Permanent Residence Will Require Income Above the Average for Japanese Households — 61.5% of Japanese Households Fall Below That Average of 5.752 Million Yen

On 4 August 2026, NHK reported that the government had drafted a revision to its guidelines specifying how permanent residence applications are examined.

The source documents are public. Comments are open from 4 August to 3 September 2026[1], and the draft follows the comprehensive response package agreed by the ministerial meeting on the acceptance of foreign nationals and an orderly society of coexistence on 23 January 2026[1].

One sentence in the summary had not appeared before. It states for the first time that the status of permanent resident is "the most stable legal status, without restriction on activity or period, in which a person is expected to spend their life in Japan" and therefore "requires particularly careful examination"[2].

Change how a status is described and the requirements underneath it change.

Income becomes "at or above the level of a Japanese household"

Article 22(2) sets three requirements: good conduct, sufficient assets or skills to make an independent living, and that the person's permanent residence accords with the interests of Japan.

The draft moves the second and the third. On independent livelihood, the draft states that economic conditions at or above those of a Japanese person are required, both now and in future[2]. The good conduct requirement is unchanged[2].

The income wording reads as follows. Whether household income has continuously reached a level above the average income of Japanese households of the same size. The summary annotates this as an increase in the threshold[2].

A pension requirement is added

Alongside income comes pension provision. Whether projected future receipts reach the level of 30 years of employees' pension contributions at the income level above. This is newly added, and financial assets capable of making up a shortfall are also taken into account[2].

This is not about income at the time of application but about what the person will receive in old age. Present assets and present income do not settle it.

Language and children's schooling enter the national interest test

The third requirement is specified as well. The draft states that the person's permanent residence must positively and concretely bring benefit to Japan[2].

Four items then follow. Not becoming a burden on the public purse; Japanese language ability at CEFR B1, the first level of the independent user, under the Reference Framework for Japanese Language Education; a negative assessment where understanding of Japan's systems and rules is poor; and a negative assessment where a school-age child is not being sent to school[2].

The scope of the first is spelled out. Even in categories exempt from the independent livelihood requirement, namely spouses or children of Japanese nationals, permanent residents or special permanent residents, and refugees and similar, a realistic prospect of becoming a burden counts against the application[2].

The spouse exemption gets longer

The residence period exemptions move too. For spouses of Japanese nationals and permanent residents, the exemption previously granted after three years of marriage and one year of residence in Japan is extended to five years and three years respectively[2].

Commencement runs in two stages. It applies from April 2027, except the income elements, which take effect from October 2026[2].

Where that average actually sits

The draft sets the bar at "the average income of Japanese households." Where that average sits is published.

According to the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions, mean income per household in 2024 was 5,752,000 yen across all households[3].

Two more figures sit in the same survey. The median is 4,510,000 yen, and 61.5% of households fall at or below the mean[3].

The gap between the mean of 5.752 million and the median of 4.51 million is 1.242 million yen. 61.5% of Japanese households fall below that mean.

Set the bar at the mean and the majority miss it

The distribution leans left. By income band, 13.5% of households fall between 2 and 3 million yen, 13.0% between 3 and 4 million, and 12.2% between 1 and 2 million[3]. The peak sits in the three-million range, and the mean is pulled upward by the tail.

Take the mean rather than the median and the bar lands in the upper part of the distribution. "The Japanese average" sounds like parity with the majority. Statistically it draws a line above the majority.

The same shape has come up before. In the 20% take-up rate for public assistance（このサイトの記事）, failing to separate what moves the numerator from what moves the denominator changes where the remedy points. How a number is constructed decides where the line falls.

A threshold scaled to household size rises as a family grows

The draft scales the average to household size. Averages by household type show how that works.

Mean income per household was 8,573,000 yen for households with children, 7,007,000 for non-elderly households, 3,361,000 for elderly households and 3,453,000 for single-mother households[3].

Households with children average 2,821,000 yen more than all households. Have a child and the comparison group changes. As household size rises, so does the figure to be exceeded.

Meanwhile the national interest test brings in schooling: not sending a school-age child to school counts against the application. Have a child and the income bar rises; fail to send that child to school and a different requirement bites. Two requirements act on the same family situation in opposite directions.

Which statistic will be used is not stated

One thing the summary does not say. Which statistic, and which figure within it, will supply "the average income of Japanese households."

The Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions carries a mean for all households, a mean per household member (2,592,000 yen[3]) and means by age of household head (from 3,643,000 yen for those under 30 to 8,146,000 yen for those aged 50 to 59[3]). The National Tax Agency and the Ministry of Internal Affairs publish other averages again.

Which one is used changes the figure. Use the age bands and 8,146,000 yen for the 50-to-59 band[3] becomes the bar for that age group.

The pension requirement carries no figure

The pension requirement has the same shape. It is written as "the level of 30 years of employees' pension contributions at that income level," but the summary gives no annual figure.

Working it out requires several assumptions: average standard remuneration, contribution period, treatment of the basic pension. An applicant cannot tell from the summary whether they meet it.

A shortfall may be made up with financial assets, but without knowing the shortfall there is no knowing how much to set aside.

The language ladder starts at A1 and ends at B1

The language requirement connects to other systems.

As transfers under employment for skill development（このサイトの記事） sets out, that system requires A1 or above before work begins, A2.1 or above to change workplace at one's own request, and A2.2 or above at the end of the training period. Permanent residence sits at B1.

From entry to permanent residence there are four language tests. B1 corresponds to N3 on the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test and marks the first level of the independent user: able to grasp the main points of familiar matters encountered at work or school.

As 9,699 of the 84,759 children needing Japanese-language instruction receive none（このサイトの記事） shows, provision can exist as a system while reaching people unevenly. The more rungs there are, the more that unevenness converts into a difference in residence status.

How far "not a burden on the public purse" reaches

There is one further extension of scope. Not becoming a burden on the public purse now reaches categories that were exempt from the independent livelihood test: spouses and children of Japanese nationals, permanent residents and special permanent residents, and refugees and similar.

Refugees are on that list. Refugee recognition rests on protection from persecution, not on economic capacity. Into that sits "a realistic prospect of becoming a burden counts against the application."

As the shared structure of programmes that fail to reach people（このサイトの記事） sets out, adding conditions at the entrance quietly moves the people who cannot meet them outside. Here, the people moved outside simply keep the status they have; they remain in Japan. Not being granted permanent residence and leaving the country are different things.

Comments close on 3 September

The draft is not settled. It is out for comment. Submissions may be made through the e-Gov portal, by email or by post; they must state reasons and must be in Japanese[1].

Two things are missing for anyone weighing it. One is which statistic supplies the threshold. The other is what annual figure the pension requirement points to. Both are needed for an applicant to check for themselves whether they qualify.

Further Reading

• Imin no Jinken (The Rights of Migrants: From Foreigner to Citizen)（外部サイト、新しいタブで開きます） by Atsushi Kondo (Akashi Shoten). Examines residence and rights for foreign nationals from constitutional and international human rights law. Useful for approaching, from the rights side, the question of what may legitimately be made a condition of residence status.

References

Draft Revision to the Guidelines on Permanent Residence (Summary) — Immigration Services Agency (2026). e-Gov Public Comment

Call for Comments on the Draft Revision to the Guidelines on Permanent Residence — Immigration Services Agency (2026). e-Gov Public Comment

2025 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions, Part II: Income and Related Conditions by Household Type — Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (2026). Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

Guidelines on Permanent Residence (revised 24 February 2026) — Immigration Services Agency (2026). Immigration Services Agency

Permanent Residence for Foreign Nationals: Whether Household Income Exceeds the Japanese Average to Be Taken into Account — NHK (2026). NHK NEWS WEB