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Japan to Tighten Permanent Residency Requirements for Foreign Nationals

The Japan Immigration Services Agency will introduce stricter criteria, including a minimum income threshold above average household earnings, starting October 2026.

Jul 26, 2026, 10:40 AM Nikkei Asia

Japan Immigration Services Agencyorganization Japangeography Nikkei Asiaorganization Foreign Nationalsperson Tighten Permanent Residency Requirementsperson Taishu Yuasaperson TOKYOgeography Nikkeiorganization Phototopic

Satellite image of Japan in May 2003. The islands of Japan are shown clearly off the coast of North and South Korea, China, and Russia in this true-color image. Running down through the islands are a string of mountains that make up part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire." The Ring of Fire is a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that stretches in a series of arcs from New Zealand, through Indonesia, up through the Philippines, Japan, the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia), across the Pacific Ocean via the Aleutian Islands, and down the coast of the Americas. Seventy-five percent of the world's volcanoes are in this ring, making it the most volcanically-active region on the planet. Also shown in this image are a number of fires, which are marked with red dots. A few fires were detected in Japan, China, and North Korea, but the majority were detected in Russia's Primorskiy-Kray region. This true-color Aqua MODIS image was acquired on May 1, 2003. · Photo by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC · Public domain · Source: wikimedia

Japan's Immigration Services Agency is set to revise its guidelines for granting permanent residency to foreign nationals as early as October 2026. The updated rules will include stricter requirements, notably specifying a minimum income threshold that exceeds the average household earnings in Japan. This move aims to tighten the criteria for permanent residency approvals.

The changes were reported by Nikkei Asia, highlighting the government's intention to adjust immigration policies to better regulate foreign residency status.

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