Japan to Raise Income Criteria for Highly Skilled Foreigners

Tokyo, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Immigration Services Agency plans to raise the minimum annual salary requirement for foreign nationals seeking residence status as highly skilled professionals from the current 3 million yen, agency sources said Sunday.

The move comes amid rising wages in recent years, with experts calling for stricter requirements to ensure the appropriate acceptance of highly skilled foreign workers.

The agency aims to revise the relevant ministerial ordinance by the end of March next year, the sources said.

The highly skilled professional residence status covers three fields--academic research, specialized and technical activities, and business management.

The minimum annual salary requirement is 3 million yen for the latter two fields, while no minimum is set for academic research.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]