It was stated in the latest Japanese immigration control system, introduced in 2012, that foreign workers will be graded by points, based on their job, salary and academic background. Foreign nationals who were able to gain 70 points were recognized as “highly skilled professionals” and had a right to have a permanent residency in five years.

As part of the upgraded system, those people who got 70 points will be automatically granted a permanent residency status in just a span of three years, while those who gained 80 points and above will have one year.

Moreover, there are already 6,298 foreign workers who are certified as highly skilled professionals based on the tally last October. About one-third of them are expecting to gain the status in a year under the new system.

In line with this, the adjacent countries to Japan have already adopted this kind of policy for their foreign workers, as part of their growth strategy.