Long Term Residents can apply for permanent residence after 5 years from the date of becoming a Long Term Resident. While most foreign nationals have to wait 10 years after coming to Japan, Long Term Residents do not have to wait that long to apply for permanent residence. Although you can apply for permanent residence in as little as five years, the screening process is still very strict. As per the guidelines published by the Immigration Services Agency, there are three major requirements that must be met in order to receive an permanent residence permit. In this part, we will explain the examination points and preparations for Long Term Residents applying for permanent residence.
Requirements to become a Permanent Resident -“Guidelines for Permanent Residence Permission”-
The requirements for obtaining a permanent residence permit are published in the “Guidelines for Permanent Residence Permission” on the Immigration Services Agency’s website.
▶Immigration Services Agency「Guidelines for Permanent Residence Permission」
There are three main requirements listed in the guidelines.
(1) good conduct requirement（素行善良要件）, (2) independent livelihood requirement（独立生計要件）, and (3) conformity with the national interest requirement（国益適合要件）.
1. Legal requirements
(1) Be of good conduct
They abide by the law and live their daily lives without being socially criticized as residents.(2) Having sufficient assets or skills to support one’s livelihood independently
They do not become a burden on the public in their daily lives, and based on their assets and skills, they are expected to live a stable life in the future.
(3) The person’s permanent residence is deemed to be in the interests of Japan.
a) In principle, they must have continuously resided in Japan for 10 years or more. However, they must have continuously resided in Japan for 5 years or more with a working status (excluding the statuses of residence “Technical Intern Training” and “Specified Skills No. 1”) during this period.
b) You have not been sentenced to a fine or imprisonment, etc. You have duly fulfilled your public obligations (tax payments, public pension and public health insurance premiums, and obligations such as filing notifications as stipulated in the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act).
c) For the status of residence that you currently hold, you are residing in Japan with the maximum period of stay stipulated in Appendix 2 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act.
d) There is no risk of it being harmful from a public health perspective.*However, if you are the Spouse or Child of a Japanese national, Permanent Resident, or Special Permanent Resident, you are not required to meet (1) and (2).In addition, if you have been recognized as a refugee, a person recognized as a recipient of complementary protection status, or a third-country resettled refugee, you are not required to meet (2).
Immigration Services Agency「Guidelines for Permanent Residence Permission」
As stated here, for those whose status of residence is “Long Term Resident”, the special exception applies to “must have continuously resided in Japan for 10 years or more”.
(1) Be of good conduct
As for “good conduct,” this means that you have not committed any crimes. If you have been convicted of a crime (imprisonment or fine), you will not be able to apply for permanent residence for a while.
(2) Having sufficient assets or skills to support one’s livelihood independently
This means “not being a burden on the public in one’s daily life and being expected to have a stable life in the future in view of one’s assets, Skills, etc.”. To put it simply, it means that the person has a job and an annual income sufficient for a stable life in Japan.
We are often asked, “How much annual income do I need to have to be approved?” If you are a single person (single with no dependents), you need an annual income of about 3-3.5 million yen. If you have family members to support , you will need about 700,000 yen per person. However, the Immigration Services Agency does not publish a clear standard, so please use this as a rough guide.
It is important to note that you need not only clear your current annual income, but you must look back over the past 5 years and have the necessary annual income to stabilize your family on an ongoing basis (every year).
In addition, if you are supporting a family member overseas, you must have annual income for supporting the family member as well. If you have a family of three (spouse and children as dependents) in Japan and two dependents overseas, you would need 3,000,000 yen plus (additional dependents) 4 persons x 700,000 yen, = 5,800,000 yen. And if this family structure has not changed over the past 5 years, then this annual income must be maintained for 5 years. This (2) independent living requirement looks back over the past five years and is surprisingly strict.
However, the “annual income” here can be the annual household income, and if the applicant himself/herself is receiving support, it does not mean that the applicant himself/herself must also be employed, and there is no problem if the family meets this item.
(3)Conformity with the national interest requirement
(3) Conformity with national interest requirements, which have tended to be examined very strictly in recent years. In particular, the fulfillment of public obligations is being rigorously scrutinized down to the very smallest detail.
Requirements regarding the period of stay for a “Long Term Resident”
Currently, for those whose status of residence is “Long Term Resident”, there is a special exception regarding “must have continuously resided in Japan for 10 years or more”.
Have resided in Japan for more than five years with a “Long Term Resident” status
Immigration Services Agency「Guidelines for Permanent Residence Permission」
For those whose status of residence is “Long Term Resident”, it is possible to apply for permanent residence if you have been residing in Japan for more than 5 years while your status of residence is “Long Term Resident”.
However, they must fulfill the requirement that “For the status of residence that you currently hold, you are residing in Japan with the maximum period of stay stipulated in Appendix 2 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act”.
In the case of “Long Term Resident“, the period of stay is “1 year”, “3 years”, or “5 years”, but at this time, it is possible to apply as long as you have “3 years” or “5 years” of stay.
Proper fulfillment of public obligations
Two aspects of the fulfillment of public obligations can be observed: the fulfillment of notification obligations and the fulfillment of tax and social insurance payment obligations.
Payment of tax, public pension and public medical insurance premiums
Particular attention should be paid to social insurance and tax payments.
It is not enough to have “no unpaid taxes” for the period for which you are required to submit them; you must have never missed a single payment deadline. Please note that if you miss the deadline for payment even by a single day, your Application for permanent residence permit will likely be denied (in fact, most applicants who have missed the deadline have had their applications denied).
Although there are various taxes subject to examination, the due dates of payment will be checked for “inhabitant’s tax”, “national health insurance”, and “national pension”. If you are a company employee and have inhabitant tax and social insurance deducted from your salary, there is no need to worry about this. However, if you are a company employee and pay your own inhabitant tax (ordinary tax collection), or if you are self-employed and have joined the “National Pension Plan” or “National Health Insurance”, you need to check all the receipts in detail.
For dependents, you must also submit proof of the tax status of your supporter (partner).
Notification Obligation
Typical examples of notification requirements are the “Notification of Relationship with Spouse(配偶者に関する届け出)” to be submitted to the Immigration Services Agency and the “Notification of Moving Out and Notification of Moving In(転出届・転入届)” to be submitted to the municipal office when moving to a new residence.
Has not been fined or imprisoned
One thing you need to be aware of is traffic violations.
There are two types of penal regulations to pay after committing a traffic violation: fines and penalties. If you commit a serious violation and receive a red kip (traffic ticket), you will be fined and will not be able to apply for permanent residence for a while (roughly 5 years). On the other hand, a blue ticket is an administrative penalty, not a fine.
Even in cases other than traffic violations, those who have been fined or imprisoned can only apply for permanent residence after some time has passed. In the case of a fine, the application must be made at least five years after the date of payment, and in the case of those who were imprisoned, at least 10 years after the end of the execution.
Required Documents for Application for Permanent Residence – In the case of Long Term Resident-
This section introduces the documents required for a “Long Term Resident” status holder to apply for permanent residence. This information is also available on the Immigration Services Agency’s website. Depending on the situation and individual circumstances, documents for reinforcement may be submitted in addition to the basic documents listed below.
| Required Documents for Application for Permanent Residence – In the case of Long Term Resident- |
|---|
| １．Permanent residence permit application form ２．Photograph（4cm×3cm） ３． Any of the following documents to prove your relationship（family register(戸籍謄本)、 birth certificate(出生証明書)、Marriage certificate(婚姻証明書)、Certificate of details of the notification of recognition of paternity(認知届の記載事項証明書)、Items similar to above） ４．Resident certificates(住民票) for all family members (households) including the applicant ５．Any of the following documents certifying the occupation of the applicant or the applicant’s supporter (1) If you are employed by a company, etc.： Certificate of employment (在職証明書) (2) If you are self-employed, etc. Copy of final tax return(確定申告書),Copy of business license(営業許可書) * Self-employed individuals are required to provide proof of their occupation, etc. (3) Other cases： Occupation description (free format) and supporting documents as appropriate ６．Documents verifying the income and tax payment status of the applicant and his/her supporters for the past five years One copy each of the resident tax (or exemption) certificate(住民税の課税（又は非課税）証明書) and tax payment certificate (納税証明書) for the past five years Documents proving that you have paid your resident tax at the proper time for the past five years (copies of your bankbook, receipts, etc.)*For ordinary tax collection ７．Tax payment certificates for withholding income tax and special income tax for reconstruction(源泉所得税及び復興特別所得税), self-assessed income tax and special income tax for reconstruction(申告所得税及び復興特別所得税), consumption tax and local consumption tax(消費税及び地方消費税), inheritance tax(相続税), and gift tax(贈与税) (part 3) ８．Any of the following documents to prove your income: Copy of bankbook (as appropriate) Similar to a above, as appropriate ９．Documents verifying your recent (past two years) public pension insurance premium payment status “Pension Regular Mail”(「ねんきん定期便」)/Print screen of “Pension record for each month” on Nenkin Net/National pension insurance premium receipt(国民年金保険料領収証書) (copy) １０．Documents verifying your recent (past two years) public health insurance premium payment status Health insurance card (copy)/National Health Insurance Card (copy)/. National Health Insurance (Tax) Payment Certificate/National Health Insurance (Tax) Receipt (Copy)） １１． Any of the following documents verifying the assets of the applicant or the applicant’s supporter:（Copies of bankbooks, One copy of the real estate registration certificate(登記事項証明書)etc.） １２．Present your passport １３．Present your residence card(在留カード) １４．Letter of guarantee(身元保証書) １５．Documents that clarify the guarantor’s identity （Copy of driver’s license, etc.） １６．Letter of Understanding(了解書) |
*The above is an example. For more details, please click here.
Conclusion
The above is an explanation of the application for permanent residence permit for “Long Term Resident” status holders.
“Long Term Residents” are eligible to apply for permanent residence if they have been in Japan for 5 years and their current period of stay is 3 or 5 years.
However, the points to be examined are the same as those for other statuses of residence and are very strict. Particularly strict are your annual income and whether or not you have been paying taxes properly for the past five years. The annual income must be in line with your family structure, and if you are late in paying taxes, even for one day or one time, your application for permanent residence permit will be rejected. The application for permanent residence is very difficult to prepare and often takes a long time to be reviewed. Please consult with us before you apply.
