Since 1 October 2026, permanent residency in Japan costs 200,000 yen when it is granted, up from 10,000, and your household has to earn more than the average Japanese household of its size. On 1 April 2027 the rest of the revised guideline starts, with Japanese at B1, a pension test, a limit on time abroad and longer waits for spouses. I read the Immigration Services Agency's own pages and put what they say into one tool.
The month you can apply
The permanent residency check asks for your route (work visa, spouse or child of a Japanese national or permanent resident, Long-Term Resident, highly skilled with 70 or 80 points, J-Skip) and the months your years started. It gives the earliest month you can apply and which rules will decide. Some people gain by applying before 1 April 2027. A spouse married in September 2023 who came to Japan in September 2025 can apply now; under the new rules they would wait until September 2028.
What the rules look at
Under the date, the check lists what the guideline will look at in your case and marks each point as met, against you, or for you to check. That covers time away from Japan, taxes and insurance paid late, the household income, and from April 2027 the pension, Japanese and school attendance. The guideline gives no yen amount for the income bar, so the page does not invent one.
Renewals cost more too
Extending or changing a visa now costs 10,000 to 75,000 yen at the counter, depending on the period of stay you are granted, and a little less online. The table is at the bottom of the page, with links to every source.
The page works in the seven languages of the Hub.
