This article is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails. Read the Japanese original（日本語版を読む）
Your reading — that you cannot apply for permanent residence under the 80-point exception at this point in time — is correct. To use the 80-point exception and apply after 1 year, you need to have kept 80 points or more at both the time you apply and exactly 1 year before that. If you had 70 points 1 year ago, the surest course is to keep your current 80 points for 1 year and then apply.
An enquiry from someone who has 80 points now but had 70 points 1 year ago, asking whether the 1-year exception can be used.
You need to have kept 80 points or more at both times: when you apply, and 1 year before.
The exception based on 高度人材ポイント in screening for permanent residence can greatly shorten the period of residence normally required, which is 10 years. Its conditions, however, are very strict.
There is a rule that, to apply for permanent residence after "1 year" using the 80-point exception, you must have kept 80 points or more at both of 2 times: "now, when you apply" and "exactly 1 year before that".
Because you had not reached 80 points 1 year ago, you cannot file an application for permanent residence now using the 1-year exception. Even if you did apply now, it would be denied on the ground that you did not have enough points 1 year ago.
Because the annual income item in 高度人材ポイント is calculated on your "expected future annual income".
The "annual income" item in 高度人材ポイント is calculated on the "expected future annual income" that you are due to receive over the coming 1 year. Just after you join a company, all you have is an expected annual income based on the new-graduate salary the company has offered you. And while you were a student your income was naturally low, so there is no record of past annual income either.
After 1 year in work, actual pay rises, bonuses and the job title given to you are fixed. It is thought that only then did your annual income points jump sharply, taking your total past 80 points. This is proof that your career is going well.
Keeping 80 points for 1 year and then applying is the surest and most realistic route.
As of May 2026 you have already reached 80 points, so please keep that state of 80 points or more firmly for the coming 1 year (until May 2027). When May 2027 comes, the conditions of "now (80 points or more)" and "1 year before, May 2026 (80 points or more)" will both be fully met, and you will be able to file an application for permanent residence just over 2 years after finishing graduate school.
The exception for highly skilled professionals has another rule: "if you have kept 70 points or more for 3 years, you can apply for permanent residence". Is there any chance that you were already over 70 points back when you were a graduate student?
Graduating from a graduate school in Japan (20 points) + a master's degree (20 points) + 日本語能力試験N1 (JLPT N1) (15 points) + graduating from a university in Japan and the like (10 points) already comes to 65 points. If, on top of that, you had side income as an investor or held certain qualifications, and you can prove that you were consistently over 70 points from your student days, you may be able to apply under the 3-year exception.
Because income is low while you are a student, you need to reach 70 points on age and education alone. It is worth going back over the past once and doing a careful calculation.
3 things: managing payment of 住民税, holding off on changing jobs, and locking in your points.
You need to have kept 80 points or more at both of 2 times: "now, when you apply" and "exactly 1 year before that".
It would be denied on the ground that you did not have enough points 1 year ago. If you have 80 points or more now, the surest course is to keep that state for 1 year and then apply.
Yes. The rule is that if you have kept 70 points or more for 3 years, you can apply for permanent residence. If you can prove that you were consistently over 70 points from your student days, you may be able to use this one.
There is a risk that the calculation of your expected annual income is reset, or that your points drop temporarily, so that continuity is broken. Until you obtain permission for permanent residence, we recommend that you keep your career at your current company.
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This page is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails.