We were interviewed regarding the Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa on Nikkei (Nihon Economic Newspaper) again last week and the article was carried out today.
The article quotes our comments as follows:
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The amount of income required to be eligible for the Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa is too high for highly-skilled young professionals working at Japanese companies and researchers or scholars working at research institutes or universities and that it does not give benefit for most foreign nationals since their income usually is not high for their high skills or knowledge.
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The Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa holders may be eligible for a permanent residency after five years when regular work visa holders are required to reside in Japan for ten years to be eligible for the same; however, it could not necessarily be a short-cut for most foreign nationals since many of them already resided in Japan as students etc. for more than five years when they are granted the Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa and can be eligible for the permanent residency in less than five years anyway even when they are on regular visas.
Other than the points quoted in the article, our points regarding the Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa are as follows:
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The benefits (i.e. bring a parent or foreign domestic helper) for the Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa are currently granted only if you suffice additional requirements like having a child under 13 years old or a spouse having health problems; however, it does not make sense to obtain the Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa if the benefits for the visa cannot be available unless you need such additional requirements, and the benefits should be granted to all the Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa without additional conditions.
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The Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa holders are allowed to run their own business while working at their visa sponsor company; however, the regulation requires that their own business here should be related to their work at their visa sponsor companies. Most company prohibits its staff from running business related to the business of the company by the employment or directors’ rules, and they are not likely to be able to run their own business related to their company’s business even though the Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa allows it.
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Although the Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa has been designed as a special visa superior to other regular work visas, neither the Resident Card nor the document affixed in a passport does not indicate the name Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa at all. The name of Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa should appear in the Resident Card and the document affixed in a passport and ideally the Resident Card for the Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa holders should have a different color and design like a a gold or platinum credit cards so that the Resident Card for Highly Skilled Foreign Nationals Visa holders could work as a credential and they could be trusted or treated better by local people when they use their Resident Cards as their ID.
