What is the difference between naturalization and permanent residence?
Naturalization means that a foreigner acquires Japanese citizenship, and permanent residence means that a foreigner acquires the right to reside permanently in Japan as a foreigner. Upon naturalization, foreigners acquire Japanese citizenship and lose the citizenship of their country of origin, but this is not the case for permanent residents, as their citizenship does not change. When a foreigner starts living in Japan, he/she first obtains a status of residence and then, after going through several renewals of the status of residence while living a healthy life with a stable income for 5-10 years, the possibility of becoming a permanent resident or a Japanese citizen arises.

If you naturalize and become a Japanese citizen, you will receive all the rights that Japanese citizens can receive, such as the right to vote and social security, but you will not be able to easily return to the nationality of your country of origin. Therefore, it is recommended that those who are determined to live in Japan for the rest of their lives apply for naturalization, and those who want to continue a stable life in Japan for the time being, but may return to their country of origin in the future, apply for permanent residence.

In order to become naturalized, foreign nationals must file an application for naturalisation by themselves to the Legal Affairs Bureau that has jurisdiction over their place of residence and receive approval from the Minister of Justice. Although the requirements are similar to those for permanent residence, the process involves an enormous amount of paperwork, often exceeding 100 pages. Additionally, some of these documents must be obtained from the applicant's home country, which can take time and may not have clear procedures for obtaining them. Furthermore, it takes a considerable amount of time for the application to be approved, and during the review process, enquiries are made to various government agencies such as the municipal office, the National Police Agency, the Tax Office, and the Pension Office. As a result, the process often takes more than a year. Therefore, it can be said that the hurdles to obtaining approval are high. Below, I will explain the detailed requirements for obtaining naturalization.

No.	Requirements	Note
1	Residence requirement (Article 5, Paragraph 1, No.1 of the Nationality Act) Continue to have a residence in Japan for at least 5 years.	You are required to continue to stay in Japan for at least 5 years. It is not the total number of years, but required to continue to stay, so even if you have a period of stay of 5 years or more, if you have been abroad for a long time (about 90 days or more) during that period, your stay is considered interrupted and judged that the requirement is not satisfied, and the count returns to zero. In addition, the fact that you have been in Japan is not enough, but you are required to have a working status of residence for at least 3 years out of the 5 years you have been in Japan.
2	Ability requirement (Article 5, Paragraph 1, No.2 of the Nationality Act) Your age must be at least 20 years old and have the ability to act according to the law of your home country.
3	Behavior requirement (Article 5, Paragraph 1, No.3 of the Nationality Act) Your behavior shall be good.	Tax payment： No delinquent tax payment. Those who work for a company are required to have paid residence tax, and those who run a business are required to have paid corporate tax and personal business tax. In addition, it should be noted that improper declarations such as making parents dependents though they are separate and not actually supported by you, only to save tax, may also be considered as not satisfying the behavioral requirements. pension： Pention shall be paidIf you are a company employee whose welfare pension is deducted from your salary, this is not an issue, but if you are not, you must be paying the national pension.Business managers are required to enroll in the Enployees' pention insurance and pay the premium. Traffic violation: Considering the history of traffic violations over the past 5 years, and serious speeding or drunk driving may result in denial. Criminal history: Depending on the severity of the crime, having a criminal record increases the likelihood of being denied. Also, if a parent committtd a serious crime in Japan instead of the naturalized person, it may cause denial.
4	Livelihood requirement (Article 5, Paragraph 1, No.4 of the Nationality Act) Being able to earn a living from the assets or abilities of one's own or a spouse or other relative who makes a living.	Have a regular job and earn a stable income. Even if you have a loan or borrowing, it does not matter as long as you can repay stably within the income range. However, if payments are overdue, it can lead to the determination that you are not meeting your livelihood requirements. Bankruptcy will be a disapproval factor if more than 7 years have not passed since the decision to start bankruptcy proceedings.
5	Loss requirement (Article 5, Paragraph 1, No.5 of the Nationality Act) Not having a nationality or lose one by acquiring Japanese nationality.	Naturalization is not permitted if acquiring of Japanese nationality will make you become a dual citizen of the nationality of your country of origin.There is no problem if you lose your original nationality or if you have no nationality.
6	Ideological requirement (Article 5, Paragraph 1, No.6 of the Nationality Act)	Naturalization is not permitted for persons who belong to or participate in antisocial forces such as terrorists and gangsters, and who act or have ideas for the purpose of overthrowing the nation or disrupting social order.
7	Japanese proficiency requirement	You are required to have the minimum level of Japanese proficiency to live a life in Japan without any problems. Level 3 in the Japanese Language Proficiency Test or an equivalent ability is considered acceptable.

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