Happier Abroad Forum Community

@Yohan I've read that it is possible to get a permanent resident status in Japan if you have lived there for 10 years consecutively or 5 years in some cases. I've also read that some men from other countries have married Japanese women and then after living in Japan, they got Japanese citizenship, but had to give up their home country citizenship.

What are your thoughts on this?

kangarunner wrote: ↑

April 17th, 2025, 6:09 pm

@Yohan I've read that it is possible to get a permanent resident status in Japan if you have lived there for 10 years consecutively or 5 years in some cases. I've also read that some men from other countries have married Japanese women and then after living in Japan, they got Japanese citizenship, but had to give up their home country citizenship.
What are your thoughts on this?

@kangarunner

Your information in general is correct. About myself I am a Japanese permanent resident since 1986.
Japan does not like to offer citizenship, and in many cases the foreigner also prefers permanent resident status.

Same as my own native country, Austria (EU), Japan does not allow dual citizenship.(except for children)

Japanese permanent residence permit is a good solution, just my opinion. I can enter EU anytime as an EU citizen, but can also live in Japan almost like a Japanese citizen (except some restrictions, like voting rights or restriction to some certain jobs like government related work, I don't care about that anyway)

Japanese residence status is permanent and does not to be renewed, only in 7 years one time I have to visit immigration office in person to renew my ID-card, just a formality. No working restriction in general, can buy my own house including land (except some certain farming land or land with forests and rivers, I am not interested in that) - No re-entry required, I also can leave Japan for 1 year (cleared for automatic gate at airport) without reporting, the residence status will be still valid. Also holding full Japanese national health insurance, which is very good, pays for almost every kind of medical care (partially even while outside of Japan)

Visa status will only be recalled if you leave Japan for more than 1 year without reporting or in case of criminal activity convicted to prison and deportation.

However full residence status is not so easy to get, it is decided on individual application (Ministry of Justice via Immigration Office)

In my case I had no problem. I was never on a spouse visa, but on a working visa - married to a Japanese wife, our children were always in Japanese schools, I had a regular work in Japan with average income, had a Japanese language certificate from a Japanese public university, also had some technical certificate from a Japanese association etc. -

However I understand it is not so easy to fulfill such requirements for everybody who wants to live in Japan...

About foreign nationals, there are really very few people holding Austrian (EU) citizenship who consider to live permanently in Japan. Most of them are coming and gone again within a few years as students, foreign company employment contract etc.)

As far as I know them personally as permanent residents, they all have Japanese family and a good regular income. Nobody of them gave up the native EU related citizenship. -

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It's not a bad idea if you always have an escape route ready in case of major issues. You never know what might happen to you in future in Asia as a foreigner even not after living here since decades.
My Austrian passport and also my EU ID card are valid and I also have an Euro banking account/valid debit card in my native country.
I could leave immediately back to the EU zone in case of a sudden emergency.

@Yohan and @kangarunner

Japan also offers a "Business Manager Visa", which is granted for entrepreneurs who wish to establish and run a business in Japan. The economic requirements are quite steep, though:

• company paid up capital must be at least JPY5,000,000.
• company must have an office space in Japan.
• business plan must be approved by the relevant authorities.
• Applicant must have enough salary/income to live independently in Japan.
• Applicant must hire at least one full time employee who is either a Japanese national, a Permanent Resident, a Spouse or Child of a Japanese National, a Spouse or Child of a Permanent Resident, or a foreign national with a Long-Term visa.

When all these requirements are fulfilled, the Visa is only granted for a period of 1 to 5 years. Renewals are conditional to the business performing well. In other words, if you try and fail, you will be expected to be out when the current Visa expires.

There are more conditions and restrictions, see here for example https://residencies.io/residency/japan/ ... idency/jp1.

Despite all this, I believe this is the fastest way to get a resident Visa for Japan, leading to Permanent Residency (which can happen as fast as 3 years if you marry a Japanese national).