I understand that most of all foreign residents in Japan are seeking to get “Permanent Residence Permission” in near future.
But in the Immigration, Permanent Permission Protocol is more strict until July 2019.
One of the point is PENSION.
If applicant never paid the pension in Japan before, he/she never get the permanent permission now.
The protocol says that permanent applicant MUST pay the pension from start living in Japan.
The applicant have to attach the copy of “NENKIN TEIKI-BIN(ねんきん定期便” and receipt copy of payment for previous 2 years.
If the applicant didn’t pay it punctually, they also difficult to get the permission.
Second one is INCOME.
Immigration counts almost JP800,000yen/year for each family person.
If your family member is 4, applicant must earn JP3,200,000yen/year for their living.
Go to the city hall and get your “KAZEI-SHOUMEI-SHO(課税証明書)” for five years.
If your wages don’t enough for family living, very tough to get the good answer from the Immigration…
JAPAN is not the rich country anymore, though the government want to get more income from foreign resident in Japan.