Pension payments before applying for PR?

I spoke with a Japanese immigration lawyer and he mentioned that being paid up or paying for pension isn't required when applying for PR, but paying taxes is what they take really seriously.

Of course, I always file and pay my taxes every year.

I have read of various forums about Japan that being caught up on your pension payments or at least make a few big payments on it will significantly increase your chances of obtaining PR.

I just filed my taxes today and I plan to make some pension payments soon, but I'm looking for a second opinion on this.

I assume nobody knows the answer to this.

I will be talking with the Japanese immigration lawyer about this in the near future anyway.

At this point - I am pretty sure - immigration does not check applicants' social security contributions. But in recent years, the government has been getting tougher on people who do not support the pension system, and thanks to the My Number system it may have gotten easier to check. I hope they will. In any case, at any time, you have the chance to repay up to two years worth of pension payments.

Yes, I agree. Even if I am behind on my monthly pension payments, I know it is still a plus that I even signed up for the pension plan to begin with, which a lot of foreigners haven't bothered to do yet.

The pension plan isn't currently required to sign up for, but since it is directly tied to the My Number system like you mentioned, it probably doesn't look good to have the required My Number card and not have a pension plan if I am going to apply for PR.

I realize being behind on payments also looks bad in another way, but I will be continuing to make significant payments here and there when I can afford it.

The Japanese immigration lawyer I spoke with again said he doesn't think being behind on the pension payments will effecting whether or not I obtain PR, but that is just the current situation now, which could change in the near future. He did mentioned that it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep making payments regularly if possible, which I am doing.

So I did some searching around with regard to this situation in Japanese and came across this information (which I translated from Japanese to English):

Precautions for those who change from spouse visa to permanent resident visa

Those who wish to apply for a permanent visa or permanent residence from a visa such as a Japanese spouse or a spouse such as a spouse or a permanent resident of the permanent resident may not only have pension for your own pension, Let's check it!

Although it is unexpectedly a blind spot, even if there is no delinquency or non-payment of the pension to the applicant himself / herself, there are cases in which the spouse is not paid due to the unpaid delinquency of the pension.

Even Japanese people have surprisingly many people who do not know their pension situation.

In the time of a student, or during the period when he was changing his / her job, he / she must join the national pension during the period when he / she is not employed (during the period when he / she is not a member of the employee's pension), but as soon as he / she has decided to re-hire it, the procedure of the national pension It is common that pensions are unpaid delinquent while you do not even know yourself, such as not doing.

So we encourage you to check your spouse's pension status before applying for a permanent visa if possible!

Even if you are currently a member of the pension, please contact the nearest pension office if there is a period (unpaid period) that you have not paid before working for the company or during the student days. We think that we can apply for pension payment or exemption for pension in unpaid period and delinquent period so we recommend you to confirm before applying for permanent visa.

Do I need pension documents when applying for permanent residence visa?

Since it is not required as a document required for immigration visa application from Immigration Bureau, it is not necessary to prepare at the time of application. However, according to recent trends, it is also good to prepare in advance because it is required for materials that understand the status of subscription and payment of pension as an instruction of additional documents. Also, if you have unpaid or unpaid delinquency, we recommend that you consult with your nearest pension office in advance.

http://visa-immigration.net/info/pension

One of my friend was not paying pension who was on spouse visa. He told immigration since beginning that he will not stay in Japan for ever. He got PR. He is not living in Japan now. You must have reason for not paying the pension. Many people got PR who dont pay pension. Please check with your immigration. But if you apply naturalization, you must pay from the day you landed in Japan.

Thank you so much for this information!

I will be calling up the immigration office tomorrow about this.

Do you happen to know any other legitimate reasons foreigners give for not paying national pension aside from their company paying for them and their plans to return to their home country in the future?

These seem like the only reasons foreigners give for this situation.

I consulted with a Japanese immigration lawyer again today about my national pension status being exempt and if that is an automatic rejection for applying for permanent residence.

He said that since immigration look at many different factors such as whether or not you are paying taxes, working a stable job, with a decent salary, making frequent deposits into a Japanese bank account, holding down jobs for long periods of time, not committing crimes, etc. he said that just not making national pension payments would be a reason for a rejection.

He mentioned that even if I were rejected after applying alone the first time, he would be happy to assist me in applying the second time, which he said could be done right away with no waiting period.

I thought I would share this information since there are probably many foreigners on this forum that eventually want to apply for permanent residence.