Published: October 2026
On October 1, 2026 — the same day the new ¥200,000 PR fee took effect — the Immigration Services Agency formally adopted a revised version of the Permanent Residence Guidelines. This is the overhaul that spent 2026 moving from rumor to proposal to public comment; it is now official text.
The short version: permanent residence in Japan is becoming a materially higher bar, and the most important date in the document is April 1, 2027 — when most of the new requirements switch on. One, however, is already live, and retroactively.
What Changed, At a Glance
| Requirement | New standard | Applies to applications |
|---|---|---|
| Household income | Continuously above the average income of Japanese households of the same size | Already in force — incl. applications filed from Apr 1, 2026 still pending on Oct 1, 2026 |
| Public-burden provision | Not reliant on public support (reinforced wording) | Already in force — same retroactive scope |
| Pension adequacy | Projected benefits ≥ 30-year kosei nenkin standard; asset offsets by age; spousal aggregation | From Apr 1, 2027 |
| Japanese language | B1 level or above (reference framework) | From Apr 1, 2027 |
| Understanding of Japanese systems | Assessed against the official Life & Work Guidebook | From Apr 1, 2027 |
| Children's schooling | School-age children must attend elementary/junior high school | From Apr 1, 2027 |
| Spouse of Japanese national / PR | 5 years of marriage + 3 years of residence (was 3 + 1) | From Apr 1, 2027 |
| Children of Japanese nationals / PRs | 3 years of residence (was 1) | From Apr 1, 2027 |
| Long absences | Single absence of 6+ months, or 2.5+ years cumulative, within the past 10 years: negative in principle | From Apr 1, 2027 |
1. The Income Requirement — Live Now, and Reaching Backward
The new guideline asks whether your household income has continuously reached a level above the average income of Japanese households of the same household size. The guideline deliberately avoids a fixed yen figure — the ISA has indicated it will refer to government household-income surveys rather than publish set thresholds. Press reporting puts the national reference average around ¥5.75 million (2024 welfare ministry survey), adjusted up or down by household size and dependents.
The household mechanics deserve attention, because they cut both ways:
- Dependents count toward household size even if they live overseas — supporting family abroad raises the income bar you must clear.
- Income from household members without work-permitted status (a dependent-visa spouse, for instance) generally does not count toward household income.
- Continuity matters: the standard looks at whether income has continuously met the bar, consistent with the existing multi-year review of tax records.
Timing — the part that surprises people: this provision (together with the reinforced public-burden provision) did not wait for April 2027. It applies now, including to applications filed on or after April 1, 2026 that were still under examination on October 1, 2026. If you have a pending application filed since spring, the income standard examining it has changed mid-stream.
2. The Pension Test — Financial Independence, Projected Forward
From April 2027 applications, immigration will assess whether your projected pension benefits reach the level of a person who worked 30 years enrolled in the employees' pension (kosei nenkin). Falling short is not automatically fatal: the guideline allows financial assets to offset the gap, with the required asset level varying by age, and a spouse's projected benefits are counted jointly (including periods as a category-III insured dependent).
The practical takeaway for anyone who spent years outside the pension system, paid into a foreign scheme, or ran a business on national pension only: your retirement math is now part of your immigration file.
3. Japanese Language — B1, With Meaningful Exemptions
From April 2027 applications, applicants generally need Japanese at B1 level or above under Japan's language-education reference framework. In JLPT terms, the official correspondence puts B1 at N3 with a total score of 104 or above (a bare N3 pass at 95–103 displays as A2), while any passing N2 (90+) is B1 or higher. JLPT results now carry a CEFR reference level, though the ISA has yet to specify which certificates it will accept as proof. Exemptions include:
- Those scoring 70+ points under the Highly Skilled Professional points calculation, and their family members — the guideline references the points ordinance directly, so scoring 70+ is what matters, not necessarily holding the HSP visa
- People who completed six or more years of elementary/secondary education in Japan
- Japan-born children of permanent residents (conditions apply)
Alongside language, a new "understanding of Japanese systems" check arrives, assessed around the government's Life & Work Guidebook, and parents must show school-age children are attending elementary or junior high school.
4. The Spouse Route Just Doubled — the Under-Reported Change
Most coverage led with income and language. For many of our clients, this is the bigger change: the special provision for spouses of Japanese nationals and permanent residents moves from 3 years of marriage + 1 year of residence to 5 years of genuine marriage + 3 years of continuous residence for applications from April 1, 2027. The residence requirement for children rises from 1 year to 3.
If you are a spouse who qualifies under today's 3+1 rule, you have until March 31, 2027 to file under it. Given the current 10–18 month processing queues, filing sooner also means your case is decided sooner under the standards it was filed against.
5. Everything Converges on April 1, 2027
Count what now lands on that single date: these new requirements (language, pension, systems, schooling, spouse periods) — plus the 5-year period-of-stay rule from the February guideline revision, plus the revocation regime from the 2024 law amendment. And the ¥200,000 fee is already here.
For anyone weighing permanent residence, the planning question has become unusually concrete: a complete, well-documented application filed before April 1, 2027 is examined under materially more accessible criteria than the identical application filed after it — noting that the income and public-burden standards already apply either way.
What We Recommend
- Spouses of Japanese nationals/PRs who meet 3+1 today: this is the clearest beneficiary of acting before March 31, 2027 — afterward the route requires two more years of marriage and two more years of residence.
- 3-year visa holders: the period-of-stay window closes the same day; the two deadlines compound.
- Everyone: audit your five-year income, tax, and pension record against the new standards before filing — the income test is already live, and a shortfall is better discovered in our office than at the bureau. Our assessment covers exactly this, and the HSP points calculator remains the fastest route for those who score 70+ — and a 70+ score also exempts you from the language requirement (though not from the income and pension standards; younger fast-track applicants should note the pension test and its asset-offset option in particular).
- If your application is pending now (filed since April 2026): be ready for income-related follow-up questions from the bureau; we can review your position.
Sources: Immigration Services Agency, 永住許可に関するガイドライン（令和８年１０月１日改定） (official revised guideline text); The Japan Times; nippon.com/Jiji; Tokyo Shimbun; The Mainichi; JLPT–CEFR correspondence per the official JLPT reference table. The ¥5.75M figure is a press-reported reference to the 2024 MHLW survey average, not a figure stated in the guideline; proof methods for the language and systems requirements await further ISA specification. Figures verified against the official guideline text as of October 2026.