How to get Permanent Residence in Japan
How to get Permanent Residence (PR) in Japan
Japan Permanent residence (PR/ EIJYU/永住） is the right to continue living in Japan with your native nationality. The Permanent residence status is determined quite strictly by the Minister of Justice（法務省） as “permitted” or “Not permitted”. When foreigner nationals (you) who have been living in Japan for 1-10 years can apply for.
Therefore, in order to be granted PR, you must be able to meet the STRICT conditions.
1. Pros & Cons for Permanent Residence
2. Requirement for Permanent Residence
3. Income
4. Continuous stay
5. Guarantor for PR application
6. Applicants with Eased Conditions?
7. Examination Period for Permanent residence
Pros & Cons for Permanent Residence
The advantages of PR are mainly 1) maintaining your nationality, 2) removing your activity restrictions by the immigration law, 3) indefinite stay, and 4) easing PR application of your spouse or child. With PR status, you will no longer be restricted in your stay and will be able to work in any occupation in Japan.
For example, you worked as an IT engineer on 技術・人文知識・国際業務 visa could only perform engineer-related work approved by the Immigration law.
After obtaining PR status, you can also run a French restaurant, a trading company without changing your visa. There are no restrictions on occupations that you can work, so you can do everything legally same as Japanese citizen. In addition, since the period of stay is indefinite, there is no need to renew your 在留カード. As your expiration date is gone, it is quite merit to borrow housing loan / mortgages and small business loans. Some banks don’t lend money unless they are PR status.
Also, spouses and children become “永住者の配偶者等” by acquiring your PR. They also will have no restriction on the job.
Many people ask, “What is the difference between PR and naturalization?” Simply put, PR does not acquire Japanese nationality, so it does not give you the right to vote or be elected. On the other hand, the difference from naturalization is that you can live in Japan without restriction while maintaining your nationality. In addition, since you are treated as a foreigner, if you have serious crimes, you will be subject to deportation from Japan.（Cancellation of PR status）
Requirement for Permanent Residence in Japan
There are 4 requirements for obtaining PR status in Japan:
(1) Applicant is of good conduct.
(2) Applicant has sufficient assets or ability to make an independent living.
(3) Allicant’s PR is regarded to be the interests of Japan.
(4) Need the PR Guarantor(身元保証人).
However, in the case of spouses and children of Japanese / PR holder, the requirements for PR have been relaxed, and the conditions of （3） and (4) will be sufficient.
（１）The person is of good conduct.
The person observes Japanese laws and his/her daily living as a resident does not invite any social criticism.
① No legal penalties have been imposed for violating the Japanese laws
The requirement is that no legal penalty has been imposed in violation of Japanese law. It is necessary that at least 10 years have passed since the imprisonment ended. 5 years must elapse after the postponement period has expired. In the case of a fine, if 5 years have passed since the payment of the fine, etc., it will not be treated as having been punished in violation of Japanese laws and regulations. In addition, it is necessary that protective actions under the Juvenile Law are not ongoing.
②No minor illegal acts or harassment to society
The requirement is that you do not repeatedly make minor violations of the law that do not constitute a legal penalty or inconvenience the community. Includes fines for traffic offenses and overwork of family members staying on a family visa.
Traffic offense: The penalty for traffic offenses（反則金） is not a legal penalty, but if you repeatedly pay the penalty, you are repeatedly committing illegal activity. At present, it is difficult to estimate the number of traffic violations etc. in the examination process at least 5 times in the past 5 years and at least 4 times in the past 2 years.
For example, it is not often memorized that a ticket was illegally locked due to parking prohibition, so you can get a driving record certificate at a police station and check it. In the case of serious offenses such as unlicensed driving, drunk driving, and running away, it is necessary to wait 5 years after payment of fines is completed.
Illegal work of your family (overwork): If you have a family staying on a family visa and the family is overworked, the applicant will be held liable for family misconduct. In that case, 3 years must elapse.
（２）Sufficient assets or ability to make an independent living.
The Immigration Bureau states that “there is no burden on the public in daily life, and a stable life can be expected in the future in view of the assets or skills possessed.” It is a prerequisite that we have not received any public assistance, as it is not a public burden. In addition, the income required for permanent residence should be at least 3 million yen for the past 3-5 years. This is the income of the whole household. However, depending on the number of dependent families, you may be required to earn more. You will be able to check your income for the past 5 years. Be careful if you have a yearly income of 3 million yen or less for the past 5 years due to a change of job.
When you change jobs
If you change jobs, the Immigration Bureau may disallow PR because of your lack of financial stability. Therefore, it is recommended that you apply for PR about 1 year after you change jobs. Please note that many foreigners change jobs in a shorter period of time compared to Japanese to improve their career.
Dependents
If there is no dependent family, the income of 3 million yen per year is a guide, but it is necessary to add about 700,000 to 800,000 yen per year for each additional dependent family. For example, if a man has a wife and a child, the annual income will be about ¥ 4.4 million to ¥ 4.6 million for 3 million yen + 700,000 to 800,000 JPY x 2 people.
（３）The applicant’s PR is regarded to be in accord with the interests of Japan.
It is important that the applicant’s PR amounts to the Japan’s interest or NOT (means Japan’s national benefit, profit) Specifically, there are 6 points.
①Stay in Japan for at least 10 years, including at least 5 years with working VISA
Stay in Japan for at least 10 years
You must have been in Japan for more than 10 years. In other words, it means that you have been living in Japan, and if you have departed from Japan for more than 2-3 months at one time, or for 100 days in total per year, the Immigration Bureau considered that you have continued to live in Japan. Be careful when you have a long-term business trip or returning to your home country.
However, if this period has passed formally, it is not immediately considered that you will not be resident. The situation will be considered by the Immigration Bureau.
Including at least 5 years with working VISA
You must have been working on work visa for at least 5 years. If you worked part-time or had student visa. You must have worked for at least 5 years with working VISA such as 技術・人文知識・国際業務, 高度専門職, 技能, Professor or 経営・管理. It is OK even if you live for more than 5 years with your spouse’s residence status.
Learn more: Continuous Residency for Permanent Residency in Japan
②Public obligations such as tax payment and social insurance
In the permanent residency examination, it is required that taxes such as income tax, residence tax, corporate tax, and pensions such as KOSEI NENKIN and KOKUMIN NENKIN are fully paid. Additionally, the immigration authorities verify whether the payments are made within the specified deadline. If there are outstanding taxes or pensions, or if the payments are not made by the deadline, the application may be denied.
Therefore, business owners responsible for paying their own taxes and pensions should exercise caution.
Learn more: If you and/or your spouse are self-employed?
If you do not pay within the payment deadline
If you do not pay within the payment deadline, you need to accumulate the payment results for 5 years after completing payment and applying for PR. In addition, it is necessary to explain to the immigration bureau why the payment deadline was not met and how to prevent it from recurring. As measures to prevent recurrence, it is conceivable to use a bank account withdrawal or credit card payment system. In the first place, those who have not joined the national pension need to join the national pension, pay the unpaid portion, and leave a record of joining for the next five years.
Number of legally dependent families
In order to pay taxes, you must be properly dependent on tax law. If a relative who is not originally permitted under tax law is being supported for the purpose of reducing tax payments, PR is not permitted because he / she does not fulfill the appropriate tax obligations (= tax evasion).
③3year or 5years Visa
Your status of residence is defined as “5 years, 3 years, 1 year…”. In order to apply for PR, you must have 3 years or 5 years VISA.
④There is no risk of harm from a public health perspective.
Specifically, you must not be addicted to drugs, marijuana, or stimulants, and you must not have contracted any infectious diseases such as Ebola hemorrhagic fever or plague.
⑤It is recognized that there is no risk of committing an act that is materially harmful to the public interest.
The content here is similar to the requirements for conduct in (1).
（４）GUARANTOR for PR application
You need a guarantor (身元保証人) for PR application. Only Japanese national and “PR Status people” living in Japan are available. Only those must have stable income and paid their tax legally. In other words, Guarantors who are unemployed or do not have sufficient income will be ineligible.
The guarantor’s guarantee consists of three parts: 1) payment for accommodation expenses, 2) payment for return expenses, and 3) legal compliance of the applicant. The guarantor under the immigration law is morally responsible and has no legal responsibility. In other words, there is no legal obligation to pay the applicant’s stay and return expenses, and he is not responsible for overseeing any violations of the applicant. However, a guarantor that has failed to fulfill its moral obligations to the applicant will no longer be able to become an guarantor for another PR application.
Foreigners (applicants) with Eased Conditions
The requirements for obtaining PR are eased for the spouse and children of Japanese nationals or PR status residents, as described below.
【People exempt from the conditions of (1) good conduct and (2) financial base】
In the case of the spouse and children of Japanese or PR status, the requirements for PR permit have been relaxed, and the conditions of contributing to the national interests of Japan (3) and securing a guarantor (4) are sufficient.
【Case in which you do not have to stay for 10 years】
In addition, those who meet the following conditions are eligible for a 10-year reduction in the length of stay in Japan.
- The spouse of a Japanese national, PR status person married for more than 3 years and has been living in Japan for recent 1 year
Biological children of Japanese, PR status person who have been living in Japan for more than 1 year - 定住者 to have been residing in Japan for more than 5 years
- Highly Skilled Professionals(70,75points) staying over 3 years
- HSP(80+points) staying over 1 year, Such as Executibe, MBA, Proffessor
Examination period
Current PR examination period is approximately 6 to 10 months (in the case of our application). Although PR permission is sometimes granted in 5 months from the application, we feel that the most frequent is 8 to 10 months. The government website states the standard processing period is 4 months, but the actual situation is different due to the stricter screening process. Also, PR Approval Rate has been declining.
FYI: PR application with your family
FYI: How to speed up PR examination period
Conclusion
You wish to live in Japan for a long time with your native nationality, obtaining PR have many advantages. However, the application for PR is quite strict and takes a long time. It’s easy to get disallowed if you don’t prepare well, but if you prepare well enough, you’ll be success. Continental professionals will make you obtain PR status smoothly. If you have any questions, please contact us, we will discuss about your PR.
For HSP points 80+ (As of Application and 1 year before)
For HSP points 70+ (As of Application and 3 years before)
Basic Fee：135,000 JPY
HSP(70-80+) : + 35,000 JPY, You can get only 1-3 years stay in Japan.
Professional
Masakazu Murai
18 years’ experience in Investment Banking at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley(JV, MUFG Bank and Morgan Stanley).
He had provided financial advisory more than 500 entrepreneurs and senior management. During his tenure, he worked as an employee union executive committee member in promoting diversity, including the active participation of foreigners and women in the office, and engaged in activities to improve the working environment.
He specializes in financial consulting and VISA/PR consulting.
Gyoseishoshi Immigration Lawyer
CMA(Japanese financial analyst license)
CFP (Certified Financial Planner)
Master of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship
