Can You Apply for Permanent Residence in Japan With a "3 Years" Period of Stay? Conditions of the Transitional Measure and the March 31, 2027 Cutoff

Note: This article is based on Japanese laws and materials published by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA) as of October 9, 2026.

Even if your period of stay (在留期間) is "3 years", if you apply for permission for permanent residence (永住許可) on or before March 31, 2027, you are treated as "residing with the longest period of stay" (最長の在留期間). The dividing line is the date you apply, not the date the result comes out.

For applications filed on or after April 1, 2027, this applies only if all three conditions are met. One of them is that you receive the disposition (処分, the decision on the application) by the date of expiration of the "3 years" period of stay. The basis is Note 4 of the Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (永住許可に関するガイドライン), which were revised on October 1, 2026.

Can you apply for permission for permanent residence with a "3 years" period of stay?

Even if your period of stay is "3 years", if you apply on or before March 31, 2027, you are treated as residing with the longest period of stay. This is a transitional measure with March 31, 2027 as the dividing line.

Permission for permanent residence (the permission needed to obtain the status of residence "Permanent Resident", 永住者) is applied for by the person concerned, and the Minister of Justice decides whether to grant it. In the examination, whether you are residing, at the time of the application, with the "longest period of stay" for the status of residence you currently hold is one of the factors to be considered.

The longest period of stay is set for each status of residence in Appended Table II (別表第二) of the Regulation for Enforcement of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (入管法施行規則). For example, for both "Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services" (技術・人文知識・国際業務) and "Spouse or Child of Japanese National" (日本人の配偶者等), it is 5 years. For these statuses of residence, "3 years" is not the longest, so its treatment is set by the transitional measure.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised October 1, 2026)" (in Japanese), Section 1, 1 and Section 2, 5(6) and (Note 4); Regulation for Enforcement of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (出入国管理及び難民認定法施行規則) (in Japanese), Appended Table II

The original text of Note 4 of the Guidelines

The basis for the transitional measure is Note 4, which is attached to Section 2, 5(6) of the Guidelines. Because the wording of the conditions is itself the standard for the decision, we set out the original text.

令和9年 in the original text is 2027. The first sentence sets the treatment of applications filed on or before March 31, 2027, and the second sentence that of applications filed on or after April 1, 2027. The conditions "first" and "receiving the disposition by the date of expiration of the period of stay" are attached only to the second sentence.

In the Guidelines before the revision (revised February 24, 2026), a transitional measure to the same effect was placed in Note 1. Note 4 after the revision is written so as to divide applications into two groups by the date on which "the application was filed" (申請があった).

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised October 1, 2026)" (in Japanese), Section 2, 5(6) (Note 4), "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised February 24, 2026)" (in Japanese), (Note 1)

If you apply on or before March 31, 2027

Applications filed on or before March 31, 2027 are subject to two conditions: the date of the application, and holding a period of stay of "3 years".

The first sentence of Note 4 does not make the timing of the disposition or the number of applications a condition. As long as the application is filed on or before March 31, 2027, it is covered by this sentence even if the result comes out on or after April 1. The same applies if, after a denial, you apply again on or before March 31.

What is examined also depends on the date of the application. The revised Guidelines as a whole apply to applications filed on or after April 1, 2027.

Only two items, income and burden on the public, are also applied to cases that were filed on or after April 1, 2026 and were under examination as of October 1, 2026. The content of the revision and when it applies are set out in Revisions to the Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised October 1, 2026)" (in Japanese), Section 2, 5(6) (Note 4) and Section 6

If you apply on or after April 1, 2027

For applications filed on or after April 1, 2027, "3 years" is treated as the longest period of stay only if all of the following three conditions are met.

The third condition is based on the date you receive the disposition, not the date of the application. Merely filing the application by the date of expiration of the period of stay does not meet the condition.

"That '3 years'" is 当該「3年」 in the original text, and can be read as referring to the "3 years" held as of March 31, 2027 (this is our office's reading). "First" means the first among the applications made on or after April 1, 2027.

The only point whose treatment Note 4 sets is the longest period of stay. Applications filed on or after April 1, 2027 are examined under the revised Guidelines as a whole, including Japanese language proficiency, the level of annual income, and pensions.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised October 1, 2026)" (in Japanese), Section 2, 5(6) (Note 4) and Section 6

How to tell whether the conditions apply to you

The table below applies the wording of Note 4 to common situations. The right-hand column is not a statement by the ISA; it is our office's own analysis.

For an application that does not meet the conditions, "3 years" is not treated as the longest period of stay. In that case, you fall under this factor to be considered only after you receive the longest period of stay through an extension.

Can you receive the disposition by the date of expiration of your period of stay?

If you apply on or after April 1, 2027, compare the number of days remaining until the date of expiration of the "3 years" period of stay with the number of days the examination takes. The ISA publishes the following two periods.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Application for Permanent Residence" (in Japanese), "Processing Time for Residence Examinations" (in Japanese), permissions granted in July 2026

The 310.2 days is the average for only those applications that were permitted. Denials and withdrawals are not included, while the days until additional documents are submitted are included.

For example, suppose a person whose date of expiration of the period of stay is September 30, 2027 applies on April 1, 2027. There are about six months until the date of expiration. If the examination takes 310 days, the result would, by calculation, come out in early February 2028, which is not in time for the date of expiration.

The number of days an examination takes differs from one application to another. Taking this actual figure as a guide, for those who have fewer than 310 days remaining from the date of application to the date of expiration, whether they can apply on or before March 31, 2027 becomes the deciding point. This does not mean that having more than 310 days is enough.

What to check before deciding when to apply

The transitional measure decides only how "3 years" is treated; whether permission is granted is decided together with the other factors to be considered. The Guidelines state that permission for permanent residence is decided by comprehensively considering individual circumstances.

Even if you apply on or before March 31, 2027, the result may come out on or after April 1. If the application is denied at that point, the only application for which you can use the transitional measure while still holding "3 years" is the first application made on or after April 1. That application is subject to the three conditions and to the revised Guidelines as a whole.

When to apply is decided by looking together at the date of expiration of your period of stay, your history of residence in Japan, and the payment status of your taxes and social insurance premiums. In our consultation on applications for permanent residence, we check this with you against your own date of expiration.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised October 1, 2026)" (in Japanese), Section 1, 2; Section 2, 5(6) (Note 4); and Section 6

Frequently Asked Questions

My period of stay is "1 year". Am I covered by the transitional measure?

No, you are not covered. Note 4 sets only the treatment of those who hold a period of stay of "3 years". If you receive "3 years" through an extension on or before March 31, 2027 and apply for permission for permanent residence on or before that same date, you fall under the first sentence of Note 4.

The date of expiration of my "3 years" will come while my application for permanent residence is under examination. What should I do?

By the date of expiration of your period of stay, apply for an extension of period of stay, separately from the application for permanent residence. The ISA's procedure guide states that if the period of stay will pass while an application for permanent residence is pending, an Application for Extension of Period of Stay (在留期間更新許可申請) is required by the date the period expires.

How this relates to the transitional measure depends on the date you applied for permission for permanent residence. For applications filed on or before March 31, 2027, the first sentence of Note 4 has no condition on when the result comes out. For applications filed on or after April 1, 2027, if the result does not come out by the date of expiration of the "3 years" period of stay, the third condition is no longer met.

Summary

Even if your period of stay is "3 years", if you apply for permission for permanent residence on or before March 31, 2027, you are treated as residing with the longest period of stay. The dividing line is the date you apply; the timing of the disposition and the number of applications are not conditions.

For applications filed on or after April 1, 2027, this is limited to cases where you hold "3 years" as of March 31, the application is the first one made on or after April 1, and you receive the disposition by the date of expiration of that "3 years" period of stay. The examination is also conducted under the revised Guidelines as a whole.

First, check your period of stay and its date of expiration on your residence card. Once you know the number of days remaining until the date of expiration, it becomes easier to decide whether to apply on or before March 31, 2027.

References

• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised October 1, 2026)" (in Japanese; October 2026)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised February 24, 2026)" (in Japanese; February 2026; the version before the revision)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Application for Permanent Residence" (in Japanese; application period, standard processing time)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Processing Time for Residence Examinations" (in Japanese; permissions granted in July 2026)
• Regulation for Enforcement of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (in Japanese), Appended Table II