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）
In applications and renewals for the 定住者 visa, 3 points are said to carry particular weight: meeting your public obligations, keeping your base of life in Japan, and the 5-year rule for permanent residence. In each case, looking after your own affairs steadily, and being honest, are the key to a secure stay.
A guide for people who want to know the recent tendencies in 定住者 visa applications and renewals.
As strictly as for a 永住者: tax and social insurance premiums must be paid without fail.
The 定住者 visa assumes that you will settle in Japan for the long term, so you are asked whether you meet the rules and duties of society in the same way as a Japanese national. Small arrears or missed payments that used to be overlooked are said to be checked strictly now. Tax payment certificates and tax assessment certificates for resident tax and income tax are used to check whether anything is unpaid, and national pension, employees' pension and health insurance premiums are checked in detail for missed periods or late payments. Where there is a history of unpaid 医療費 (medical bills), a policy is also said to have been set out under which refusal of entry or denial of a renewal becomes more likely.
Check your own tax and social insurance record for the past 5 years, and if anything is unpaid, pay it up at once. Dealing with it honestly is essential.
Long stays abroad carry the risk of being seen as no longer having your base of life in Japan.
The 定住者 visa places no limit on work, so you can work freely, but the visa rests on one premise: that you are settled in Japan. Where you stay abroad for long periods — in particular 3 months or more at a time, or half a year or more in total in one year — the tendency is said to be growing to ask hard questions about why you need to settle in Japan at all. It is not enough to have a residence record. You need objective evidence that your base of life is in Japan: keeping a home here, having dependants who live here, and continuing your work or your activities. Unlike a 永住者, a 定住者 who lets the period of a 再入国許可 (Re-entry Permit) pass has no special rule of the kind that applies to 永住者 for 5 years, so the risk of losing the visa is high. Long stays abroad therefore call for particular care.
Before a long trip abroad, always obtain a 再入国許可 in advance, and keep an accurate record of the dates you leave and return. At renewal, it is important to explain in detail why you were abroad and how you kept your life in Japan going during that time.
Keeping to the 5-year rule matters more, and screening as a whole is said to be taking longer.
If you apply to change from a 定住者 visa to permanent residence, as a rule you are asked to have lived in Japan for at least 5 years without a break. The screening looks at whether you have kept to this 5-year rule, and whether your life has been stable throughout. 定住者 are at an advantage, because the general requirement of at least 10 years of residence for permanent residence is eased to 5 years. But screening for permanent residence itself is said to be becoming stricter and slower overall, so a very high level of stable income and of meeting public obligations is expected.
If you are thinking about applying for permanent residence, the fastest route to success is to check thoroughly not only the 5 years of residence, but also that there is not a single blemish in your tax and social insurance payments over that time.
Small arrears or missed payments that used to be overlooked are said to be checked strictly now.
Always obtain a 再入国許可 in advance and keep an accurate record of the dates you leave and return. It is also important to prepare evidence that you kept your life in Japan going.
As a rule you are asked to have lived in Japan for at least 5 years without a break. This is an advantage, because the 10 year requirement for a general application for permanent residence is eased to 5 years.
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This page is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails.