This article is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails. Read the Japanese original（日本語版を読む）
Even if your annual income goes up and down because you are a freelancer, you can still apply for permanent residence. What is looked at in screening is not the "movement" in income itself but the overall stability of your living. You put together your final tax returns for the past several years, your savings, and material showing that your business continues, and you explain the reasons for the movement in a written explanation.
An enquiry from a married couple who work as freelancers and have lived in Japan for more than 10 years.
It can. What is looked at in screening is not whether income moves, but the overall stability of your living.
Company employees receive a stable salary every month, so it is relatively easy for them to show that they are able to support themselves. Freelancers and sole proprietors, on the other hand, commonly have an annual income that goes up and down.
The 出入国在留管理庁 (Immigration Services Agency of Japan) looks at the whole picture and judges whether the applicant and the dependants they support will be able to lead a stable life in the future, even where income moves in this way. The fact that your annual income goes up and down is not in itself a reason for denial.
3 things are looked at: the continuity of your income, your assets, and whether you have met your public obligations.
You submit copies of your final tax returns for the past 5 years, or for the 3 years required for an application for permanent residence, to show that you have a stable income. It is also useful to submit contracts with the companies you work for and a portfolio of your work, to show that you have been able to win work continuously.
Even where annual income goes up and down, sufficient savings are taken to show that you have the financial strength to deal with a sudden expense or an emergency. Please submit a certificate of bank balance covering both of you together. If you own real estate in Japan or abroad, the value of that asset is also taken into account.
In addition to copies of your final tax returns, you submit tax payment certificates (income tax, resident tax, consumption tax and so on) to show that you have no unpaid taxes. Being enrolled in 国民健康保険 and 国民年金 and paying the contributions without arrears is also proof that you are meeting your public obligations.
Be honest that your income moves, and then explain why it is nonetheless stable.
Income that goes up and down is simply part of freelance work, so there is no problem in writing about it openly. What matters is explaining how things are stable even so. Write the following 4 points in your written explanation.
For each of you, showing your entitlement to a pension in your home country and the amount of that pension, together with your entitlement under 国民年金 in Japan and the amount you can expect to receive from the age of 65, also helps to explain your stability in the future.
4 things are central: a certificate of bank balance, final tax returns, payment records, and contracts.
Applications for permanent residence by freelancers tend to involve more complex preparation of documents and of the written explanation than those by company employees. If anything worries you, please consult a gyoseishoshi registered to submit applications.
Yes. The fact that your annual income goes up and down is not in itself a reason for denial; what is looked at is the overall stability of your living.
You submit copies of your final tax returns for the past 5 years, or for the 3 years required for an application for permanent residence, to show that you have a stable income.
Yes. Even if your annual income goes up and down, sufficient savings are taken to show that you have the financial strength to deal with a sudden expense or an emergency. You submit a certificate of bank balance covering both of you together.
Because your sources of income are spread out, you can explain that if one of you has less work, you can maintain your living on the other's income. It is useful to show this point in the written explanation.
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This page is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails.