HSP 70/80 points: the fast path to Japan PR and review windows

Highly skilled professionals can apply for permanent residence after 3 years with 70 or more points, or after 1 year with 80 or more, instead of the usual 10 years. J-Skip (特別高度人材, special highly skilled professional) holders also need only 1 year. The payment review is shorter as well. With 80+ points or J-Skip, ISA looks at one year of 住民税 (resident tax), pension and health insurance. With 70+ points, it looks at three years of 住民税 and two years of pension and health insurance. The points table is ISA's, and from 1 April 2027 the revised guideline applies to these routes too.

What the guideline requires

The current guideline (2026-02-24 revision) and the revision of 2026-10-01 (第３の６–８) contain the same three special rules:

Route	What you need, in either of two ways
70+ points	(a) You have lived in Japan continuously for 3 years or more as a 高度人材外国人 (highly skilled foreign professional) keeping the required points; or (b) you had 70+ points calculated as of 3 years before the application date, and you have kept 70+ points while living in Japan continuously for 3 years
80+ points	The same, with 80 points and 1 year
J-Skip	(a) You have lived in Japan continuously for 1 year or more as a 特別高度人材; or (b) you have lived in Japan continuously for 1 year or more and met the J-Skip criteria as of 1 year before the application date

Route (b) is for people who had enough points but held another status, for example 技術・人文知識・国際業務 (engineer/specialist), a spouse status or 定住者 (long-term resident). For this case, ISA's page asks for two points calculations, one at the time of application and one as of 3 years (or 1 year) before it. You calculate the earlier one with the current points table, unless you can prove your score under the table that applied at that time.

J-Skip itself, as ISA describes it, requires one of these:

• a master's degree or higher and annual income of ¥20 million or more, for research or specialist work;
• 10 years of relevant work experience and annual income of ¥20 million or more, for the same kinds of work;
• 5 years of management experience and annual income of ¥40 million or more, for business management.

Review windows

ISA's document lists and the self-check sheet for work statuses set these windows:

Route	住民税 certificates and proof of payment	Pension	Health insurance
70+ points	3 years	2 years	2 years
80+ points	1 year	1 year	1 year
J-Skip	1 year	1 year	1 year
Standard work route, for comparison	5 years	2 years	2 years

These windows also apply on route (b). ISA's pages say to submit the 1-year (or 3-year) set even if you are on a work, spouse or 定住者 status. The self-check sheet's notes tell you to answer questions 2, 4 and 5 for your route's period.

"On time" means the same thing on every route. A payment made after its original deadline is evaluated negatively in principle (原則として消極的に評価). See the self-check sheet's 7 questions.

The points table is ISA's

We do not calculate points. ISA publishes the ポイント計算表 (points calculation table), with the evidence it accepts for each item, on its page ポイント評価の仕組みは？.

Which tables you submit depends on your route:

• Everyone on the 70- and 80-point routes submits a table calculated at the time of application, with evidence for the items claimed.
• Route (b) applicants add a table calculated as of the earlier date.
• Applicants admitted with 80+ points can submit a copy of their 高度専門職ポイント計算結果通知書 (points result notice). Without one, they add a table calculated as of one year before.
• J-Skip applicants submit no points table. They submit a copy of their 特別高度人材証明書 (J-Skip certificate), or proof of education or work experience if they were never confirmed as J-Skip, plus proof of annual income.

Period of stay: 高度専門職 means 5 years

The guideline expects you to hold the longest period of stay for your current status. For 高度専門職1号 (Highly Skilled Professional (i)), the only period the Immigration Act's ordinance allows is 5 years (出入国管理及び難民認定法施行規則 別表第二). 高度専門職2号 has no limit at all. So question 6 on the self-check sheet ("a period of stay of 3 or 5 years") is normally a "yes" for HSP holders. J-Skip holders are also given 高度専門職1号 with 5 years.

The 3-year question matters on route (b). Suppose you hold 技術・人文知識・国際業務 with a 3-year stay. That stay counts as the longest for filings made by 31 March 2027. After that date it counts only for your first application filed from 1 April 2027, and only if that application is decided before the stay expires.

A worked example

Aiko has held 高度専門職1号ロ with 75 points since 1 February 2024. On Monday 1 February 2027 she has 3 years with 70+ points. Counted back from that filing date, her 住民税 window starts on 1 February 2024, and her pension and health-insurance window starts on 1 February 2025.

One 住民税 installment she pays herself (普通徴収) was late. It was the third installment of 令和6年度, due on Thursday 31 October 2024, and she paid it on Friday 8 November 2024. That date falls inside her 3-year window.

ISA does not say when a late payment stops counting. Under our cautious reading, you take the later of the deadline and the payment date, add the window, and add one day. By that reading, Aiko's late installment leaves the 3-year window on 9 November 2027. With 80 points, her window would be one year, and the same payment would have left it on 9 November 2025.

So if Aiko files on 1 February 2027, the late installment sits inside the reviewed period, and the current guideline applies. If she waits until it has left the window, she files after 31 March 2027, under the revised guideline. Either way the decision is ISA's. The window only tells her what her documents will show.

From 1 April 2027

The revised guideline keeps the HSP and J-Skip special rules (第３の６–８). Like every other route, these routes fall under it for filings made from 1 April 2027. Its new or clarified factors include:

• household income compared with the average Japanese household of the same size;
• the pension you can expect, with financial assets as a top-up;
• understanding of Japan's rules, checked by a method ISA designates;
• school attendance of school-age children;
• review of public dues per household;
• time abroad: a single absence of 6 months or more, or 2 years 6 months in total within the 10 years before filing, without a reasonable reason, is evaluated negatively in principle.

The guideline's only HSP-specific exception is the Japanese-language factor (CEFR B1). It does not apply that factor to 高度人材外国人 under 第３の６–８ or to their family members. ISA has also said it will not publish the income, pension or asset amounts it uses. Our 2027 rules page shows public reference points only, and Japan PR requirements in 2026 covers the other routes.

In the free check, pick your route and each payment question shows the review window that applies to it.