Last month, I was at long last granted ✨ permanent residency ✨ in Japan. This is something I've been working towards for a long time, so I'd like to share the whys and the wherefores behind it all.

I pursued permanent residency in Japan because, simply, I'd lived in Tokyo for a year before (as an English teacher, straight out of university) and really liked it, so wanted to come back and set up roots there properly. I felt it had great access to healthcare, dependable public transport, and reasonable rent – all things I'd been struggling with living in Bristol in the UK. I was open-minded to other locations like London, and did apply for jobs both there and abroad, but Japan was a known quantity and ultimately the path that opened up for me most readily, as I was offered a job there as soon as the borders opened after the pandemic.

After accepting the job and moving to Japan on a Highly Skilled Professional visa, it took four years to reach my goal, so I'd like to explain the process. Japan uses a points-based system, meaning that you can make an application for permanent residency after living there for 10 years, 3 years, or just 1 year, depending on how many points you score. I initially came in with 70 points, placing me on the 3-year track. But, as luck would have it, a year later I'd change jobs to be reassessed with 80 points, upgrading me to the blessed 1-year track. So as soon as that period had passed, I submitted my application, and after 19 months of nerve-wracking waiting (wait times for Tokyo residents are notoriously long) in the face of a 30% acceptance rate, the approval finally came.

What does this new status open up for me, though? Well, it means that I no longer have any restrictions on work – I can become a full-time freelancer, serving both domestic and foreign clients, without being constrained by a visa. Heck, I'm free to not work, too, to take a sabbatical if I so please. It also enables me, funnily enough, to spend more time in the UK without compromising my right of residence in Japan, making it easier to take care of my parents, should the need ever arise. Finally, it gives my partner and I the option to go through life getting the best out of each country as our needs and priorities change (childcare, schooling, etc.).

So, with this new freedom, I might as well take the chance to announce that I am now 💼 open to opportunities 💼 so please get in touch if you think you have a Jamie-shaped engineering vacancy! You can learn more about me and my skills at my personal docs site, birchdocs.tokyo.