2025-05-24

A Permanent Resident Visa is literally a status of residence that allows permanent residence in Japan. Once you obtain this visa, there are no restrictions on the period of stay and basically no restrictions on the type of work you can do. This section explains how Taiwanese nationals can obtain a Permanent Resident Visa.

What is a Permanent Resident Visa?

A Permanent Resident Visa is a status of residence that allows foreign nationals to reside permanently in another country with no restrictions on the period of stay. A “Permanent Resident Visa” in Japan refers to the status of residence “Permanent Resident. While some statuses of residence in Japan do not allow work or have restrictions on the content of work, a Permanent Resident Visa (status of residence “Permanent Resident”) allows a foreign national to work without restrictions within the limits of the law.

There are three conditions for being granted a permanent resident visa.

First, the applicant must be of good conduct. For example, criminal offenses such as theft or violations of the Highway Traffic Act will affect the visa application.

Second, the applicant must “have sufficient assets and skills to earn an independent living. In other words, the applicant, a foreign national, must be able to live stably in Japan with his/her own income and skills.

Finally, the third requirement is that the applicant’s permanent residence will be beneficial to Japan. In other words, the applicant will be able to contribute to Japanese society through his/her permanent residence in Japan. One guideline here is basically that the applicant must have been continuously residing in Japan for at least 10 years by the time of application, and have a status of residence of at least 5 years within that period.

Requirements for Taiwanese nationals to obtain a permanent residence visa (1)

This section explains the requirements for Taiwanese nationals who already have a Japanese “working visa” to obtain a permanent residence visa, with the most common change from “Technical/Humanities/International Services”. Please note that “Technical Intern Training” and “Specified Technical Skill 1” holders cannot directly change to a Permanent Resident visa.

The requirements to change to a Permanent Resident visa are as follows

・The applicant must have lived in Japan for at least 10 consecutive years at the time of application.
・The applicant must have been a working visa holder for the 5 years prior to the application.
・The applicant must not have left Japan for a long period of time during the 10 years of stay in Japan.
・The applicant must have been in Japan for at least 3 years.
・Annual income must be 3 million yen plus 500,000-700,000 yen (per family member).
　※Annual income will be examined for 5 years.
・No problems with tax and social insurance enrollment and full payment (no arrears, late payments, etc.).
・No criminal record.
・There must be a low number of traffic violations.

Requirements for Taiwanese nationals to obtain a permanent residence visa (2)

This section explains the requirements for Taiwanese nationals who already hold a Japanese “status visa” to obtain a permanent residence visa, with regard to changing from a “spouse visa” to a permanent residence visa.

The requirements to change to a Permanent Resident Visa are as follows
・The applicant must have been married for at least 3 years.
・The applicant must have lived in Japan for at least one year.
・Have not been out of the country for a long period of time.
・Have held a spouse visa for at least 3 years.
・Annual income of 3,000,000 yen + 700,000 yen (one family member) for 1 to 3 years.
・Must not have unpaid taxes (for 3 years).
・No unpaid pension or health insurance for 2 years.
・No major traffic violations.
・Have a guarantor who is Japanese or a permanent resident.

Summary

There are two ways for Taiwanese nationals to obtain a permanent resident visa: change from a work visa and change from a status visa. Please note that the requirements for each are different.