What changes
The 2024 amendment to the Immigration Control Act (Act No. 60 of 2024, promulgated 21 June 2024) adds two grounds for revoking permanent residency to Article 22-4, in force on 1 April 2027. The first covers a permanent resident who fails to meet obligations under the Act, such as reporting duties, or who deliberately does not pay taxes and public dues, including social insurance contributions. The second covers a sentence of imprisonment for specified offences, such as theft, fraud and assault.
The amendment also writes compliance with the Act and payment of taxes and contributions into the conditions for granting permanent residency. Where revocation is on the new grounds, the Minister of Justice must, unless continued residence is inappropriate, grant another residence status instead. Public officials may report cases they come across.
The government has said that inadvertent or short delays, or genuine inability to pay, should not lead to revocation, and the Act directs the authorities to consider the person's payment history and circumstances.
On 1 October 2026 the Immigration Services Agency published Guidelines on the Revocation of Permanent Resident Status, which it will start applying on 1 April 2027. "Deliberate" non-payment means it is clear the person has no intention of paying, judged on income, assets, the number, amount and length of arrears, and how they responded to demands. Examples include long arrears combined with moving without notifying the municipality, ignoring repeated demands, repeatedly breaking an instalment plan, and conviction for tax evasion. Inability to pay because of illness, disaster or job loss, agreed instalment plans, and cases where the employer deducted taxes or contributions from pay but did not pass them on are given as examples that do not qualify. There is no fixed arrears threshold. A permanent resident who runs or controls a company can be caught if they knowingly leave the company's taxes or contributions unpaid. Non-payment before April 2027 that comes to light later can also count, although the guidelines say the later payment record will be considered.
For breaches of duties under the Act, the guidelines say a single lapse, such as forgetting to carry the residence card or to renew it on time, is not expected to lead to revocation on its own.
Who it applies to
All of the roughly 947,000 permanent residents in Japan. Employers matter because most employees pay income tax, inhabitant tax and social insurance through payroll.
Action for employers
- Get withholding right. Make sure inhabitant tax is deducted under the special collection method and social insurance enrolment is on time. Payroll errors can leave an employee in arrears without knowing.
- Watch the gaps. Employees between jobs or on unpaid leave may have to pay national health insurance, pension or inhabitant tax themselves. Tell them before they leave.
- Brief permanent-resident staff before April 2027. Explain the change factually and point them to official guidance; do not speculate on individual cases.
- Pay over what you withhold. An employee whose employer deducted contributions but did not pay them is protected. A permanent resident who runs the entity and knowingly leaves its taxes or contributions unpaid is not.
- Issue documents promptly. Withholding slips and enrolment records are what an employee would use to show they paid. Make them easy to obtain, including for leavers.
Sources
- Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, Articles 22, 22-4(1)(viii) and (ix), 22-6 and 62-2, as amended by Act No. 60 of 2024; Supplementary Provisions, Article 25.
- Cabinet Order No. 340 of 2025 setting the effective date; Immigration Services Agency, page on the 2024 amendments.
- Immigration Services Agency, Guidelines on the Revocation of Permanent Resident Status (adopted 1 October 2026, applied from 1 April 2027).