If you’re considering Permanent Residence, just leave it to us! If you’re considering Permanent Residence, just leave it to us!

I’m worried about my Permanent
Resident visa application…

  • What if I make a mistake filling out the forms?

  • Can I reapply if my application was previously denied?

  • I’m worried my salary won’t qualify me for a Permanent Resident visa

  • I was transferred overseas for a long time, and I frequently leave the country for business.
    Will this affect my application?

  • I’m worried I didn’t write a good enough Statement of Reason for my application

  • Can I still get Permanent Residence if I’ve changed jobs a lot?

Put your mind at ease!

IMS Legal Professional Corporation offers comprehensive support for your Permanent Resident visa application!

Customer Testimonials

We’re Not Like Other Companies!
The Strengths of IMS

  • Permanent Resident
    Visa Approval Rate (96%)

    We have applied for Permanent Residence in over 6,000 cases, and our application approval rate is over 90%. We accept applications for Permanent Residence from people with work visas, company CEOs with management visas, and highly-skilled professionals.

    In recent years, the screening process for Permanent Resident applications has become increasingly difficult, so it is important to check the applicant's situation in advance and respond accordingly.

  • Multilingual Support

    At IMS, we value client communication, and that’s why we offer our services in multiple languages. If you are worried that your situation is difficult to explain in Japanese, please contact us in Chinese, Korean, or English. We have native speakers on staff, so you can consult with us at any time, in your preferred language!

  • Phone and
    Email Consultations

    Let us give you peace of mind! We offer consultations for Permanent Resident visas by phone, email, or WeChat. During the initial consultation, our visa experts will confirm your basic situation and determine whether you are eligible to apply for Permanent Residence.

There’s More!
Trust in These 4 Characteristics of IMS

  • Rapid Response

    Going by yourself to the Immigration Bureau can take a lot of time out of your schedule, and you have to go there at least twice: once to drop off your application, and another to pick up your new residence card. Our administrative scriveners are qualified to act as intermediaries by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. They can apply and pick up your visa on your behalf, meaning you don’t have to go to the Immigration Bureau yourself.

    We also offer a rush service to complete and submit applications on your behalf in a short period of time for those with a fast-approaching deadline.

  • Proven Results

    Unlike other visas, applying for Permanent Residence is not a simple matter of submitting basic documents and getting a visa. At IMS, we comprehensively analyze our clients’ situations in advance and consider how best to proceed based on the circumstances.

    In a sincere effort to be truthful with our clients, we will tell you honestly if we deem your application difficult during the pre-screening process.

  • Nationwide Support

    Our services are available to clients anywhere in Japan, regardless of where they live or what prefecture they’re in.

    In the past, we have assisted many clients who were unable to visit our office in person via email, phone, and WeChat. Many of these clients were able to successfully obtain a Permanent Resident visa, so please feel free to contact us no matter where in Japan you are.

  • Complete
    Confidentiality

    As stipulated in the Administrative Scrivener Law, "An administrative scrivener shall not divulge any private information obtained in the course of his or her duties without a justifiable reason." Administrative scriveners are obligated by law to protect the confidentiality of their clients.

    At IMS, we are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of our client consultations. Please feel free to consult with us if you have a past or career that you do not want others to know about when applying for Permanent Residence.

Frequently Asked Questions
When Applying for Permanent Residence

  • ・It’s difficult to prepare all the documents
    ・I cannot prepare the Statement of Reason by myself
    ・Etc.

  • ・I’ve changed jobs a lot
    ・I’m not sure if my income is high enough
    ・I have a traffic violation
    ・Etc.

  • ・I previously applied by myself and was denied
    ・I consulted with another company about reapplying and was rejected
    ・Etc.

In order to obtain a Permanent Resident visa, it is important to deal with any factors that are perceived as negative by the Immigration Bureau’s screening process. However, positive factors can counterbalance the negative ones, and the overall result may result in visa approval.

After a thorough screening with the client, IMS Legal Professional Corporation will consider how to proceed with consultation for each individual case.

We are able to maintain a high approval rate because our applications for Permanent Residence are tailor-made for each individual client.

Praise From Clients
Who Received Permanent Resident Visas

  • Before I applied, I changed jobs and was transferred overseas. But with IMS's support, I was able to successfully obtain Permanent Residence!

    My name is Zhang and I am from China. I have been living in Japan with a working visa and have changed jobs twice, including an overseas transfer for two years. I was worried that I would not be able to meet the requirement of “continuous residence in Japan for more than 10 years” due to my transfer. Feeling uncertain, I searched the internet, found IMS, and received consultation. I was anxious until just before application, but thanks to the generous support from IMS, I was successfully granted Permanent Residence.

    From the Case Manager

    For Mr. Zhang’s case, the circumstances would make anyone uneasy. However, even if you have changed jobs, if the gap between both jobs is short (and if you fulfill the obligation report your resignation and new job within 14 days), it still may work in your favor. Also, even in the case of job transfers overseas, if you continue to fulfill your obligations as a resident of Japan, including paying taxes, the period of transfer may be recognized as a legitimate circumstance. If you are planning to change jobs in the future, please make sure to report within 14 days your last day of work at your current employer, as well as the first day of work at your new one. Failure to do so may affect not only your Permanent Resident visa application, but also future application to extend your period of stay or change your status of residence.

  • I was turned down by other companies because of my income, but with IMS's help, I was able to get Permanent Residence!

    I am a Korean woman who currently works as an office worker at a Japanese company. I have a working visa (Engineer/Specialist in humanities/International services visa) and have lived in Japan for about 12 years. When you apply for Permanent Residence, you need to provide proof of income. In my case, my annual income was only about 2.6 million yen, so at first, an administrative scrivener told me that I should not apply yet as my income was too low. However, one day I saw a sign for IMS and asked for a consultation. IMS told me, “Since you are unmarried and have no dependents, your current income may be enough. Let’s give it a try.” Feeling confident, I asked IMS to apply on my behalf. Then, in September, I successfully obtained my long-awaited Permanent Resident visa.

    From the Case Manager

    Having a stable income is the most important factor in applying for a Permanent Resident visa. It is not only enough to have a high income; your income must be stable and unvarying over the past three years. However, please be careful in applying if you have a large difference in income due to job changes or other reasons. Since you are going to live in Japan permanently, you should not be in a situation where you will cause trouble to the Japanese government (such as receiving welfare benefits).

  • My application for permanent residence was denied in the past, but with the help of IMS, I was able to get Permanent Residence!

    I am a Chinese national working in Japan. I have an “Engineer/Specialist in humanities/International services visa" visa and applied for Permanent Residence a year ago, but my application was denied. The reason for my rejection was that my husband (on a Dependent visa) has a large annual income and I have many dependents. So, a friend introduced me to IMS and I consulted with one of their experts. They prepared a Statement of Reason based on my husband's income and number of dependents, and asked me to reapply. About five months after reapplying, I finally got the Permanent Resident visa I had always wanted.

    From the Case Manager

    As I'm sure you all know, if you are granted permission to “engage in activities other than those permitted under the status of residence previously granted”, you are only allowed to work up to 28 hours per week on a Dependent visa, so there is a high possibility that you will be suspected of having too much income. Also, if you have a lot of dependents, depending on your income, it may be judged as a negative factor in terms of your ability to make a stable living in the future. In this person's case, considering the fact that her husband's income was high, she needed to properly explain that he did not exceed the weekly hour limit, in addition to explaining the reason why his income was high. Regarding the fact that she has many dependents, she needed to explain how she will be able to support them financially and her financial capability. Especially in cases like this, how you write your reasons will affect the screening process. If you are having trouble with your Statement of Reason, please contact us.

Process from First Inquiry to
Receiving your Permanent Resident Visa

  • Inquiry

    Please contact us by answering the questions about why you’re applying for Permanent Residence on the Contact Us form on this page. One of our representatives will contact you within two business days after determining whether or not your application will be approved. We will briefly ask you about your history and current situation, and then arrange a date for your next consulting session.

    If there are any documents required for the consultation, we will inform you of them at this time. If you live far from Tokyo, we may ask you to send them to us by e-mail or post.

  • Consultation

    Based on the information provided by the client, we will discuss the matter in more detail. The time required for the initial consultation varies from person to person, but on average it takes about one hour.

    In some cases, multiple consultations will be needed to review future plans and documents.

    ※For in-person consultations at our office, a separate consulting fee will be charged.

  • Document Preparation and Creation

    For Permanent Resident visa applications, there are many documents to be issued by the employer or the municipal office, as well as documents to be prepared by the client. For each of these documents, we keep in touch with the client via e-mail or phone while proceeding with preparations. At the same time, we complete the application form and the Statement of Reason. For the Statement of Reason, in particular, we need to be careful and precise in writing the reasons why the applicant wants to live in Japan permanently.

  • Applying for Permanent Residence at the Immigration Services Agency

    Once all the documents are in order, we will submit your application to the Immigration Bureau.

    There is no need for you to go to the Immigration Bureau directly when applying through IMS. Since we handle many cases on behalf of our clients, we go to the Immigration Bureau two to three times a week to complete the application procedures.

    We also provide rush services, such as completing the documents necessary for application in a short period of time for clients who wish to deal with the application in a hurry.

  • Receiving the Results of your Permanent Resident Visa Application

    If your application for Permanent Residence is approved, you will receive an approval postcard from the Immigration Services Agency. We will bring the postcard, your passport, and your residence card to the immigration office and pick up your new residence card. In this case, there is no need for you to go to the Immigration Bureau in person.

    ※The process from application to approval varies per individual, but recently it has taken about 3 to 8 months for review.

Service Fees

【Permanent Resident Visa Application】

In addition to the following charges,
8,000 JPY will be required for the revenue stamp fee.

Application Type Fees
(Tax incl.)
Main Applicant 165,000 JPY~275,000 JPY
Dependent (Family) Members 66,000 JPY~165,000 JPY
Visa Consultation
【Japanese】 11,000 JPY (Online consultation)/up to 1 hour; 16,500 JPY (In-person consultation)/up to 1 hour
【English・Chinese・Korean】 16,500 JPY (Online consultation)/up to 1 hour; 22,000 JPY (In-person consultation)/up to 1 hour

To Those Considering Permanent Residence

While Permanent Residence has many advantages – such as no need to renew the period of stay, no restrictions on employment, and the ease of obtaining a mortgage – it requires many documents to be submitted, and the examination process is stricter than that of other visas such as work visas.

It is necessary to prepare documents according to each applicant’s status of residence in Japan, in addition to preparing a Statement of Reason and an application form. In recent years, even the slightest factor can easily result in denial, so we strongly recommend that you consult with a visa specialist and ask them to act on your behalf. Statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that about half of the total number of Permanent Residence applications processed each month are rejected.

Please leave your Permanent Resident application to the experts at IMS!

Inquiries・Consultation

First Name
Last Name
Email Address
Phone Number

This site is intended for those who are residing in Japan. As a prerequisite for applying for Japanese Permanent Residence, you must be a current resident of Japan. We cannot reply to inquiries from outside Japan as they do not meet the requirements.
Thank you for your understanding.

Your Inquiry

Your answers to the questions will be an important factor in deciding whether or not you can apply for Permanent Residence, so please be sure to answer them completely.

Personal Information Handling Agreement

We are committed to the protection of the personal information we collect from our customers and have established the following procedures for handling such personal information.

【Purpose of Use】

To respond to inquiries.

【Provision to Third Parties】

We will not provide your personal information to any third party without the consent of the person/s concerned, except as required by law.

【Outsourcing of Handling of Personal Information】

In order to provide better services to our customers in the course of our business operations, we outsource some of our operations to third parties and may entrust our customers' personal information to such third parties. In this case, we will select a contractor who is recognized to appropriately handle personal information. Additionally, we will make contractual arrangements to prevent the leakage of the customer's personal information through appropriate management and confidentiality of personal information, and we will have the contractor implement such appropriate management.

【Voluntary Submission of Personal Information】

The submission of personal information to us is voluntary. However, please note that if you do not submit your personal information, we may not be able to reply to you or provide you with our services.

【Request for Disclosure of Personal Information】

You have the right to request notification, disclosure, correction, addition or deletion, suspension of use, erasure, and suspension of provision of your personal information to third parties. For more information, please contact the following personnel or refer to the "Handling of Personal Information".
For Inquiries: IMS Legal Professional Corporation, Personal Information Inquiry Desk
TEL: 03-5402-6191
Contact Person: Naoto Murai, Personal Information Protection Manager


The attorney fee for our company's permanent residency application support starts at 170,000 yen* depending on your individual situation. (*Tax not included) We have set this amount based on our company's experience, extensive knowledge, and high approval success rate. If you do not agree with this amount, we kindly ask that you refrain from contacting us regarding this matter.

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