Regarding the Income Requirement for Obtaining Permanent Residence

What Is the Income Requirement for Obtaining Permanent Residence?

One of the important points for obtaining Permanent Residence is income. Regarding the proof of income, from July 2019, the submission of taxation certificates for the most recent 5 years (previously, the most recent 3 years) became required. Previously, 3 years of taxation certificates were sufficient, but with this changing to 5 years, you must maintain stable income over a longer period, and the bar for the income requirement has been raised compared to before. So how much income is actually needed to satisfy this income requirement? This is explained below.

The Amount Required to Satisfy the Income Requirement for Obtaining Permanent Residence

The specific amount for the income requirement is not explicitly published, but an annual income of at least 3 million yen is required, and this must be satisfied for 5 consecutive years. The document used to verify whether the income requirement is met is the taxation certificate issued by the municipality. In other words, taxation certificates for the most recent 5 years, counted backward from the Permanent Residence application, must be obtained. If you consistently meet the 3-million-yen annual income threshold based on these taxation certificates for 5 consecutive years, your chances of clearing the income requirement become high.

Regarding the Interpretation of “5 Consecutive Years”

As explained, an annual income of at least 3 million yen for 5 consecutive years serves as one benchmark. But what if, for example, 3 years ago you had a period of unemployment due to job hunting and could not meet the 3-million-yen threshold, while in another year you had 600,000 yen of income or more, so that on average you cleared the 3-million-yen threshold? In this case, the question is whether the income requirement is satisfied, but if there is even one year falling below 3 million yen, it is likely to be judged that the income requirement is not satisfied. You need to have consistently cleared 3 million yen in every year.

Regarding Household Income

We are often asked whether the income requirement can be satisfied using household income. If the applicant holds a status-based Status of Residence such as Spouse or Child of Japanese National, it is possible to clear the income requirement using the spouse’s income. On the other hand, if the applicant holds a work visa such as Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services, it is preferable to satisfy the income requirement on your own. Also, income earned through activities outside the permitted scope on a Dependent visa or the like is difficult to have included in the total.

Regarding Dependents

As explained above, an annual income of at least 3 million yen for 5 consecutive years is required to obtain Permanent Residence, but this is the minimum amount when the foreign national wishing to obtain Permanent Residence applies on their own. If you have a spouse, children, or relatives residing overseas as dependents, the threshold rises. This is also not explicitly published, but it is reasonable to assume that approximately 200,000 to 300,000 yen of additional income is added per dependent.

What requires caution with this condition is when the number of dependents has increased or decreased within 5 years. A common pattern is removing overseas relatives from dependent status after deciding to apply for Permanent Residence. Just because you have removed them does not mean the base amount for the income requirement is lowered for all of the most recent 5 years. The reason is that the taxation certificate states how many dependents you had in that year. In other words, the required income differs depending on the number of dependents in each year. Therefore, reducing the number of dependents does not lower the base amount of income for all of the past 5 years.

Regarding Relaxation of the Income Requirement for Obtaining Permanent Residence

The income requirement may be relaxed depending on the circumstances at the time of the Permanent Residence application. The base amount itself is not lowered, but the number of years for which taxation certificates must be submitted is relaxed. The following lists the conditions under which the requirement is relaxed and the post-relaxation number of years.

Summary of the Income Requirement for Obtaining Permanent Residence

・Income (annual) = 3 million yen or more

・As a general rule, this must be reached for 5 consecutive years.

* Special exceptions apply for Spouses or Children of Japanese Nationals, Highly Skilled Professionals, and others.

・Annual income is judged based on the “resident tax taxation certificate” issued by the municipal office.

 

Also, for those considering filing a Permission for Permanent Residence application going forward, if you are thinking of changing jobs, it is safer to hold off as much as possible until the result of the Permission for Permanent Residence application comes in.

Cases where changing jobs causes a temporary drop in annual income, or where the timing of switching to National Pension and National Health Insurance is delayed, leading to late payments and disadvantages in the Permanent Residence review, are not uncommon.

For any unclear points, we recommend consulting a specialist.