Getting Rejected for Permanent Residence
After 11 years, the struggle continues
I recently applied for permanent residence (PR) in Japan and got brutally rejected.
What follows is half-complaint, half-education for anyone wanting to succeed where I failed.
Why get PR?
PR doesn’t mean citizenship, it only means that I would have the right to live in Japan without needing a visa. It would also lift any restrictions on the type of work I can do (what a work visa is) or my marital status (my current spousal visa). Basically, I can be a free man to roam the land.
It would also mean that I could go about refinancing my mortgage. My current interest rate is 1.5%, which I know you Americans will say is awesome!, but in Japan, I should be able to get 0.7% ONLY if I get PR. That would save me about $500 a month.
The last benefit: I can skip the foreigner lines for immigration at the airport. Good deal.
Why did I get rejected?
Sadly, I got rejected.
This is my second rejection in the past 11 years of living in Japan and trying for it. It stings because I know plenty of people who got theirs just 5 years into living here.
The basic requirements for PR are:
Lived in Japan for 10 years
Committed no crimes
Paid all of your taxes
Have a Japanese person vouch for you
This can be expedited if you:
Are married to a Japanese person, then you can get it with just 3 years in country.
Have kids, helps with the above method.
Are a specialized individual, you have a Ph.D., massive work experience in an in-demand industry, and so on.
Me? I have lived in Japan for 11 years (check), have been married to a Japanese woman for 3 (check), have paid my taxes, and have not committed any crime (check check), and I STILL got rejected.
Sad day.
What was the reason? My wife, who is self-employed and therefore must do all of her taxes on her own, was a few weeks late on a pension payment. Not that she didn’t pay, just that she was late. And that’s why I got rejected.
Why would that matter? The official reason why the above makes me ill-suited for PR is:
The applicant cannot prove that they can financially support themselves in Japan.
Rant time
Excuse my Spanish, what the fuck!?
Apparently having supported myself for 11 years, having purchased a home, and having a good salary does not prove I am financially independent.
I know that the people who work at Immigration probably know this is BS. But, they do have a rule that says if you are married to a Japanese person, then the last 3 years of their taxes/insurance/pension payments cannot have any gaps unless you have a good reason (think accident or bereavement).
I didn’t know about this rule, so that’s on me, but just because it exists does not justify the decision.
There can be a rule that says: all blue-eyed people get PR. Do you have hazel eyes? Sucks. So there is the rule, but the justification for the rule does not make sense. My wife’s tardiness on a tax (I don’t blame her at all by the way, she’s a business owner kicking ass at life) does not reflect MY ability to support myself.
But there we go, Japan is the land of the almighty RULE. If it is a rule, it must be followed. This is why so many things work in this country. Trains are on time, toilets are clean, and people don’t loot during disasters (there may be exceptions to the rule). But this is also why things don’t progress quickly or benefit the people that they should.
Anyway, that’s my rant. Hope you got something out of it and learned something new about Japan.
Life is still good and beautiful, with or without PR.
Oh boy. I’m surprised because for people like me living here almost 40 years, Japan seems to be giving away visas like candy. The longer term foreigners are all “old man yells at clouds” about how much HARDER it was back in MY DAY. Lol.
Glad you shared this though. Infuriating, that reason.
Dude, lamest reason ever.
That said, you can already skip the foreigner line. I've been skipping it for the last 18 years.