A.Yes, in 2020, the permanent residence examination has entered a new stage. Please note that it is completely different from the old permanent residence examination.

Hi, I am Daisuke Tsuji, an administrative scrivener specializing in immigration operations in Takadanobaba,Shinjuku.

From July 2019, the permanent residence examination has changed to a very strict one.
Here, I will explain in detail about it.

１、Legal basis for stricter examination of permanent residence application

This is due to the latest Immigration Law amendment promulgated on December 4, 2018.

The highlight of this revised Immigration Law is that the status of residence "Specified Skilled Worker" has been established.
As a result, the national goal was to increase the number of foreign workers by 340,000 in five years.

And, in this amendment of the Immigration Law, it is written as follows in the incidental resolution made by the House of Councilors.

"In light of the recent increase in the number of foreign residents in Japan, Government will strictly examine the suitability of the requirements of Article 22, Paragraph 2 of the Immigration Law for applications for permanent residence from foreign residents.  "

In other words, as the number of foreign residents will increase further, the permanent residence examination must be tightened .

As a result, from July 2019, the number of documents required for permanent residence application has increased two to three times.

The results after the tightening have come out recently, and it is becoming clear how severe it has become.

２、Concrete example

①Annual income requirements

As prevailing view saying, an annual household income must be over 3 million (+700,000 x number of households excluding oneself).
　* It is okay to add a "bonus" for the annual income.

There doesn't seem to be much change in this yet.

Of course, before July 2019, only 3 years' worth was examined, but now 5 years' worth is examined.
Permits will be difficult if the annual income does not reach the standard for just one of the five years.

In fact, it is not an annual income requirement but an independent living requirement, so if you can prove that you are spending less on your living, you may be able to meet the independent living requirement even if your annual income is lower than the standard.
For example, explain what you can prove immediately, such as living in public housing, living in your parents' house, or living in your own house.

However, it seems that the standard of annual income required will increase steadily from now on.

By the way, spouses and children of Japanese or Permanent residents do not have an independent livelihood requirement.
In this case, the annual household income is required to be such that you do not receive welfare protection.
However, even in this case, pensions and health insurance payments should be legal.

②Health insurance and Pension

Before July 2019, if you paid your pension and health insurance anyway, you would be granted permanent resident permission without saying anything.
Currently, it is undergoing a very, very, very strict examination.

If you work for a company and have welfare pension or social insurance, there is no problem.
 *Your company must pay your pension and health insurance instead of you. 

However, a caution is required in the case of national pension and national health insurance.
Non-payment is not allowed at first, and late payment is not allowed quite strictly.

In some cases, even if the payment was delayed by 3 days, the permanent residence examination was NOT permitted.

No matter how high your annual income is, late payments for National Health Insurance and National Pensions are OUT immediately.
You should use an automatic withdrawal system so that you will never be late.

In addition, in case of the president of the company, having the status of residence "Business Management", his company is required to join a welfare pension if the company is a welfare pension application office.
Whether or not the company is managed legally affects the president's application for permanent residence.

You need to check whether your company is obliged to join the welfare pension.

Pensions and health insurance basically require a legal payment period of two years, but you can not ignore before that.
In some cases, the application was denied because the payment status before three years ago was illegal.

３、It is just "searching for faults" ...

As a Rumor saying, the immigration office has a numerical goal of how much to reduce the number of permanent residence permits issued in one year.

In order to achieve that target number, the stricter permanent residence examination seems to be the enthusiasm to make the examination very strict and to disallow all cases that are not good enough.

In the olden days, it was unthinkable to disallow even a few days of late payment.

It must be said that the current permanent residence examination is completely different from the old permanent residence examination, and the conditions have become very strict.

Therefore, if you are going to apply for permanent residence from now on, I recommend that you complete the situation for your annual income, pension, health insurance, etc. before applying.

Unfortunately, when you ask about the application to the Immigration Office, they does not tell you anything, like "we cannot answer individual cases."
And even if you hear from a friend who was allowed to live permanently before July 2019, it doesn't work at all now.

If you have any questions about your permanent residence application, our office also accepts such inquiries.

Please feel free to contact us. Click here for inquiries.
(I also accept emails or LINE)