Japan revises its Permanent Residence Guidelines on 10-01, raises the PR application fee to ¥200,000, and from April 2027 unpaid taxes can cost you PR

Japan's Immigration Services Agency revised the Permanent Residence Guidelines on 2026-10-01, adding Japanese language ability as a factor (in principle JLPT/CEFR B1 or equivalent as one confirming standard) and shifting scrutiny towards a substantive check of tax payments, social insurance and stability of livelihood; the new guidelines in principle apply to applications filed on or after 2027-04-01. In parallel, the PR application fee is ¥200,000 for applications accepted on or after 2026-10-01 (previously about ¥10,000); applications accepted by 2026-09-30 are charged the old amount. Separately, from 2027-04-01, intentionally failing to pay taxes, social insurance premiums and other public charges may become grounds for revoking permanent residence (non-payment does not automatically lead to revocation, and unavoidable circumstances such as illness or unemployment are taken into account). On the period of stay, until 2027-03-31 a 3-year period of stay is still treated as satisfying the maximum-period requirement for PR.

PR is turning from 'serve the years and you are there' into a three-part test of years plus compliance plus Japanese, at an order-of-magnitude higher cost. Anyone on the Business Manager or Highly Skilled route should keep complete tax and social insurance records from year one, so that a payment gap does not become grounds for revocation after April 2027.

Immigration Services Agency of Japan guideline update / compilation by ACROSEED (Note on scope: Compiled by a law firm; the Immigration Services Agency publication governs), verified by us on 2026-10-14.