u/No_Tourist_3053

Hello everyone,

In the last few days some shocking rejections were reported (people being under 10 years of residency by only 1 month, with good income and PR, etc.), and some scattered cases of approvals under 10 years have been reported as well. While comparing these cases reveals no particular pattern to figure out why these cases were approved or rejected, one theory still remains consistent: a lot of shocking rejections among solid applications submitted in the first half of 2025. I personally heard of at least 3 cases approved under 10 years (8 and even 7 years) that were submitted in the second half of 2025.

I suspect some blanket rejections might have happened, after which the policy was softened.

My theory is that when the guideline was announced, they rejected anyone under 10 years, even by 1 day, and since the MOJ was going through the applications in order, most rejected cases are those submitted earlier in 2025. Later, more discretionary approvals likely started happening for people who applied in the second half, and we now have approval precedents.

I would like to gather some data on this. So my suggestion is:

If someone applied between February and June 2025 and got approved, please inform us in this post. Please specify your application date, visa type, and residency duration.

Let's gather more evidence.

Mine:

Applied June 2025 (expecting a rejection based on this blanket rejection theory)

Residency duration: 8 years will be completed in September.

Gijinkoku visa, results pending.

I know this post can be frustrating for some people but forgive us our anxiety. So I talked to my lawyer the other day, and in his office no one with less than 10 years got any results yet. All cases are pending. Only cases where the person is married to a Japanese national got results, approved. Some cases with more than 10 years were approved and took almost 1.5 years. We might be cooked here. Without even knowing we are simply waiting for a rejection hoping all this time for the best. Why the best wont happen? My opinion is that if your papers are already at MOJ they don't ask for a withdrawal. As a funny result, the fact you managed to have your last interview hurts you even more. You will be outright sent a letter of rejection, while people who applied late will be requested to withdraw. Be happy if MOJ sends your papers back asking for 5 years of tax reports, they might still consider you. I know about rejected cases with 6 , 7 and 8 years of residency. Does anyone have updates on this topic? Feel free to express your frustration and correct me if I am wrong but my opinion is that only special cases can be exceptions, and 融和 criteria is met only by residency length so neither JLPT n1 nor a high income is going to save us. The thing that makes me laugh the most in all this is that we fell under the worst possible scenario being in fact more assimilated in the society than anyone else. The Japanese government has a bad sense of humor. 

Hello guys. I suddenly discovered I qualify for 80 points in HSP visa and started considering the fast PR track. I heard that PR applications take even longer than naturalization but 高度人材ビザ holders are given preferential treatment.

I also searched the fastest processing time across prefectures.

Nagoya and Shizuoka (also I believe cities like Sapporo) give PR in as short as 4 months. Sadly I moved to Tokyo 2 years ago. Can I count on getting PR faster with HSP in Tokyo? Because if no, I will probably not apply to HSP and simply apply for PR directly proving I have hold 80 points for a year under my working visa.