What’s confirmed, and what’s still a plan
On July 24, 2026, the government held the third meeting of its Ministerial Council on the Acceptance of Foreign Nationals and the Realization of an Orderly Coexistent Society, and confirmed it is moving ahead with a tighter set of requirements for 永住許可 (permanent residency). Some of this is already visible in law and current administrative guidance. Some of it is a stated policy direction reported by multiple outlets, ahead of a guideline revision scheduled for this October. This article separates the two, and cites the government’s own text wherever that text currently exists.
1. What the law requires today
Japan’s Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act does not itself spell out granular permanent residency criteria — that detail sits in the Immigration Services Agency’s administrative guideline, most recently revised February 24, 2026. It sets out three legal requirements:
（１）素行が善良であること
（２）独立の生計を営むに足りる資産又は技能を有すること
（３）その者の永住が日本国の利益に合すると認められること
— 永住許可に関するガイドライン（出入国在留管理庁）
(1) Good conduct. (2) Sufficient assets or skills to maintain an independent livelihood. (3) The applicant’s permanent residency is recognized as being in Japan’s national interest.
The third requirement is where most of the operative detail lives, including the general residence period:
ア 原則として引き続き１０年以上本邦に在留していること。
(a) In principle, continuous residence in Japan of ten years or more.
And the current exception for spouses of Japanese nationals, permanent residents, or 特別永住者:
（１）日本人、永住者及び特別永住者の配偶者の場合、実体を伴った婚姻生活が３年以上継続し、かつ、引き続き１年以上本邦に在留していること。
(1) For spouses of Japanese nationals, permanent residents, or special permanent residents: a substantive marital relationship continuing for three years or more, and continuous residence in Japan of one year or more.
Highly Skilled Professional visa holders already have their own fast track, unchanged by anything discussed below: three years of continuous residence at 70+ points, or one year at 80+ points.
None of this has changed yet. It is the live text as of this writing.
2. What the government has announced it will add
At the July 24 meeting, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara summarized the session’s direction:
外国人との秩序ある共生社会推進担当大臣は、外国人の受入れの基本的な在り方について、有識者会議での議論を進め、将来推計等を行いつつ、本年度中に、在留管理の適正化や、日本語や制度・ルール等を学習するプログラム創設の効果等も踏まえた基本方針を取りまとめられるよう、政府全体での検討を行ってください。
— 首相官邸、令和8年7月24日
The Minister in charge of promoting an orderly coexistent society for foreign nationals is instructed to advance discussion through an expert panel on the basic approach to accepting foreign nationals, and to compile — accounting for population projections, more appropriate residency management, and the effects of establishing programs to teach Japanese language and Japan’s systems and rules — a basic policy by the end of this fiscal year (around March 2027), through government-wide deliberation.
That’s the confirmed text. The specific new permanent-residency criteria being reported around this same policy push — by Yomiuri, Nikkei, Asahi, and the Kyodo wire, all citing government officials rather than a published document — are not yet in any guideline. As reported, they would add, under the existing “independent livelihood” and “national interest” requirements:
- An income floor pegged above the national average. Continuous annual income exceeding the average income of Japanese households — most recently ¥5.36 million per the 2024 国民生活基礎調査 — rather than the current, uncalibrated “sufficient to live independently” standard.
- A pension floor. A projected pension benefit reaching the level that thirty years of 厚生年金 (Employees’ Pension Insurance) enrollment would produce, or, failing that, financial assets sufficient to cover the shortfall.
- Sharper “national interest” scoring. Explicit negative marks for insufficient understanding of Japanese customs and systems, or for failing to enroll school-age children in compulsory education.
- A longer spousal track. The 3-year marriage / 1-year residence exception rising to 5 years married / 3 years resident.
The stated reason, per reporting on the government’s own explanation, is a rise in cases where individuals obtain permanent residency and subsequently receive 生活保護 (public livelihood assistance) — the changes are being framed as closing that gap, not as a general immigration reduction measure.
3. Timing is the part still moving
Reporting is not fully aligned on exactly when each piece takes effect. The guideline itself is expected to be formally revised October 1, 2026. Beyond that:
- Some coverage has the new criteria generally applying to applications filed from April 2027.
- Other coverage has the income standard specifically applying to applications already filed from April 2026 — before the guideline is even revised.
Nothing here should be read as a settled effective-date schedule. Treat July–October 2026 as a live window: anyone close to meeting the current, unrevised standard has a real reason to file sooner rather than later, but the precise cutoffs are not yet locked down in a citable government document.
4. What this means in practice
Existing 永住者 PR holders are unaffected. None of this is retroactive. It only touches new applications.
Employment structure now has a downstream immigration consequence. The pension test rewards continuous enrollment in 厚生年金 specifically — not 国民年金, and not years spent unenrolled. Time spent on improperly structured arrangements, or without an employer handling statutory enrollment, does not build toward this bar. Time spent properly employed does.
The income floor will land differently across income bands. Higher-compensated specialist and management roles are likely to already clear ¥5.36 million without issue. Lower-wage roles and single-income households have a materially higher hurdle than the current “self-sufficient” standard.
The spousal path gets slower. Extending 3 years married / 1 year resident to 5 years / 3 years adds real time to what has historically been the fastest route to permanent residency.
The HSP fast track raises an open question. Applicants using the 1- or 3-year HSP route to permanent residency have, by definition, far less accrued pension contribution history than a standard 10-year applicant. Whether the new pension test is assessed on contributions accrued so far, or projected forward to retirement age at current earnings, has not been reported clearly — and it matters a great deal for exactly this population. This is worth confirming once the October text is published, not assuming either way.
Where this stands
- The current three-requirement framework, the 10-year rule, and the existing spousal exception are confirmed, live text.
- The income floor, pension floor, sharper national-interest scoring, and longer spousal track are a confirmed government policy direction, not yet a published guideline.
- Effective dates are reported inconsistently across outlets and should be treated as unsettled until the October text is out.
- The stated rationale is preventing post-grant reliance on public assistance, not a general reduction in permanent residency grants.
This article draws on the Immigration Services Agency’s published guideline (moj.go.jp), the Prime Minister’s Office’s official readout of the July 24, 2026 ministerial meeting (kantei.go.jp), and news reporting from Yomiuri, Nikkei, Asahi, and Kyodo where no primary government text yet exists. It is provided for general informational purposes, is not legal advice, and is not directed at any specific company, individual, or application. Anyone with a pending or upcoming permanent residency application should confirm current requirements with qualified Japanese immigration counsel before relying on anything above.