Japan's immigration agency has revised permanent residency guidelines for foreign nationals, requiring applicants to earn more than the average Japanese household income and demonstrate projected pension benefits linked to 30 years of enrollment in the employees' pension program at their application-time income level. The income standard will apply retroactively to applications submitted from April 2026, while the broader guidelines take effect in April 2027. Applicants will also need Japanese-language proficiency at the independent-user level. The 2024 average annual household income was around 5.75 million yen ($36,500). In principle, applicants must have lived in Japan for more than 10 years. Spouses of Japanese nationals or permanent residents will face higher thresholds, with required marriage extended from three to five years and residence from one to three years. The Immigration Services Agency received around 5,000 public comments on the draft, including criticism that wealthy households could inflate the average-income benchmark. Permanent residents can stay indefinitely without activity restrictions while retaining their original nationality. Residence-status application fees were also sharply increased on Thursday.