Permanent Residence : New Rules and What Expect

Last fall (2025), the requirements for the “Business Manager” status were suddenly tightened. So long as I know, the stated purpose is to exclude foreigners who are trying to remain in Japan on the basis of sham businesses. However, as a result of these new restrictions, inquiries from foreign nationals who were planning to newly establish a company in Japan and reside here under this status have suddenly dropped to zero. Existing foreign residents who already hold this status are also required to meet the new criteria within three years, so some clients are now rushing to increase their capital and hire full‑time employees, while others have decided that there is no longer enough benefit in continuing to live in Japan and have returned to their home countries instead. As someone who has supported these clients for many years with company formation, status applications, business licenses and employee hiring, it is deeply disappointing to see them ultimately leave Japan.

The next areas to face stricter requirements are naturalization (the residence requirement will suddenly jump from five years to ten years as of April 1) and permanent residence. In this post, I would like to explain the future outlook for permanent residence requirements and cancellation rules, as well as permanent residence applications based on the Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) points system.

1. Current tightening of permanent residence requirements and cancellation rules

First, on 23 January 2025, the government adopted the “Comprehensive Measures for the Acceptance of Foreign Nationals and the Realization of an Orderly Co‑existing Society,” which clearly states that the Immigration Control Act will be amended to “clarify the requirements for permanent residence permits” and to “add new grounds for cancellation of permanent residence,” with a view to implementation in April 2027. Please refer the response to UN for this policy change. In this document, the government also indicates a broader direction of tightening, including more stringent examination of residence status and integrated management of residence cards and the Individual Number (“My Number”) system.

In addition, the Immigration Services Agency published a policy paper last autumn that sets out the future direction in more detail, called “Immigration Control and Residency Management Policy Council – Document (1)” (in Japanese). This article refers the issues.The basic idea is to clarify and strictly apply the requirements for granting permanent residence, and at the same time to begin monitoring the situation after a person has obtained permanent residency status. In the past, once someone obtained permanent residency status, there were no meaningful mechanisms to monitor what they were doing or where they were living, beyond renewing the residence card. The new direction is to introduce a framework that allows ongoing checks on the circumstances of permanent residents.

Briefly, the main points are:

• Clarification of the requirements for granting permanent residence
  The statute will expressly define the content of the requirement that “the person’s permanent residence is deemed to be in accord with the interests of Japan,” by setting out in law the need to comply with obligations under the Immigration Control Act and to pay public dues (taxes and social pension & health insurance), and by reorganizing the existing requirements such as ten years of residence in principle, good conduct, and stable and independent livelihood.
• New grounds for cancellation applicable to permanent residents
  For permanent residents, the law will newly add, as grounds for cancellation of the status of residence of “Permanent Resident,” (i) violations of obligations under the Immigration Control Act or intentional non‑payment of public dues (Article 22‑4(1)(viii)), and (ii) where the person has been sentenced to imprisonment, etc. for certain serious criminal offenses (Article 22‑4(1)(ix)).
• Reporting system and ex officio change of status
  A new system will allow national and local government officials to report foreign nationals who appear to fall under the new cancellation grounds, after which the Immigration Services Agency will investigate and decide whether cancellation is appropriate. In doing so, taking into account the “degree of settlement” of a permanent resident, the law will in principle avoid immediately subjecting them to deportation, and will instead allow the authorities to change their status of residence ex officio to another status such as “Long‑term Resident,” except in cases where it is not appropriate for them to continue to reside in Japan.
• Preparation of guidelines, including the meaning of “intentionally not paying public dues”
  The government plans to set out, in guidelines, how to interpret “intentional” non‑payment (for example, distinguishing between those who cannot pay due to illness or loss of employment and those who simply refuse to pay despite having the ability to do so), as well as specific examples of when reports should or should not be made, and how to distinguish between cases where a change to another status is appropriate and cases where cancellation is appropriate.

A new Guideline on Permanent Residence Permits was issued in February 2026, which I recommend you review for the details. In this guideline, “good conduct” is interpreted to mean that a person living in Japan must pay the taxes and social insurance contributions they owe, and that failure to do so can lead to cancellation. It also defines in outline the special exceptions that allow some relaxation of the ten‑year residence requirement. As mentioned above, however, by 2027 we are likely to see amendments to the Immigration Control Act that will add elements such as a Japanese‑language requirement and additional requirements relating to the maintenance of permanent residence.

2. Permanent residence applications based on the HSP points system

As noted above, the ten‑year residence requirement for permanent residence can be shortened by using the Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) points system. If you have at least 80 points and maintain that score for one full year, you can become eligible to apply for permanent residence after only one year of residence in Japan. In practice, you must be working in a Japanese company or operating a business in Japan. Having 80 points while living overseas does not allow you to apply; you must maintain HSP status in Japan for at least a year.

If you are applying based on Highly Skilled Professional (i)(ha), your underlying status is “Business Manager,” which means you must satisfy the requirements for the Business Manager status as revised. Even if you met the former Business Manager requirements at the time you obtained your status, your permanent residence application will be refused unless you already meet the new requirements or can demonstrate, with concrete evidence, that you will meet them within three years (i.e. by 16 October 2028). I have explained this in more detail in an article on Relocate, so please check this article.

3. The risks of “permanent residence + re‑entry permit” while living abroad

Although there is not yet a specific statutory provision that explicitly prohibits it, there is a clear policy trend toward treating the practice of using a re‑entry permit simply to “keep” permanent residence as a card—while effectively living overseas—as a problem, both for tax authorities and for immigration authorities.

At present, the new cancellation ground relating to public dues is framed in terms of permanent residents who are actually residing in Japan but deliberately fail to fulfill their obligation to pay taxes and social insurance contributions. However, in reality there are likely to be quite a few foreign nationals who, after obtaining permanent residence, live abroad without keeping an address in Japan, and therefore do not pay Japanese public dues at all. Because they have no registered address, they are not subject to Japanese residence‑based taxation, and as long as they obtain a re‑entry permit and return to Japan within five years, they can currently maintain their permanent resident status.

Yet such individuals are, strictly speaking, no longer meeting the legal requirement at the time of the permanent residence application that “the person’s permanent residence is deemed to be in accord with the interests of Japan.” If they no longer satisfy this requirement in substance, it becomes difficult to justify Japan continuing to allow them to retain that status.​

For that reason, if you currently hold permanent residence but (i) have not filed an address in Japan, (ii) only have a nominal address where you do not actually live, or (iii) are absent from Japan for long periods with no real living base here, you should assume that these circumstances may in future be taken into account in deciding whether to cancel or change your status of residence.

4. For those who are now considering permanent residence

Once you obtain permanent residence, you are no longer tied to a particular work‑related status, so you can change jobs freely, and it also becomes easier to obtain housing loans. For people who truly intend to continue actually living in Japan in the future, permanent residence remains a very attractive status.

On the other hand, if your basic plan is to live in your home country or elsewhere overseas and you only want the status, or you do not intend to live in Japan but simply want to have permanent residence on paper, you should be aware that:

• If that intention is apparent, it will become more difficult to obtain the status in the first place.
• Even if you somehow obtain it, you may struggle to maintain it under the new rules, and in the worst case it could be cancelled.

With that in mind, I would encourage you to think carefully before applying.

The current fee for a permanent residence application is 10,000 yen, but under the bill approved by the Cabinet in March 2026 the statutory upper limit will be raised to 300,000 yen, and media reports suggest that the actual fee is likely to rise to over 100,000 yen sometime around 2027. If you already meet the requirements and intend to live in Japan for the foreseeable future, I would recommend applying sooner rather than later.