PR Success! And what follows?

So, after a few minor tribulations and a four month wait, I received my shiny new resident card with no expiration date.

First I wanted to thank all the lovely people here who gave me helpful pointers on my sometimes stupid questions, and any of those who’ve taken the time to make helpful comments on PR questions posts in the past, as it all helped.

My case:

* Lived in Japan for 5 years on spousal visa ( got a 5 year spousal visa on last renewal )
* I work remotely as a contractor for a US company
* Been paying Japanese taxes and health insurance since day one
* Joined Japanese Pension system in 2021 after we decided we were going to stay in Japan ( before that I was paying my self employment taxes to US ) I prepaid for 2 years, and did the same this year, so no missed payments since joining.
* Wife was my guarantor
* Applied April 16th, got the postcard back from immigration on August 23rd, so just over 4 months processing time

Interesting notes

* When I submitted my application, they asked me to get all the same records for my wife for the National and local taxes, health insurance payment and Pension payments. The instructions on the MOJ page wasn’t clear on that requirement, so I’d just say gather them all at the same time so you don’t have to make two separate trips to the tax offices.
* It’s probably important to note if you’re applying for the PR using the spousal track that you want to make sure all of your spouses payments are in order for the last two years, including on time Pension payments, Medical insurance and Taxes.
* There is a power of attorney form you can download that lets you gather your spouse’s tax info without them needing to come with you. The ward office didn’t care, but it helped at the National Tax office.
* About a month after submission they called my wife asking her how she paid for our medical insurance, since it was paid out of her account. I think they were also a little wondering why the insurance was paid as a yearly lump sum payment. She explained that I gave her the money to pay it and that we paid as a lump sum so there wouldn’t be any late payments and there was a discount for doing so. I don’t know why they were asking, but thought I’d mention it.

What’s next?
Beyond a bit of casual celebration at clearing this hurdle, is there anything else I need to do? I’m thinking like follow on paperwork, things that need to be updated. Do I need to hit the ward office to let them know? I suppose it’s a bit of lingering anxiety from chasing after so much paperwork, that I’ve left something undone.

Anyway, good luck to all those still going through the immigration meat grinder or getting ready for it!