5 Years Citizenship Residency Requirements Without Taxes
 

Hello All,

I have been doing a fair bit of research both on the internet and with immigration lawyers.

The Research which I gathered through the Internet says that I have to live in Japan for 5 years to get a Japanese Citizenship.

However, the immigration lawyer whom i was consulting with, told me that i have to live in Japan for 5 years and pay taxes every year in order to qualify for japanese citizenship.

The issue here is, my company overseas is paying all my expenses without paying me a salary. So according to the immigration lawyer, the japanese authorities are not allowed to tax me on my overseas salary.

Yet on the other hand, he says that if i want a japanese citizenship in 5 years time, then i have to be taxed by the japanese tax authorities on my japanese salary.

Do any of you know the real truth here?

Cheers.

DEVILGOD

You can find the official statement of the "naturalization" here(Article 5) as you might already know. Tax payment is not referred here.

Tax payment could be one of the means to prove your five years stay in Japan. If you can prove your stay in other way, it will work. Ask your lawyer about it.

If you are going to stay in Japan for more than 90 days, you are going to need a work visa, and to get a work visa, you will have to be paid in Japan. And if you are paid in Japan, you will certainly need to pay income taxe. Upon your second year you will also be required to pay residency tax.

But even if you are able to stay in Japan for 5 years, there is no guarantee that you will be given permanent residency (you can never become a "citizen" if you are not Japanese).

The process for approving permanent residency is arbitrary, and depends as much on the mood of the immigration official as it does any written regulation. I have been in Japan for 10 years, I have a family here, and I am the president of a Japanese company, yet the last time I applied for permanent residency, I was declined.

The best way to find out what you need to know is to find out what kind of visa your company is going to get you. If you are coming with anything other than regular work visa (called the "Specialist in Humanities/International Services, or a spouse visa (you are married to a Japanese national), you will not be able to apply or qualify for permanent residency.