Table of Contents
Benefits of Obtaining a 3-Year Residence Period
The greatest benefit of obtaining a 3-year residence period is eliminating the need for annual renewals. By securing a longer residence period, companies can more easily place foreign employees in positions of responsibility, while foreign nationals can reduce the number of times they experience unnecessary stress during the application review process.Additionally, holding a 3-year residence period is an essential requirement for applying for permanent residence permission.
When obtaining permanent residence permission from an Engineer/Humanities visa, legal regulations originally require holding a 5-year residence period. However, for the time being, a 3-year period is treated as meeting this requirement.
Note: Even if you hold a 3-year residence period at the time of application, permanent residence permission cannot be obtained if other requirements (such as continuous residence in Japan for 10 years) are not met.
Reference: Immigration Services Agency | Guidelines for Permanent Residence Permission
(https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/resources/nyukan_nyukan50.html)
About Affiliated Institution Categories
Before reviewing the rules for determining residence periods for Engineer/Humanities visas, it is necessary to understand “affiliated institution categories.” There are four categories in total, classified according to business scale and other factors. An affiliated institution refers to the company or individual that enters into an employment contract with the foreign national.
List of Affiliated Institution Categories
Category 1 (Institutions that meet any of the following criteria):Category 2 (Institutions that meet any of the following criteria):
Category 3
Organizations or individuals that have submitted the summary table of statutory documents such as salary income withholding tax slips for the previous year (excluding Category 2)
Category 4
Organizations or individuals that do not fall under any of Categories 1, 2, or 3
Check This Section of the Summary Table of Statutory Documents
To determine whether you fall under Category 2 or 3, check the amount in the red-framed section.If the withholding tax amount is 10 million yen or more, you fall under Category 2, and if it is less than 10 million yen, you fall under Category 3. If you are unsure, please consult with your company’s tax advisor or accountant.
Rules for Determining Residence Periods for Engineer/Humanities Visas
Once you have confirmed your affiliated institution’s category, let’s examine the conditions for residence periods.You should be able to determine how many years of residence period are likely to be granted based on factors such as the applicant’s (foreign national’s) compliance with obligations, planned employment period, and the affiliated institution’s category.
Conditions for a 5-Year Residence Period
To obtain a 5-year residence period, you must meet all of the following four requirements:If the affiliated institution falls under Category 1 or 2, it is relatively easy to obtain a 5-year residence period. Since 5 years is the maximum period permitted for the Engineer/Humanities visa, you should aim to meet the above four requirements if possible. Please note that even if you meet the above requirements, a shorter residence period may be determined based on factors such as compliance with public obligations or the nature of the work you will be engaged in.
Conditions for a 3-Year Residence Period
There are three patterns for obtaining a 3-year residence period.Pattern 1: Meeting all of the following conditions
To summarize this pattern, the planned employment period is 1-3 years, while other aspects are identical to the requirements for a 5-year residence period determination. If the affiliated institution falls under Category 1 or 2, it is relatively easy to meet the 3-year requirements.
This represents situations where the residence status is favorable enough to warrant a 5-year residence period, but a 3-year period is granted because the planned employment period is within 3 years.
Pattern 2: Meeting all of the following conditions
For example, the following situations fall under this pattern:
Example 1: A person who had a 5-year residence period with an Engineer/Humanities visa changed jobs to a listed company (Category 1) but forgot to submit the notification of affiliated institution change.
Example 2: A person who had a 5-year residence period with an Engineer/Humanities visa moved residences but missed the deadline for submitting the address change notification.
This represents situations where someone who previously held a 5-year residence period has their status downgraded to 3 years due to failure to fulfill obligations.
Pattern 3: Cases that do not fall under any of the conditions for 5-year, 1-year, or 3-month residence periods
When a case does not meet the conditions for 5-year, 1-year, or 3-month residence periods, a 3-year residence period is determined. This pattern is extremely important. Even if you can only obtain a 1-year residence period each time, theoretically, by preparing to avoid meeting the conditions for 1-year and 3-month residence periods (described below), you can increase the possibility of obtaining a residence period of 3 years or more.
Conditions for a 1-Year Residence Period
A 1-year residence period is determined when any of the following four patterns apply.Pattern 1: Cases that fall under the following
Affiliated institutions that fall under Category 4 are organizations or individuals that have not submitted the summary table of statutory documents such as salary income withholding tax slips for the previous year.
Pattern 2: Cases that meet both of the following requirements
Be careful, as failing to fulfill obligations makes it difficult to obtain a 3-year residence period.
Pattern 3: Cases that fall under the following
This requirement is extremely important. If you are only granted a 1-year residence period each time and cannot understand the reason, there is a high possibility that you fall under this pattern. If you can make the immigration officer determine that “there is no need to verify residence status once a year,” the possibility of obtaining a 3-year residence period increases. When applying for residence period renewal permission, make sure to actively highlight your job position and activity record.
Pattern 4: Cases that fall under the following
When the planned employment period is 1 year or less, a 1-year residence period is generally determined. However, even in cases of fixed-term employment where the remaining contract period is 1 year or less, if contract renewal is expected based on past performance, it may be determined that this pattern does not apply.
Conditions for a 3-Month Residence Period
There is only one condition for being granted a 3-month residence period:When permission is granted for employment contracts exceeding 3 months, a period of 1 year or more is always determined, so you do not need to be overly concerned about this requirement.
What You Should Know to Obtain a 3-Year Residence Period
From the discussion so far, we have learned that to obtain a 3-year residence period, it is important that either “the affiliated institution is Category 2 or higher” or “the affiliated institution is Category 3 and does not meet the requirements for 1-year or 3-month residence period determination.”
What Is Needed to Obtain a 3-Year Period with Category 2 or Higher
For Category 2 or higher institutions, you can obtain a 3-year residence period relatively easily if you properly fulfill notification obligations and other requirements. If you fall under this category, there is also a good possibility of being granted a 5-year residence period by strengthening your application with additional documentation regarding detailed job responsibilities, reasons for hiring, and the necessity for a longer residence period.What Is Needed to Obtain a 3-Year Period with Category 3
To obtain a 3-year residence period with Category 3, you must meet the following five requirements.The fourth requirement is difficult to prove, but please consider strategies including the “methods to upgrade your company’s category” described below.
Other Factors That Influence Residence Period Determination
There are several other factors that influence residence period determination, which we will introduce below:Methods to Upgrade Your Company’s Category
To obtain a 3-year residence period, first consider whether you can upgrade your affiliated institution’s category. If you can only obtain short residence periods each time, there is a high possibility that your affiliated institution falls under Category 3, so we will introduce the following two methods.
Methods to Upgrade to Category 1
If an affiliated institution is certified as one of the “companies that meet certain specified conditions,” it will be treated as a Category 1 institution in Engineer/Humanities visa reviews, making it easier to obtain longer residence periods. While some certifications are limited to specific industries or require large business scale, certifications like “Health and Productivity Management Outstanding Organization” are relatively accessible even for small and medium-sized enterprises.Methods to become a company that meets certain specified conditions:
If your affiliated company already qualifies for any of these, you can be treated as a Category 1 company by submitting copies of certification documents or other proof materials.
Reference: Immigration Services Agency | About Companies That Meet Certain Specified Conditions
(https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/930004712.pdf)
Methods to Upgrade from Category 3 to Category 2
Affiliated institutions that fall under Category 3 can transition to Category 2 by obtaining an “Application Processing Agent Certificate,” then applying for residence application online system usage by mail or at a window, and receiving approval for online application processing.An “Application Processing Agent Certificate” is a processing qualification certificate obtained by affiliated institution staff or others through prior approval from the regional immigration services bureau director. This certificate exempts them from the “principle of personal appearance,” which requires foreign nationals (or their representatives) to personally visit regional immigration services bureaus for various procedures related to residence status for foreign nationals. When affiliated institution staff obtain an Application Processing Agent Certificate, they must meet the following two requirements:
Please note that even when transitioning to Category 2 through this method, you must still submit “documentation proving Category 3 eligibility” at the time of application.
Reference: Immigration Services Agency | About the Application Processing Agent System
(https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/nyuukokukanri07_00262.html)
Reference: Immigration Services Agency | Approval Procedures for Application Processing Agents
(https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/nyuukokukanri07_00248.html)
Reference: Immigration Services Agency | Online Procedures for Residence Applications
(https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/online/onlineshinsei.html)
Strengthening Supporting Documentation for Review
For foreign nationals working at Category 3 companies to obtain a 3-year residence period with an Engineer/Humanities visa, they need immigration officers to determine during the review that “based on the examination of activity records and other factors, there is no need to verify residence status once a year.” Therefore, to obtain a 3-year residence period, it is important to strengthen supporting documentation and highlight your activity record.Additionally, even when working for Category 2 or higher companies, strengthening supporting documentation can increase the possibility of being granted a longer residence period.
Provide Detailed Description of Activity Content
Engineer/Humanities visa applications include a section called “Detailed Activity Content” that explains job responsibilities, but the application form only provides two lines of writing space. Since immigration officers cannot determine whether the work truly qualifies for Engineer/Humanities visa activities based on such brief descriptions alone, they are more likely to decide “let’s grant a 1-year period this time and see how it goes.” To strengthen this section, write in the application form “See attached employment reason letter” or “See separate detailed activity content explanation” and submit additional documentation that specifically describes the job responsibilities.Note: You can freely decide the name of any additional documents.
In principle, the detailed documentation explaining job responsibilities should be prepared by staff of the company employing the Engineer/Humanities visa holder. Since “Detailed Activity Content” is an item in the application form section “For Preparation by Affiliated Institution” and the content is determined by the affiliated institution’s discretion, additional documentation should also be prepared by the affiliated institution as a matter of principle.
The content should provide specific explanations of daily schedules and detailed job responsibilities on approximately one A4 page. If job responsibilities change by season, include annual schedules as well. By explaining job responsibilities in detail and convincing immigration officers that the work “definitely qualifies as Engineer/Humanities visa activities,” you increase the possibility of being judged as someone who “does not need residence status verified once a year.”
If a practical training period is established, also provide detailed explanations of the training content. When engaging in work that does not qualify for Engineer/Humanities visas during the training period, you will generally only be granted a 1-year residence period, but do not hide facts in order to obtain a longer residence period.
Explain the Necessity of a 3-Year Residence Period
Explain the benefits that the company will gain by granting a longer residence period to that foreign national. For example, if you can provide convincing explanations such as “the necessity of placing that foreign national in a more responsible position” or “the reasons why that foreign national is essential for executing long-term business strategies,” the possibility of obtaining a 3-year residence period increases.You can freely decide the title of supplementary documents you create, such as “Application Reason Letter” or “Employment Reason Letter.” It is also acceptable to include this information within the documents explaining detailed activity content.
Highlight the Affiliated Institution’s Activity Record
The internal regulations “Immigration and Residence Examination Guidelines” used by immigration officers during residence status examinations clearly state that not only the applicant’s record but also the affiliated institution’s activity record becomes a consideration factor in residence period determination. Actively highlight factors such as the affiliated institution’s “track record of hiring foreign nationals,” “business performance in the field where Engineer/Humanities visa holders work,” and “understanding of the immigration and residence management system.”Summary
This article has introduced methods to increase the possibility of obtaining longer residence periods when applying for Engineer/Humanities visa status. In terms of order, it is advisable to first check whether there are ways to upgrade your affiliated institution’s category, and then consider strengthening supporting documentation such as “detailed activity content,” “necessity of a longer residence period,” and “explanation of the affiliated institution’s activity record.” When both the “applicant (foreign national)” and the “affiliated institution” approach residence status examinations with a collaborative mindset, the possibility of achieving favorable results increases.This article is a translation of the original Japanese version.
