I’ll be eligible to apply for permanent residency soon, but I’m planning to move back to my home country for some time over the next year or so to look after family. I’m wondering if there are any residence requirements for renewing permanent residency? I know the zairyuu card will expire every five years, but is it possible to come back to Japan for short-term trip to renew the card without having a fixed residence? Basically, I’d like to know if I can keep my options open to come back to Japan as a permanent resident in the future (because if it’s not possible, there’s not much point for me applying for permanent residence in the first place). Thanks.
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If you are planning to leave the country for more than 1 year you will need to apply at immigration for a re-entry permit. These last up to 5 years and you can get single / multiple entry versions.
if you have a Japanese wife , i would highly recommend you to get citizenship
See here: https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/w3fmea/question_about_renewing_permanent_residence_and/igw1c5c/
An additional thing I should have mentioned is PR is still a status of residency, and has to be maintained as such. So You do actually need to be a resident when renewing the card (every 7 years) as the idea around Permanent Residency is to be a Permanent Resident (not a “Permanent *come and go as I please* Resident) I.e PR is not a substitute for citizenship. If you want the “come and go” ability offered by citizenship then you’re going to need to naturalize.
If you want to leave Japan for >1 year (and cease residency) but keep your PR, then What you need to do is go to immigration and apply for a 5 year re-entry permit: https://www.isa.go.jp/en/applications/procedures/16-5.html
If you come and go on a string of 1 year special re-entry permits over many years you will be risking losing your PR if caught because that would be a violation of the 1 year special re-entry permit because only residents can utilize that 1 year special re-entry permit I.e when residents intend to depart from a holiday/business trip but return within under 1 year.
TLDR: if you intend to leave for over 1 year, get a re-entry permit from immigration. If you intend to leave for under 1 year (I.e remain a resident) then get a 1 year special re entry permit at the airport.