Hey everyone!
The title largely captures everything. Ignoring J-SKIP, I would exceed 80 points as an HSP applicant.
Referencing the new J-SKIP visa, I easily meet or exceed all of the necessary qualifications (I guess, the same technically could be said for the J-FIND as well). I work fully remotely for a company based in the USA, and absolutely love my job.
I am not at all concerned about paying taxes to both Japan and the USA via the income I generate while residing in Japan, but after spending a few hours reading about the HSP and the new J-SKIP path, it is unclear to me if my work qualifies, and if I could relocate to Japan without changing jobs or needing to work for a Japanese employer.
If this is okay, it’s also a bit unclear to me how getting a ‘Certificate of Eligibility’ would work. If I asked my employer to sign paperwork, I’m super they would happily be supportive, but I’m unsure if they’re allowed to as a US company?
It was also a bit unclear to me if the J-SKIP visa requires applicants to obtain a Certificate of Eligibility at all, or if I just need to submit evidence of fulfilling the requirements (under 29, nearly 40M ¥ income, 200K ¥ savings, engineer, Master’s degree from a university the government listed).
Vastly appreciative of any guidance, recommendations for how to proceed or firms I may want to reach out to, advice, etc!
4 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Overqualify for J-SKIP and HSP Visas, and work fully remote at a US-based company. Unsure if that’s a go/no go.**
Hey everyone!
The title largely captures everything. Ignoring J-SKIP, I would exceed 80 points as an HSP applicant.
Referencing the new J-SKIP visa, I easily meet or exceed all of the necessary qualifications (I guess, the same technically could be said for the J-FIND as well). I work fully remotely for a company based in the USA, and absolutely love my job.
I am not at all concerned about paying taxes to both Japan and the USA via the income I generate while residing in Japan, but after spending a few hours reading about the HSP and the new J-SKIP path, it is unclear to me if my work qualifies, and if I could relocate to Japan without changing jobs or needing to work for a Japanese employer.
If this is okay, it’s also a bit unclear to me how getting a ‘Certificate of Eligibility’ would work. If I asked my employer to sign paperwork, I’m super they would happily be supportive, but I’m unsure if they’re allowed to as a US company?
It was also a bit unclear to me if the J-SKIP visa requires applicants to obtain a Certificate of Eligibility at all, or if I just need to submit evidence of fulfilling the requirements (under 29, nearly 40M ¥ income, 200K ¥ savings, engineer, Master’s degree from a university the government listed).
Vastly appreciative of any guidance, recommendations for how to proceed or firms I may want to reach out to, advice, etc!
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Both HSP and J-SKIP require you to be employed by Japanese employer, and the income calculation is based on expected income by the said Japanese employer.
My understanding of J-Skip is that it’s just a few more perks as a higher tier of the HSFP program. Which still requires a domestic employer. https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/publications/materials/nyuukokukanri01_00009.html?hl=en
>(2) “Highly specialized/technical activities” : activities that engage in work that requires knowledge or skills in the fields of natural sciences or humanities based on contracts with public or private organizations in Japan developers, international lawyers, etc.)
As others have mentioned: J-SKIP requires you to have a *Japanese* employer.
J-FIND requires you to have graduated from a university in the top 100 of the QS or THE university rankings.
Both of these visa options are also ***brand new*** (Like about a month old), so there’s very little information available beyond the various news articles. There hasn’t been enough time to build up any first-hand accounts.