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November 10th 2024, the Immigration Services Agency of Japan amended the Permanent Resident Permit Guidelines, the inspection standard for application of Permanent Residence in Japan.
The guideline is the minimum requirements to get Permanent Residence in Japan. The Immigration inspectors will also see the points which are not mentioned in this guideline. So, it doesn’t mean that you are guaranteed to get Permanent Residence by meeting the requirements written in this guideline.
But we will have to know that you must start consideration to apply for Permanent Residence after meeting these requirements. Since it’s the minimum requirements, the Immigration Authority does not issue Permanent Residence for the person who don’t meet the minimum requirements in this guideline. So, I think it’s worth checking the guideline before fulfilling the application form.
In this article, I’ll explain the requirements written in this guideline for working VISA holders (e.g. Highly Skilled Professional (HSP)（高度専門職）, Business Manager(経営・管理), Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services (ESI)(技術・人文知識・国際業務).
General requirements for Working VISA holders
If you are working VISA holders who want to apply for Permanent Residence in Japan, You are required to meet from (1) to (3)
(1) Be of Good conduct
Comply with the law and lead a life that is not socially criticized as a resident in your daily life.
You have to be the person who follow Japanese law. If you have the history for sentenced to be imprisoned or pay fine by judicial court, you don’t meet this requirements.
One thing you have to care regarding this requirement is traffic violation. In Japan, minor violations for traffic rules are not treated as crime. You would pay fine if you received the traffic ticket from a police officer. But this fine is not considered as “fine” under the criminal law of Japan. The Fine for minor violation of traffic rule is called Hansoku-kin(反則金) and considered as administrative penalty. So it is not considered as punishment for violation of criminal law.
Under current inspection, the Immigration inspectors does not reject the application for the applicant who just have the history of minor violation of traffic rule 1~3 times. But you are required to report the history of minor violation of traffic rules.
(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.
You need to have enough income or asset to pay the cost of your life in Japan. The Immigration Services Agency has their own internal inspection standards to check whether your income is enough to pay the cost of your daily life in Japan. So, they will check whether your income meet the standard set by the Immigration authority.
(3) The person's permanent residence is deemed to be in the interests of Japan.
In principle, the applicant must have stayed in Japan continuously for 10 years or longer. However, within this period, it is necessary to stay in Japan for more than 5 years with a work status (excluding the status of residence "Technical Intern Training" and "Specified Skilled Worker No. 1") or residence status.
Principally, the applicants need to live in Japan for 10 years or longer. And you need to live in Japan for more than 5 years with working status or residence status. So you don’t meet this requirement if you live in Japan for 8 years as students VISA holders and 2 years as working VISA holders.
A) 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)
*As a general rule, the fulfillment of public obligations will be negatively evaluated if they have not been fulfilled within the initial tax payment period, even if the tax has already been paid at the time of application.
You are required to obey the law. You are also required to property fulfill public obligation (tax, social security).
It is worth mensioning that the Immigration Services Agency now cleafy that you have the strong possibility to get rejection even you paid tax and social security if you make payment after the deadline.
The new guideline was made to cleafy these points for potential applications for applications of Permanent Residence Permits.
B) 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.
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.
You need to have 3 years VISA or 5 years VISA. If you have 1 year VISA, you will not meet this requirement. But about this requirement, the Immigration officer has exceptional treatment for Dependent VISA holder(家族滞在).
D) There is no risk of being harmful from the viewpoint of public health.
The applicants have to be the person who will not harm public heath.
Requirements for the applicants who use point calculation for PR application(70 points or more )
If you currently have 70 points for point calculation for Highly skilled professionals, There is the following exceptional requirements regarding residence history so they could apply for Permanent Residency without living in Japan for 10 years or more.
※You still need to meet (1)Be of goold conduct and (2) Having sufficient assets or skills to support one's livelihood independently and other conditions on (3) The person's permanent residence is deemed to be in the interests of Japan.
(6) A person who has 70 points or more when calculating points according to the Ministerial Ordinance prescribing the criteria for the Highly Skilled Professional section of Appended Table 1-2 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (hereinafter referred to as the "Highly Skilled Professional Ordinance") and who falls under any of the following:
A) The applicant must have maintained the required points as a "highly skilled foreign professional" and have continuously resided in Japan for more than three years.
B)When calculating points based on the points provided for in the Ministerial Ordinance on Highly Skilled Professionals, using the point value three years prior to the date of application for permanent residence permission as the base point, the applicant has been recognized as having a score of 70 points or more, and has been residing in Japan with a score of 70 points or more for three consecutive years or more.
If you have 70 points or more now and also meet the one of the following requirements, then you meet this requirement.
①Living in Japan for 3 years or more as Highly skilled professional status holders(recognized as person who have 70 points or more) and keeping 70 points or more for 1 year
②Having 70 points or more at the point that is 3 years before from the date of PR applications and keep 70 points or more for 3 years or more.
Requirements for the applicants who use point calculation for PR application(80 points or more )
If you currently have 80 points for point calculation for Highly skilled professionals, There is the following exceptional requirements regarding residence history so they could apply for Permanent Residency without living in Japan for 10 years or more.
※You still need to meet (1)Be of goold conduct and (2) Having sufficient assets or skills to support one's livelihood independently and other conditions on (3) The person's permanent residence is deemed to be in the interests of Japan.
(7) A person who has a score of 80 or more when calculating points according to the Ministerial Ordinance on Highly Skilled Professionals and who falls under any of the following:
A) The applicant must have maintained the required points as a "highly skilled foreign professional" and have continuously resided in Japan for more than one year.
B) When calculating points based on the points provided for in the Ministerial Ordinance on Highly Skilled Professionals, using the point calculation one year prior to the date of application for permanent residence permission as the base point, the applicant has been recognized as having a score of 80 points or more, and has been residing in Japan with a score of 80 points or more for one year or more continuously.
If you have 80 points or more now and also meet the one of the following requirements, then you meet this requirement.
①Living in Japan for 1 years or more as Highly skilled professional status holders and keeping 80 points or more for 1 year or more
②Having 80 points or more at the point that is 1 years before from the date of PR applications and keep 80 points or more for 1 years or more.
Requirements for the applicants who meet the requirements under “Special High skill professional system”
If you currently meet criteria for Special Highly skilled prodwaaionals ,There is the following exceptional requirements regarding residence history so they could apply for Permanent Residency without living in Japan for 10 years or more.
※You still need to meet (1)Be of goold conduct and (2) Having sufficient assets or skills to support one's livelihood independently and other conditions on (3) The person's permanent residence is deemed to be in the interests of Japan.
(8) A person who meets the criteria set forth in the Ministerial Ordinance on the Criteria for Specially Highly Skilled Foreign Workers (hereinafter referred to as the "Ministerial Ordinance on Specially Highly Skilled Foreign Workers") and who falls under any of the following:
A)Have been residing in Japan as a "specially highly skilled foreign professional" for more than one year continuously.
B)person who has been residing in Japan for one year or more continuously and is recognized as meeting the criteria set out in the Ministerial Ordinance on Special Highly Skilled Foreign Workers based on the date one year prior to the date of application for permanent residence permission.
If you meet the criteria of Special Highly skilled professionals now and also meet the one of the following requirements, then you meet this requirement.
①Living in Japan for 1 years as special highly skilled professionals
②Meeting the criteria for Special Highly skilled professionals at the point that is 1 years before from the date of PR applications and living in Japan for 1 year or more.
Getting advice from professional is crucial
As you see in this article, some of requirements are confusing and difficult to understand what these mean. And You also need to know that there are some points which the Immigration officer check to find whether the applicants meet the requirements or not. And you also need to know that you need to prove you meet these requirements. There are some cases that applicants failed to get PR status because of discription on the documents or failing to submit the paper which is crucial to prove your eligibility.
And you also need to care about the fact that the inspection over PR status now takes around 14 months for many cases if you file the application to Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau. So, if you fail to check your eligibility, you might waste 14 months and takes so much time even if you file re-application.
Under such condition, it is important to seek the advise from Immigration law profession like us who mainly handle application for Permanent Residency. Our firm prove the following services for applicants of Permanent Residences.
Handling documentation for PR application
Reviewing the proofs and the documents
Advising on how and when you should file the application
Act on the application to Immigration Services Bureau.
the first step you will take in my firm is checking whether you are eligible for Permanent Residency in Japan. If you want to check your eligibility, we will review your condition through consultation. We provide the following consultation service.
Consultation
Location:Yokohama,Shingawa
Fee:11,000 yen per hour
※Every Wednesday(10:00～17:00) and Tuesday(10:00〜17:00) we offer Free consultation.On Tuesday, we offer free consultation in Yokohama. On Wednesday, we offer free consultation in Shinagawa.
※If you enter to Service cotract, you will receive the discount on the fee in the same amount you paid as consultation fee.
E-mail Consultation:Free
※You could only seek advise regarding eligibility of residence status. You could not ask us to review the documents through consultation.
If you want to take consultation, please contact us through e-mail and let us know which consultation you want to take.
Daichi Ito
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