly skilled applicants pay the same Permanent Residence permission fee as other applicants.
For applications accepted on or after October 1, 2026, the fee payable upon approval is:
¥200,000.
Pre-Application Checklist
Review:
Current score
Score one or three years ago
Age at the earlier reference date
Historical income
Evidence of work experience
Academic evidence
Date Japanese qualifications were obtained
Bonus-point eligibility
Timely resident-tax payments
Timely pension payments
Timely health-insurance payments
Immigration notifications
Compliance with the current immigration status
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. I Have 80 Points Now. Can I Apply Immediately?
Not necessarily. The one-year route normally also requires 80 points at the relevant point one year earlier.
Q. How Long Is Required With 70 Points?
Qualifying applicants may use the three-year route.
Q. Can Someone With an Ordinary Work Status Use the 80-Point Route?
Potentially, yes. Holding HSP status itself is not always required.
Q. Must I Change to HSP Status and Then Wait One Year?
Not necessarily. Earlier residence under an ordinary work status may count if the required historical point level can be established.
Q. I Had 80 Points One Year Ago but Only 75 Today.
The one-year route generally requires 80 points at the application date as well.
Historical Points Are the Key to the Highly Skilled Route
For the 80-point route, check:
today + one year ago.
For the 70-point route:
today + three years ago.
Enlight Administrative Scrivener’s Office can calculate current and historical HSP points and organize the supporting evidence for education, employment, income, tax, pension, and Permanent Residence filing.
The initial Permanent Residence eligibility check is free of charge.
Permanent Residence support is generally limited to applicants within the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau.
References
Immigration Services Agency: Highly Skilled Professional Point System
Immigration Services Agency: Point Evaluation
Immigration Services Agency: Highly Skilled Professional Point Calculation Table
Immigration Services Agency: Permanent Residence Required Document Overview
Immigration Services Agency: Special Highly Skilled Professional System (J-Skip)
