Hi, this is quite specific, but I’m wondering if anyone has had similar experiences.
I’m here on a spouse visa and work at my (European) country’s embassy in Japan. I’m not diplomatic personnel. I’m a local hire who will not be sent to work anywhere else but here. I don’t plan on ever moving from Japan, so that sits right with me. (Note: Unlike the US, you don’t need to be an FSO to serve as a local hire.)
I finally meet all the time requirements to apply for PR, but there’s one caveat: since I started working at the Embassy, my income tax has been paid to my home country, not to Japan. This is standard procedure regulated by a convention between the two countries. I was wondering, though, if that will hinder my PR request since I will not be able to prove my taxes for the past year or so. I do pay my resident tax, NHI premium, and pension to Japan.
Did anyone apply for PR while working for a foreign diplomatic organization and how did it go?
I asked at my embassy but all the local hires either already had PR when they joined or they plan to go back to our country anyway so don’t plan on applying. You’ll no doubt tell me to ask a lawyer, but I would prefer to apply myself because it’s a huge sum of money that I cannot afford now.
Thanks for any and all input!
9 comments
Am I the only one who is curious why you post this here on reddit and not call immigration?
Are you working 28hours maximum and making less than 1.3million yen per year? If so, there might ask for proof or clarification and not a big deal.
If not, I assume your spouse is receiving deductions for your condition and not reporting your income in their taxes? That could be problematic.
There is no easy way for the tax office to know your income outside the country (your income paid abroad by a source abroad is stil taxable for being resident ) and im assuming that deal you have in your country is a double taxation policy. So if you are paying your taxes on that income in your country and can prove it, you will be fine.
This will definitely raise eyebrows on your PR application and you definitely need to consult someone with experience in this.
Your situation is niche enough and special enough, especially with the tax treaty and the spouse visa and whether you’ve been paying your and your spouse’s social insurance and if you even have to…
You really really need a lawyer.
I think I would just apply if I were you and wait to see the result. Usually, if there is something missing in the application they will either point out straight at the counter or sent you a mail to request it months later, when they process your application. Even if you get rejected, you can go to immigration for an interview and they will explain exactly the reason and what you need to do to get accepted next time. I wouldn’t waste my money for a lawyer for something that simple.
You must be reporting something like foreign sourced income so there should be some paper trail in the tax office. You most likely need to find the relevant documents and include them in the application.
As someone who has weirdly-specific experience/knowledge with this, you would be best to contact a lawyer specializing in immigration law, or lean on your Embassy to consult directly with Immigration via official channels. In a way this situation is due to their odd handling of taxes, so they should be helping you with some of this.
Overall, this situation is so extremely niche (as with most things related to Embassies) that honestly even Immigration can/will get confused at the best of times.
This whole thing is doubly weird, because from my understanding, being employed as a national of your Embassy’s country usually means you’re converted to an Official visa. The fact that you somehow stayed on a spouse visa is… weird.
Look for an immigration lawyer, or get your Embassy’s admin/visa section to start making official inquiries (via TPN/Note Verbale) directly to Japanese Immigration.
This is not an issue. Been there myself. Get a letter from HR specifying the diplomatic agreements and dates of employment and provide that with your application.
>I do pay my resident tax
So just to clarify, how are you declaring your income for the resident tax bill? I assume you’re filing a resident tax return at your municipality office? Or is there some other way? Because usually municipalities would get that data on residents income from the NTA, which for most employees would come from their employer via the YETA. Do your employer do a YETA for you?
Never the less, for income tax (national tax), the only thing you need to submit is:
>源泉所得税及び復興特別所得税、申告所得税及び復興特別所得税、消費税及び地方消費税、相続税、贈与税に係る納税証明書（その３）
This is basically just a certificate which proves you’ve had no income tax infringements for the required income tax categories:
“*income tax and special income tax for reconstruction, self-assessed income tax and special income tax for reconstruction, consumption tax and local consumption tax, inheritance tax, and gift tax*”
It doesn’t outline your income or anything.
(Edit: the income (national) tax certificate required looks like this https://images.app.goo.gl/KyrArZZyjFgf7JcF9 it’s basically just one one which signals you’re all good for income (national) tax)
You won’t have any income tax infringements because you’ve not had any income tax issues because you’re all above board utilizing the tax treaty. If you like you could include a cover letter to explain the article of the tax treaty between Japan and your country of which you’re utilizing.
However, resident tax certificates are what you need to get for the last 3 years for.
(Edit last 3 years for spouse, and 70 points. Last 1 year for 80 points and last 5 years for long-term resident, and 10 years consecutive residency)
And as long as you’ve declared your income correctly on a resident tax return (or by some other method…hence my first question) and paid all your resident tax on time (via special collection or ordinary collection) then you’re all good.
The resident tax certificates will also outline your income too.
So I think you’re all good
I think you will be fine for PR. You need normally 10 years with a valid SoR and having good records and paying your taxes. If you were on a working SoR, that requires to be employed by a japanese company, as you cant have working SoR for overseas employers.
But in your case you are on a spouse of a national status, and you are allowed to work for anyone. You dont even need the 10 years due to your marriage, only 1. So the time and valid SoR requirements are met. Remember you dont even need to work to get a PR, you can get it even being unemployed and dependent of your spouse. If you met the other requirements and have all your taxes and pension in order, you should be fine.
Immigration “information help desk” is NOT reliable. I’ve been given information I knew was wrong, questioned it, the person went off and asked a supervisor and then came back and said yes you’re right it’s X not Z.