Japan to introduce 10-year residency requirement for nationality

Currently, the nationality law requires applicants to live in Japan for at least five years.

The ministry will tighten the requirement by adjusting how it implements the law, instead of revising the law itself.

The change in the requirement was included in comprehensive measures for orderly inclusion of foreign people adopted in January, following criticism that the current requirement is inconsistent with the 10-year rule required to obtain permanent residency.

The nationality law lists good conduct and the ability to make a living as conditions for granting Japanese nationality.

The government will also tighten the criteria by requiring applicants to report their tax payment status for the past five years and their social insurance payment status for the past two years when applying for nationality.

These changes will apply to all applications for which the screening results are released on Wednesday or later.

According to the ministry, 14,103 people applied for naturalization in 2025, and 9,258 were granted nationality.