What Is Permanent Residence?

What Is Permanent Residence?

Permanent Residence refers to the right of a foreign national to reside in the host country without restrictions on residence activities or period of stay. In Japan, a foreign national obtains Permanent Residence by acquiring the “Permanent Resident” Status of Residence.

Characteristics of Permanent Residence

Normally, when a foreign national obtains a Status of Residence to reside in Japan, strict residence management is applied. Specifically, the activities the foreign national can engage in within Japan are limited to a certain range commensurate with the Status of Residence, and renewal of the Status of Residence is required every few months to every few years.

Such renewals are not guaranteed to be approved. If denied, the applicant must reapply or change to another Status of Residence, and if those efforts also fail, the visa is lost and the applicant must leave Japan.

Permanent Residents, in that both their residence activities and period of stay are unrestricted, enjoy a significantly relaxed residence management regime compared with other Statuses of Residence.

For this reason, obtaining Permanent Residence (i.e., changing from another Status of Residence to “Permanent Resident”) is said to require a more careful review than ordinary changes of Status of Residence.

To enable this careful review, the process operates under independent provisions separate from ordinary procedures for change of Status of Residence, making the review rigorous.

Note that, even after obtaining the “Permanent Resident” Status of Residence, in the following cases:

you lose the “Permanent Resident” Status of Residence and can no longer exercise Permanent Residence rights, so caution is required.

* Special Re-entry Permit
A system under which foreign nationals holding a Status of Residence other than “Temporary Visitor” or “Statuses of Residence of 3 months or less” are, as a general rule, not required to obtain an ordinary Re-entry Permit if they re-enter Japan within 1 year from the day of departure.

The Difference from Naturalization

Some people are unclear on the difference between “obtaining Permanent Residence” and “Naturalization.” “Obtaining Permanent Residence” and “Naturalization” share the common feature of allowing foreign nationals to enjoy many rights in Japan.

However, they differ in that “Naturalization” means acquiring Japanese nationality (= becoming completely Japanese), while “Permanent Resident” is ultimately one type of Status of Residence (= remaining a foreign national).

“Permanent Resident” merely involves obtaining the strong right of Permanent Residence; as discussed below, rights granted only to Japanese nationals cannot be enjoyed even by Permanent Residents. In the case of Naturalization, since one becomes completely Japanese, the rights granted only to Japanese nationals can also be enjoyed.

How to Obtain Permanent Residence

To obtain Permanent Residence, you must satisfy the following requirements.

For details on each requirement, please see this page (Regarding the Requirements for Permanent Residence).

The Effects of Permanent Residence

Unlike “Naturalization,” which involves acquiring Japanese nationality, “Permanent Resident” remains a foreign national.

Therefore, the following rights, granted only to those with Japanese nationality, cannot be exercised even after obtaining Permanent Residence.

Special Permanent Residents

In addition to the “Permanent Resident” status described above, there is also “Special Permanent Resident” (to distinguish them from Special Permanent Residents, the Permanent Residents described above are sometimes referred to as “general Permanent Residents”).

Special Permanent Resident is the Status of Residence granted to foreign nationals who lost their Japanese nationality under the San Francisco Peace Treaty, and to their descendants.

Special Permanent Residents can enjoy Permanent Residence rights in the same manner as general Permanent Residents.

Conclusion

Obtaining Permanent Residence grants significant freedom in activities in Japan. For those who have already renewed their visa several times and have resided in Japan over the long term, considering Permanent Residence is one option worth exploring.