Hello,
I’ve been living in Japan for a couple years and am interested in PR. I’ve looked several times at the HSP points table and know that I’m at least close to 70 points, but I have a couple questions that I’m wondering if anyone here can answer. (Disclaimer: I know that consulting with a lawyer is best, but just curious if anyone has been through this before and can answer any of these questions).
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* I’ve heard you need to have a tax return on file in Japan before you can even apply for HSP, is this true?
* When does the “3 years/1 year” counter for PR start? From when you moved to Japan or from when you first qualified for the respective points? In other words if it turns out I have 70 points and have lived in Japan for over 3 years, can I qualify immediately for PR or do I have to wait 3 years from that point?
* The years of work, does it include work in other countries or only Japan? What if you have less than the minimum of three years, do you just not get any of the points or does it mean you can’t apply for HSP at all?
* “Acquisition of degree from a Japanese institution” and “Acquisition of level N2 on the JLPT”, am I reading correctly that these cancel each other out? In other words you can’t qualify for points from both of these categories, only one?
* One alternate to acquiring JLPT N1 is “graduating from a foreign university having majored in Japanese language”, anyone know how strict this is? My bachelors was in “East Asian Studies (Japanese concentration)” it’s not obviously a linguistic degree but I wonder if it would count.
Huge thanks to anyone that can help.
2 comments
1. I don’t think it means tax return specifically but it does means you need to submit proof of paid taxes for PR.
2. You must hold 70 points for 3 years or 80 points 1 year to be eligible for PR under the HSP route.
3. AFAIK, only work in Japan is counted
4. I think both are OK.
5. I think so long as the JP government recognizes the University, it is fine. When I did the HSP route, I was told, the school should be at least a top 200 worldwide.
Just to clarify, HSP visa and PR via HSP points are two different things. Your questions seems to be about PR via the HSP points table.
>* I’ve heard you need to have a tax return on file in Japan before you can even apply for HSP, is this true?
Not for the HSP visa. Since you can get that without ever having lived in Japan.
Not sure about the HSP PR route, but you need to prove your income for example, and that includes showing that you paid taxes. You should have been in Japan for at least one year, so you should have done at least one tax return, so I guess maybe, but you probably have done it at the time.
>* When does the “3 years/1 year” counter for PR start? From when you moved to Japan or from when you first qualified for the respective points? In other words if it turns out I have 70 points and have lived in Japan for over 3 years, can I qualify immediately for PR or do I have to wait 3 years from that point?
From when you first qualified, given that you lived in Japan at that point. So when you reach 70 points, you need to hold 70 points for 3 years. For 80 points, you need to keep 80 points for 1 year.
>* The years of work, does it include work in other countries or only Japan? What if you have less than the minimum of three years, do you just not get any of the points or does it mean you can’t apply for HSP at all?
Yes. It’s experience in the field. So experience abroad counts.
>* Acquisition of degree from a Japanese institution” and “Acquisition of level N2 on the JLPT”, am I reading correctly that these cancel each other out? In other words you can’t qualify for points from both of these categories, only one?
Yes. N1 can be in combination with the degree in Japan, but not N2. So if you have N2 and the degree, only one will count.
>* One alternate to acquiring JLPT N1 is “graduating from a foreign university having majored in Japanese language”, anyone know how strict this is? My bachelors was in “East Asian Studies (Japanese concentration)” it’s not obviously a linguistic degree but I wonder if it would count.
Don’t think that would count. I think it has to be Japanese language. But ask a professional on that one.