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Permanent Residence Application: Eligibility, Documents, Review, Denial

The 10-year rule and Highly Skilled fast-track, the four PR requirements, document set, 4–6 month standard processing period, typical denial reasons, and the path after a denial.

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Eijūsha (permanent resident) gives an indefinite period of stay with no limits on activities; Highly Skilled Professional (ii) is the other status with an indefinite period, but it stays tied to its permitted activities. Unlike kika (naturalization), permanent residence does not change nationality, but the residence card itself still expires and must be renewed: cards issued by June 13, 2026 run 7 years, and adult holders’ cards issued from June 14, 2026 run to the 10th birthday after issuance; leaving Japan for more than 1 year (5 years with a re-entry permit) triggers loss of status and a full new application. Requirements, document load, and review timeline are all strict. The permission fee rose to ¥200,000 in October 2026, the review guidelines were revised the same month, and the revocation grounds enacted in 2024 take effect on April 1, 2027.

Eligibility

Permanent residence requires meeting all four conditions simultaneously: residence duration, good conduct, independent means of living, and conformity to national interest. The baseline is 10 consecutive years of residence in Japan, with at least 5 years on a working status. Spouses of Japanese nationals or permanent residents qualify after 3 years of marriage plus 1 year in Japan if they apply by March 31, 2027, and after 5 years of marriage plus 3 years in Japan from April 1, 2027 (children: from 1 year to 3 years); teijūsha (long-term residents) qualify after 5 years. The Highly Skilled Professional track allows 1-year eligibility at 80 points or 3-year eligibility at 70 points.

Good conduct means no criminal record, no immigration violations, and no past criminal punishment. Independent means is judged on household income. The guidelines revised on October 1, 2026 ask whether the combined income of the applicant and the household they share a livelihood with stays above the average income of Japanese households of the same size; no yen figure is published. This income test already applies to applications filed on or after April 1, 2026. Income that a kazoku taizai (dependent) family member earns under a part-time work permit does not count toward household income. Expected future pension is also assessed, and a shortfall can be offset with savings or other financial assets.

National interest is the most heavily scrutinized: payment records for pension, resident tax, income tax, and health insurance must show no unpaid or late payments, and payments made after the deadline are generally assessed negatively. The applicant’s current residence status must be at its maximum term. For Gijinkoku (Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services) that is 5 years, but applications filed by March 31, 2027 treat a 3-year permit as the maximum. From April 1, 2027 a 5-year permit is required, with one exception: someone holding a 3-year permit on that date keeps the old treatment for their first application, if it is decided before the 3-year permit expires.

Applications filed from April 1, 2027 are also assessed on two more points. One is Japanese ability at B1 level or above on the Japanese Language Education Reference Framework; highly skilled professionals and their families, and people with 6 or more years of primary or secondary schooling in Japan, are among those exempt. The other is time abroad: a single absence of 6 months or more, or a total of 2 years 6 months or more within the past 10 years, generally counts against the applicant unless there is a reasonable cause.

Sources: ISA: Permanent Residence Application, Guidelines for Permanent Residence Permission (revised Feb 24, 2026), Guidelines for Permanent Residence Permission (revised Oct 1, 2026).

Required Documents

With eligibility lined up, the documents are the next hurdle. The basic set covers the application form, photograph, rirekisho (resume), statement of motivation, family register, both sides of the residence card and passport, jūminhyō (residence certificate), employment certificate, salary income proof, bank passbook copies, and fudōsan tōkibo (real estate registry, if owned): 12 to 15 documents total.

The most scrutinized are payment and income records. Applicants on a working status submit resident tax assessment and payment certificates for the last 5 years, plus public pension and public health insurance payment records for the last 2 years (a printout from Nenkin Net is accepted). Any non-payment or late payment in this window generally counts against the applicant.

The mimoto hoshōsho (guarantee letter) is a pivotal document. The guarantor is usually the spouse and is generally a Japanese national or permanent resident. The ISA list asks for the signed guarantee form plus a document showing the guarantor’s identity, such as a copy of their driver’s license; the office may ask for more in individual cases. The guarantor takes on no legal debt, but socially is vouching that the applicant can be relied upon; ad-hoc requests to acquaintances are easily detected.

Sources: ISA: Permanent Residence Application 3 (working statuses), ISA: Permanent Residence Application 1 (spouses).

Filing and Review Timeline

Documents in hand, you move to filing. The window is the regional Immigration Services Agency office or its branches in your jurisdiction. The fee is paid only on approval; denial costs nothing. Applications received on or after October 1, 2026 pay ¥200,000 (reduced to ¥20,000 for some applicants); applications received by September 30, 2026 pay the old ¥10,000 even if approval comes later. Counter applications pay in revenue stamps.

The standard processing period is 4–6 months, but real cases often run 6–10 months because of document corrections, local-office queues, and tax-year checks; supplementary investigations or peak season can push past a year. You can continue daily life during review; the current residence status renews normally when due, but the “PR application under review” flag is on the system. Address changes, job changes, and family changes must be reported within 14 days; skipping these can bounce the application back or stretch the timeline.

The result arrives by postcard at the registered address. On approval, you bring the postcard and passport to the immigration office, pay the fee, and receive the new residence card. On denial, the notice spells out the reasons, and the applicant can visit the office in person to hear the details.

Sources: ISA: Permanent Residence Application, ISA: Revision of residence permission fees on October 1, 2026.

Typical Denial Reasons

Knowing the process, the next question is where applicants stumble. Common denial reasons fall into six categories.

First, insufficient current residence status period: applying on a 1-year Gijinkoku will fail, and a 3-year permit counts as the maximum only until March 31, 2027, after which it generally has to be extended to 5 years first. Second, unpaid or late pension, tax, or health insurance, where even payments made after the deadline are generally assessed negatively. Third, unstable income or insufficient time at the current job. The guidelines set no fixed waiting period after a job change, but a recent change is examined for whether income has stayed stable, and practitioners often advise waiting until pay at the new job is established. Fourth, immigration violations during residence, including hour-cap breaches on activities outside permitted status, late address notifications, and any past overstay.

Fifth, the “lack of marriage substance” issue specific to spouse-visa applicants: being registered as married but not living together can be ruled as sham marriage. Sixth, too much time out of Japan. The revised guidelines state that a single absence of 6 months or more, or 2 years 6 months in total within the past 10 years, generally counts against the applicant unless there is a reasonable cause.

Sources: Guidelines for Permanent Residence Permission (revised Oct 1, 2026), Immigration Control Act, Article 22.

Reapplying After a Denial

A denial is not the end. There is no cap on re-applications, and once the denial reason is addressed, a new application can be filed. A typical timeline: visit the immigration office within a month of the notice to hear the reason → spend 6 months to 2 years on remediation (back-paying taxes, back-paying pension, extending residence status to its longest term, building up marriage-substance records) → update documents and refile.

Past denials are referenced in the new review, but if the cause is genuinely resolved, the approval rate holds up. Hiring an gyōseishoshi (administrative scrivener) is one path: typical fees of ¥200,000–500,000 cover document preparation and dialogue with the immigration office. The office’s own consultation desk (free) and the public guidelines often suffice for self-filing.

After denial, the underlying residence status continues unchanged; immediate departure is not required. Routine renewals of the working status proceed as normal, though the PR application record persists.

Sources: ISA: Permanent Residence Application Procedure.

What Changed in 2024–2026

Finally, recent changes. The Immigration Control Act amendment enacted in June 2024 added grounds for revoking permanent residence, effective April 1, 2027: if intentional non-payment of tax or social insurance, or failure to meet immigration-law obligations without good reason, is confirmed, permanent residence can be revoked or switched by the Minister of Justice to another status (usually teijūsha). The official Q&A says non-payment that is not the person’s fault, such as illness or job loss, is not covered.

Fees were revised again on October 1, 2026. Permanent residence permission went from ¥10,000 to ¥200,000, and extension and change of status are now priced by the period granted: 1 year ¥33,000 (online ¥27,000), 3 years ¥64,000 (online ¥56,000), 5 years ¥75,000 (online ¥65,000). The guidelines were revised in February and October 2026; the new income, pension, Japanese-language and time-abroad standards are covered above. Integration of the My Number Card with the residence card (the “specified residence card”) opened for voluntary application on June 14, 2026.

Sources: ISA: PR System Q&A (revocation rules), Guidelines for Permanent Residence Permission (revised Oct 1, 2026), ISA: Revision of residence permission fees on October 1, 2026.

Glossary

  • eijūsha: permanent resident, residence status without expiry
  • zairyū shikaku: residence status / category in Japan
  • mimoto hoshōsho: written guarantee from a sponsor
  • kazei shōmeisho: municipal tax assessment certificate
  • kokueki tekigō: national interest conformity (the conduct + payment requirement)

References