At a recent meeting, a foreign business leader remarked, “Because I hold the Highly Skilled Professional residence status, many things go smoothly for me, which is very convenient.”
The “Highly Skilled Professional” scheme provides preferential treatment—such as relaxed renewal periods for residence status and permission, under certain conditions, to bring parents or domestic workers—for individuals who excel in areas such as education, professional experience, and income.
The system was established in 2015 with researchers, executives, and high-performing white-collar professionals who have the potential to transform the Japanese economy in mind.
Going forward, an increase in the number of people obtaining this status will likely become important both for companies and for the highly skilled individuals themselves.
First, for companies, it can serve as a powerful tool for retaining top talent.
Even highly capable employees often feel dissatisfied with the burdensome procedures involved in renewing their residence status or the difficulty of bringing domestic workers when they hold foreign nationality.
Moreover, the spouses of ordinary expatriates usually hold a “Dependent” residence status and are not permitted to work. In contrast, the spouse of a Highly Skilled Professional is allowed to work.
During my time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I was approached by wealthy foreign nationals seeking advice on whether the visa for domestic workers could somehow be arranged.
The Highly Skilled Professional scheme helps resolve such issues.