Permanent Residency Application - Guarantor

[jcherni]

Hello everyone.

After 15 years in Japan I'm finally applying for the PR.
I should have done this long ago though...

However, I have a question about the guarantor.
I'm single and I have no family in Japan. How should I proceed in this case?
I have searched quickly on older topics, but it seems that everyone gets their PR after getting married (and then use their spouse as a guarantor).

Of course I have Japanese friends and PR-holding foreigner friends, but this does not seem something you can ask easily a friend to do.
(I understand that being a guarantor for a PR has no legal implications, it is more a "moral" guarantee than a legal one, but still).

Has anyone here gotten their PR without being married to a Japanese citizen or PR holder?

[SZQ]

Haven't received the result yet but I applied last year and asked a Japanese friend (ex work colleague) to be my guarantor. She was happy to do it. Other PR holders (also work ex work colleagues) offered to be my guarantor as well.

I don't see any problem with asking a friend.

Edit: received the postcard today!

[Kiro]

A non-japanese friend with PR is my guarantor, and there was no problem at all. As it happens, I applied for PR with him as a guarantor the moment he received his, and got mine about 8 months later.

[Butterball]

I don’t think it’s actually that big a deal to ask. It’s not like a guarantor for a loan or rental; more like the person you need to sign your passport application.

[Tokyo35]

Single male here. Living in Japan since 1986. Got PR in 2005 (the waits were much longer then). My boyfriend at the time was (is?) my guarantor. He was 8 years younger than me and earning less but it did not matter. So no need to be straight or married.

I am now in the middle of being the guarantor for my current partner (who is Chinese). We have the same address so I guess Immigration can figure out what degree of friends we are !

Good luck.

[Haystack]

Be cautious of taking PR advice from those that applied more than a decade ago.

The process has changed quite a bit and now is arguably more strict.

For example, if you or your guaranteer has missed a single nenkin payment for the last two years it is grounds for rejection.

[adamu]

For example, if you or your guaranteer has missed a single nenkin payment for the last two years it is grounds for rejection.

That is the "principal supporter" for PR via the spouse route, different from guarantor. For the guarator, universal to all PR applications no matter the route, pension records are not checked, as far as I know. However, tax records, employer, and juminhyou are.

It seems to me that it would be theoretically possible to use a different guarantor to your spouse if necessary, although very unconventional.

I don’t think it’s actually that big a deal to ask. It’s not like a guarantor for a loan or rental; more like the person you need to sign your passport application.

Your guarantor needs to give you their residence tax records for the previous year, which lists their income. Quite a considerable level of personal information to ask of someone.

[TBS]

I don’t think it’s actually that big a deal to ask. It’s not like a guarantor for a loan or rental; more like the person you need to sign your passport application.

Your guarantor needs to give you their residence tax records for the previous year, which lists their income. Quite a considerable level of personal information to ask of someone.

A workaround for this is if the guarantor hands you the tax documents within a sealed envelope, which you then hand over to immigration. I know people who have done this.

But I agree with your sentiment, asking someone to be your guarantor is a big ask. And the whole guarantor system is one of the aspects I least like about Japan.

[captainspoke]

...
A workaround for this is if the guarantor hands you the tax documents within a sealed envelope, which you then hand over to immigration. I know people who have done this.
...

Excellent strategy.