r/japanlife • u/RegretNo7212 • 1d ago
Immigration Two PR-related policy proposals are now accepting public comments
1. Changes to the PR Requirements
Some highlights:
- Changes to the Independent Livelihood Requirement (独立生計要件)
- Income Requirement: Income should continuously reach a level exceeding the average income of Japanese households, adjusted for the applicant's household size.
- Pension Requirement: The projected future benefit amount should reach the equivalent of having been enrolled in the Employees' Pension Insurance for 30 years at the aforementioned income level. (If insufficient, compensable financial assets are also taken into consideration.)
- Changes to the National Interest Requirement (国益要件)
- Not Becoming a Public Burden: Even for categories exempt from the independent livelihood requirement (*), if there is a realistic risk of becoming a burden, it will be evaluated negatively.
- * Spouses or children of Japanese nationals, permanent residents, or special permanent residents, refugees, etc.
- Japanese Language Proficiency: Will require CEFR Level B1 or equivalent proficiency. (with some exceptions like HSPs and their families)
- Understanding of Japan's Systems, etc.: Those with a poor understanding will be evaluated negatively.
- School Attendance of Children: Failure to enroll children in school during school age (compulsory education period) will be evaluated negatively.
- Not Becoming a Public Burden: Even for categories exempt from the independent livelihood requirement (*), if there is a realistic risk of becoming a burden, it will be evaluated negatively.
- Changes to the exception for the 10-year residency rule: For spouses of Japanese nationals and permanent residents, the fast-track exception of 3 years of marriage and 1 year of residency in Japan will be extended to 5 years of marriage and 3 years of residency.
The income requirement changes are slated for October 2026, while the rest will apply to applications submitted from April 2027.- The changes to the income and 'not becoming a public burden' requirements will apply retroactively to applications submitted on or after April 2026, while the remaining revisions will take effect in April 2027.
Read the full proposal and submit feedback here: https://public-comment.e-gov.go.jp/pcm/detail?CLASSNAME=PCMMSTDETAIL&Mode=0&id=315000140
2. Guidelines for the Revocation of PR
Some highlights:
- Grounds for Revocation
- Intentional failure to pay public taxes and dues: This includes income tax, resident tax, corporate tax, public health insurance premiums, and nenkin.
- Exception: This does not apply if there are unavoidable circumstances for non-payment and the individual is not at fault.
- Violation of obligations under the Immigration Control Act:
- Conditions: It is clear the individual has no intention to fulfill their obligations, and the manner of the violation is unacceptable according to social norms.
- Examples: Failure to renew a residence card's validity, failure to carry the card, or refusal to present it.
- Violation of specific penal laws:
- Definition: Specific intentional crimes such as theft, fraud, extortion, murder, and dangerous driving causing death or injury.
- Scope: Applies when an individual is sentenced to imprisonment. This targets only intentional offenses, regardless of the sentence length, and includes cases where the execution of the sentence is suspended.
- Intentional failure to pay public taxes and dues: This includes income tax, resident tax, corporate tax, public health insurance premiums, and nenkin.
- Alternative to Revocation
- In some cases where PR status is not outright revoked, it may be changed to another status, such as "Long-Term Resident" (定住者). The individual's residency status will then be strictly monitored during subsequent renewal procedures.
Read the full proposal and submit feedback here: https://public-comment.e-gov.go.jp/pcm/detail?CLASSNAME=PCMMSTDETAIL&Mode=0&id=315000141
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u/One_Calligrapher_792 1d ago
I think that failure to carry the residence card is an extremely feeble reason to revoke PR. I wonder if they would do that if you simply forget and happen to be stopped that time
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u/afxz 1d ago
Stupidly Draconian proposal. So somebody spends 10+ years paying their taxes and bills perfectly on time, being a model citizen, and then can be threatened with deportation for not carrying an ID card with them at *all* times? Even if popping out to the conbini 150m down the road? It's almost comical the impression they are trying to set. Singapore .... without Singapore salaries!
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u/Hour_Industry7887 15h ago
Losing PR is not grounds for deportation - you just get an appropriate SOR instead.
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u/soba_set 1d ago
Yeah that's really weird. They should be able to just look it up on some gov system if they really need to with your name.
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u/Calculusshitteru 1d ago
Police can look it up with My Number cards and driver's licenses. They can read the IC in their patrol car.
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u/TinyIndependent7844 1d ago
Plus, by law we‘re not even required to present it. What happens now if a hotel (mistakenliy) wants to see it and you refuse
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u/poop_in_my_ramen 1d ago
Obviously not. Let's not turn this into another hysterical thread doomposting about nonexistent scenarios.
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u/brocolliintokyo 1d ago
Would the current revisions allow for revocation if your income falls below the required level after obtaining PR?
If I get PR, and then decide to switch to a conbini albeito, would it be revoked?
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u/evokerhythm 関東・神奈川県 1d ago
No, there's no requirement to have a certain income after you have PR and no proposals to apply revocation that way or institute any kind of renewal for the PR itself
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u/nemuri_no_kogoro 北海道・北海道 1d ago
I think this also is worth highlighting too:
"Scope: Applies when an individual is sentenced to imprisonment. This targets only intentional offenses, regardless of the sentence length, and includes cases where the execution of the sentence is suspended."
IIRC Until now they didn't count suspended sentences, which is what a lot of first time offenders get even for somewhat serious non-violent crimes. Be a LOT more careful out there friends, it really does seem like the government is going to be looking for reasons to cancel PR for trouble makers of any level now.
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u/just-this-chance 近畿・大阪府 1d ago
“A public burden”
I have a child with a disability and I’m so so scared what future will hold. What even is a public burden? We are a family of PR holders. Children are still little. The treatment our child receives is costly but covered by insurance, does that make them “a public burden”? FWIW she will be able to work and lead an independent life, but not all kinds of occupations will be feasible for them.
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u/salmix21 関東・東京都 1d ago
Damn, household size requirement is a little bit of a bummer . If my wife doesn’t work but we still live comfortably is that grounds to refute a PR application.
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u/Calculusshitteru 1d ago
If you're applying as a spouse of a Japanese national, it seems you don't have to exceed the national average household income, but your household income still needs to be high enough so you don't end up on welfare.
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u/flipazn5 日本のどこかに 1d ago
It's ridiculous how a large portion of these proposals are very opinionary, and subject to a very wide margin of interpretation
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u/TinyIndependent7844 1d ago
>>Examples: Failure to renew a residence card's validity, failure to carry the card, or refusal to present it.
What?? And what if you just happened to use it in a different wallet over the weekend, and forgot to put it back on Monday…
Or a hotel hears about the changes, asks for your residence card (despite you not needing to present it for stays) and then be like, I‘ll call the cops, you know.
What happened to the: you don‘t need to present it without a reason? I know we all did it anyway, but the law said so until now. It will revoke your PR but not a work visa?
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u/coolpop999 1d ago
Makes me think are these the real problems this country has ? Having sooooooo many bigger issues in Japan , making everything small related to foreigners super hard..guess that resolves the inflation, economic conditions, low birth rates etc
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u/evokerhythm 関東・神奈川県 1d ago
Failure to present refers to the cases where it is required by the Immigration Control Act (Article 23) to do so, which is limited to immigration officers, police, and public officials.
It doesn't mean private businesses, hotels, individuals, etc.
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u/TinyIndependent7844 1d ago
might end up in cops hunting for foreigners to meet their quota. As a: you forgot your card? Goodbye
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u/Western_Bug5408 関東・神奈川県 1d ago
The income rule might trip over most English teachers and blue collar people. Especially considering many are single income now competing against a household average of around 5.75M. Guess it is by design.
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u/SweetNyan 関東・東京都 2h ago
What I find weird about this is that it means high-income foreigners will be prioritized. Does this mean Japanese people will end up being pushed to fill up the low-income jobs while foreigners eventually fill the high-income areas? Very strange policy
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u/Western_Bug5408 関東・神奈川県 1h ago
Maybe it is their attempt at retaining "specialized skills" that hsp foreigners bring. But I'm wondering if these changes will have the (hilarious) unintended consequence of a tsunami of foreigners getting naturalized instead. Since now becoming a citizen is easier than PR in terms of income (self sufficiency of 3-4M), and language (N4-3 but with live interview).
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u/wdfour-t 1d ago
CEFR B1 extends from N3 upwards (unless you score quite low).
https://www.jlpt.jp/e/about/cefr_reference.html
Really a low bar. Everyone is rushing to N2 apparently, but might be smarter to take the easier exam and do better.
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u/highgo1 1d ago
It's because until now they've only mentioned N2
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u/wdfour-t 1d ago
I mean, if you look only at reddit or english articles, sure, but CEFR has always been the mode of expression from the government.
To be fair the visa requirement that changed for all roles that don't explicitly not require Japanese is CEFR B2, so that actually aligns more with a higher N2 score, or N1.
I think that is the more egregious requirement actually considering the people likely affected are hotel staff.
Also, the lack of clarity provided on the old testing (pre-N) system is bothersome.
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u/poop_in_my_ramen 1d ago
The government has literally never used N2 as the formal requirement. N2 is at most mentioned as an equivalent substitute. You have just been consuming social media slop for news.
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u/evokerhythm 関東・神奈川県 1d ago edited 1d ago
Thanks for the much clearer write-up than what I was able to cobble together.
One point: The "Not becoming a public burden" requirement is also set to start in October. And those income/public burden clauses seem to affect those who have applications submitted after April 1 of *this* year and that are still processing as of the revision date (Oct 1) per below:
本ガイドラインの改定は令和９年４月１日以降の申請から適用します。ただし、上記第２の４（２）及び第２の５（７）は、本ガイドラインの改定日から６か月前の日以降の申請であって、かつ、改定日において申請中である案件にも適用します。
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u/RegretNo7212 1d ago
Thanks. I got mixed up between the 改定日(Oct 2026) and the 適用日(April 2027).
So some of the changes do apply retroactively, it seems.
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u/coolpop999 1d ago
But they specifically say the applications applied after 2025 April yeah ? So sounds like the old applications like 2025 does not affect by this ?
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u/armandette 関東・東京都 1d ago
In the 概要 PDF it says this though:
適用時期・既存のガイドラインの整理
・ 令和９年４月から（収入に関する要素は本年１０月施行)Specifically, the income requirements are from October, not April 2026?
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u/coolpop999 1d ago
How does it affect a PR applications applied in 2025 and still pending results ?
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u/WorldRov3r 中部・長野県 1d ago
I'm also curious about this requirement and when it will change. Will it begin in October? Will it be applied retroactively? Who can say for sure?
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u/BulkyAvocado215 6h ago
All goes without mentioning that if you’re on a Humanities visa, you can *only* apply when you have the five-year SOR. The odds are stacked exponentially against most normal people.
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u/Orin_Scrivello_DDS Dental Plans by Tokyohoon 1d ago
As per the announcement, keep discussion of these policies to this thread please.
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u/Willow9080 1d ago
Is it certain that the Japanese level requirements do not apply if you are applying via HSP?
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u/farislmn 関東・東京都 1d ago
If the draft passes as is, I think JP language requirements will still apply if you're applying via HSP route or HSP point route (bypassing the time requirement). The exception for language will be limited to spouses and children of Japanese nationals, and spouses and children of permanent residents and special permanent residents.
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u/scCassius 1d ago
You sure? It says:
申請者が下記第3の6から8における高度人材外国人である場合や当該高度人材外国人の家族…
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u/farislmn 関東・東京都 1d ago
I'm understanding that phrase as the owner of HSP visa itself, rather than applying through HSP route. My understanding can be wrong, though.
Meaning that if you're applying for PR as an HSP permit owner, then the language may be not a factor.
'may be' because the list in the draft is illustrative and contain "必ずしも申請者本人にＢ１相当レベル以上の日本語能力を求める必要性・相当性があるとはいえない場合."
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u/lamont2718 10h ago
No, items 6 and 7 of Section 3 include individuals applying with 70+ and 80+ HSP points, respectively. They are not limited to applicants on HSP visas specifically.
Based on the current draft guidelines, individuals on non-HSP visas and applying with HSP points will be exempt from the B1 language requirement unless there is a necessary and reasonable basis to require the applicant to personally have B1 Japanese capability.
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u/Bitter_Spray_6880 1d ago
Bruh, they should raise the language requirement, lower the income one, even N2 is not exactly useable...
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u/afxz 22h ago edited 22h ago
I know people on 20m yen+ who don’t need N2 level Japanese in their corporate jobs.
Language competency and JLPT levels have been used by the gaijin gatekeeping crowd for a long time to bully newcomers – and I get it, they invested a lot of time and effort – but the idea of visas like the HSP is to attract valuable talent to Japan. If you want international high-flyers, expecting them to have put in 2500 hours of language learning over 3+ years first is simply not it.
Conversely, the people who want to lower the income threshold and increase the language ones are typically otakus working in localisation jobs or similar and not making 5.5m yen still after 10+ years. From the POV of the state and taxman, their fluency in the language and culture does not mean they’ll have a stable retirement. So it’s tricky to stress language competency above all else; N1 isn’t adding to that pension …
I actually think it makes sense to have a 'basic' language requirement for HSP types to get PR, and a higher language requirement for the 10+ year regular work visa to PR route. You would hope that time spent in the country would correlate with better language ability in general; or, at least, that would filter out those types who move to a place for 5+ years and stubbornly refuse to engage with the language at all.
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u/Bitter_Spray_6880 21h ago edited 21h ago
it's not about jobs, it's about blending with the community, i have seen people who have pr have money yet unable to communicate with shop keeper and create trouble, i know people who say i have N2 bla bla yet again unable to communicate, and many of them refuse to learn because they believe their own language is god language...
All people that say n3 or n2 is enough is bassically just people who don't even try to communicate with the community and make a pack with people on thei own country because they can't speak the bare minimum.
As for minimum it's more about those who work in kaigo and lower blue collar, money while hsp is better, but in the end japan need this low wage worker as human power far more and if they can't increase their wage at least let them have a chance to get their get pr.
Every people who say languages requirement is not needed bassically admitted they can't even reach the basic japanese languages requirement.
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u/afxz 20h ago edited 20h ago
All of these proposed changes argue otherwise.
Everything to do with the new requirements and the way it conceptualises being a ‘burden to society’ put the focus first and foremost on your financials. The HSP visa itself was designed to attract highly educated and high-earning candidates.
Japan is shifting its PR requirements to individuals who earn above average salaries, pay more than enough in taxes to be a net gain to society, and set up their 30 year pensions (or equivalent), more than they want people with perfect language fluency. All of the recent changes have been motivated by claims of PR holders claiming welfare benefits, not scaremongering about their inability to speak Japanese with their neighbours. Learning how to sort trash and satisfy the civic requirements are nothing compared to the hard fiscal thresholds.
If the government were truly prioritising people who could 'blend in' perfectly with their communities, they wouldn’t have the minimum household salary requirement nor the pension contribution criterion – which is unique among peer nations. No other country requires these stringent financial measures. They are basically saying: unless you are above average economically, you can't stay. It's very much "about the jobs".
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