Japan PR now weighs Japanese at B1: what JLPT level to aim for before April 2027

The revised guideline (ISA guideline) also covers:

• Income. The reviewer looks at whether your household income has continuously stayed above the average income of Japanese households of the same size. Income earned by a family member on a non-work status, such as 家族滞在 with permission for activity outside status (資格外活動), isn't added to the household total. The ISA page gives no yen figure.
• Pension. Your expected pension is compared with what someone would get after 30 years in 厚生年金 (the employee pension) earning at the average-household income benchmark above. If you fall short, financial assets (補填資産) can make up the gap, with a threshold that depends on your age.
• Understanding Japan's systems and rules. This will be checked by a method the ISA Commissioner designates, centered on the 「生活・就労ガイドブック」 (Guidebook on Living and Working).
• School-age children. If you're raising school-age children, whether they attend elementary or junior high school is a factor.
• Contribution. Contributing to the government's January 23, 2026 policy package, 「外国人の受入れ・秩序ある共生のための総合的対応策」, may count in your favor. The separate 「我が国への貢献」 (contribution to Japan) guideline is abolished.
• Spouses. On the spouse route, spouses of Japanese nationals, permanent residents or special permanent residents need a real marriage of 5 years or more and 3 or more years of continuous residence in Japan. Their children need 3 years or more.

What hasn't changed yet is when most of this reaches you. Under section 第６, the revision applies to applications filed on or after April 1, 2027 (令和９年４月１日以降の申請), language factor included. Two parts apply earlier; see the timeline below.

What "B1" means in the ISA text

B1 comes from the Reference Framework, which uses six levels, A1 to C2, like the CEFR. In the Agency for Cultural Affairs' description, B1 is an independent user (自立した言語使用者) (Reference Framework report, PDF; Agency notice). In plain English, someone at B1 can:

• understand the main points of clear, standard speech on familiar topics they meet at work, at school or in their free time;
• deal with most situations likely to come up while traveling where the language is spoken;
• produce simple, connected text on topics that are familiar or personally interesting;
• describe experiences, events, dreams, hopes and ambitions, and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

That last point matters. B1 isn't rare kanji or formal 敬語. It's ordinary life in Japanese: explaining why you need a document, telling a doctor what's wrong, saying what you plan to do next month and why. If you've lived here a while, you may already do some of this daily.

B1 in JLPT terms: our approximate guidance

Most people will reach for the JLPT to gauge this. Here's our bridge, as a working estimate.

A note on JFT-Basic, since it comes up a lot. The Japan Foundation's test assesses A1, A2.1 and A2.2 on a 10–250 scale (JFT-Basic). It doesn't assess B1, so it can't show the level the guideline describes.

The speaking gap is easy to underestimate. B1 describes using Japanese in daily life, much of it out loud. A paper test mirrors reading and listening well, so pair it with regular speaking practice. If December's JLPT registration slipped past you, see our JLPT December 2026 Plan B.

Want to start speaking before the plan below? Practice everyday Japanese out loud with Gu, five minutes at a time. App Store · Start Japanese speaking practice free. Hub: Learn Japanese.

Who the language factor may not apply to

The guideline adds a proviso (ただし書き). Where it can't be said to be necessary or appropriate to look for B1 from the applicant personally, the language factor isn't considered. The ISA gives these examples (ISA guideline, 2-5-(8)):

• highly skilled foreign professionals (高度人材外国人) under items 6 to 8 of Part 3 (第３の６から８) of the guideline, and their families;
• people who received primary or secondary education under Japan's School Education Act (学校教育法) for a cumulative six years or more;
• children of permanent residents, but only if the child was born in Japan and the parent raising them has Japanese at B1 or above.

The list ends with 「など」, "and so on": these are examples, not a complete list. The wording is also narrower than some summaries going around.

If you think you fit, check your own case with the ISA or a gyōseishoshi before dropping language prep.

Timeline: what applies when

The sequence in the ISA's wording. One date is our arithmetic, and it's marked.

If your application is in that pending group, a gyōseishoshi can look at your actual numbers. No article can.

A 6-month study plan to April 2027

This is how we'd spend six months; it isn't an official syllabus. Two strands run side by side: JLPT-style reading and listening to gauge where you are, and a few minutes of speaking out loud every day on the tasks B1 describes. For a rough sense of hours, our how-long-to-learn Japanese tool gives classroom-hour estimates. Estimates only, not a forecast for you.

October 2026: find your level honestly

Do one timed reading set and one listening set at N3 level, then at N2. No cramming. You want to know which feels like a stretch and which feels like a wall. Write down three situations where your Japanese still stalls: the ward office counter, a call to a clinic, explaining something to your manager. That's your speaking list.

Start with a line you can use this month:

• すみません、もう一度ゆっくり言っていただけますか。
  Sumimasen, mō ichido yukkuri itte itadakemasu ka.
  "Excuse me, could you say that again slowly?"

November 2026: the ward office

Study grammar in full sentences and listen 15 minutes a day; short daily sessions beat one long Sunday. Out loud, rehearse ward-office requests until they come easily:

• 住民票の写しを一通お願いします。
  Jūminhyō no utsushi o ittsū onegai shimasu.
  "One copy of my residence certificate, please."
• 転入届を出したいのですが、どの窓口に行けばいいですか。
  Tennyūtodoke o dashitai no desu ga, dono madoguchi ni ikeba ii desu ka.
  "I'd like to file a moving-in notice. Which counter should I go to?"

That 一通 is a counter for documents. If counters still trip you up, our guide to Japanese counters is a quick fix.

December 2026: the clinic

Keep the daily listening and add one longer reading a day, like a city notice or a short news item. Out loud, practice describing symptoms:

• 三日前から熱があって、のどが痛いです。
  Mikka mae kara netsu ga atte, nodo ga itai desu.
  "I've had a fever for three days, and my throat hurts."
• 薬のアレルギーはありません。
  Kusuri no arerugī wa arimasen.
  "I don't have any drug allergies."

Notice 熱があって and アレルギーはありません. If you're never sure which particle to pick, our explainer on wa vs ga helps here.

January 2027: plans and reasons

This is the core of B1: saying what you intend to do and why. Retake an N3 or N2-style set and compare with October. Out loud, explain a plan in two sentences every day:

• 四月に永住許可を申請するつもりです。そのために、毎日日本語を勉強しています。
  Shigatsu ni eijū kyoka o shinsei suru tsumori desu. Sono tame ni, mainichi nihongo o benkyō shite imasu.
  "I plan to apply for permanent residency in April. That's why I study Japanese every day."

February 2027: work and opinions

Do longer timed reading under exam-like conditions. Out loud, practice requests and opinions you'd really give at work:

• 子どもの学校の行事があるので、金曜日の午後に休みをいただけますか。
  Kodomo no gakkō no gyōji ga aru node, kin'yōbi no gogo ni yasumi o itadakemasu ka.
  "My child has a school event, so could I take Friday afternoon off?"
• 電車で通勤するほうがいいと思います。時間が正確だからです。
  Densha de tsūkin suru hō ga ii to omoimasu. Jikan ga seikaku da kara desu.
  "I think commuting by train is better, because the trains run on time."

Commuting is a good everyday topic; our piece on Japanese train etiquette gives you more to say.

March 2027: put it together

One last full reading and listening set to see where you've landed. Out loud, run through every line from October to February. Read the 生活・就労ガイドブック, since the systems-and-rules check centers on it. Filing on or after April 1, 2027? Talk your timing through with a gyōseishoshi or your sponsor.

Daily shape: ten minutes of reading or listening, five minutes of lines out loud. Most days beats all weekend.

Back to the nurse in Nagoya. Once she reads the section properly, the picture is calmer: the language factor reaches applications filed from April 2027, and B1 is a level she can build toward by talking about her own life in Japanese. That's a project, not a reason to panic.

VoiGu's Japanese course is a structured, 50-unit path in polite です/ます, and it includes speaking practice with Gu. In Speak lessons, your phone's speech recognition turns your line into text and VoiGu checks it against the line, so you can repeat it until it flows. It sits alongside your reading and listening study and doesn't stand in for an exam.

FAQ

Will a JLPT N2 pass get me permanent residency?
No single result decides a PR application. B1 is one consideration factor, the ISA names no exam, and decisions are made case by case at the Justice Minister's discretion. On JLPT's own reference table, an N2 pass shows as B1 (90–111) or B2 (112 or higher), which makes it a useful self-check.

Is JFT-Basic enough?
JFT-Basic assesses A1, A2.1 and A2.2 on a 10–250 scale. It doesn't assess B1, and the ISA hasn't named JFT-Basic or any other test.

Does the B1 language factor count if I apply before April 2027?
The revised guideline, including the B1 language factor, applies to applications filed on or after April 1, 2027. Only the income and public-burden parts reach further back: to applications filed from six months before October 1, 2026 (April 1, 2026 by our count) that were still pending on that date.

I'm a Highly Skilled Professional. Am I exempt?
The ISA lists highly skilled foreign professionals under items 6 to 8 of Part 3, and their families, as an example where the language factor isn't considered. The list ends in 「など」 and is illustrative, so check your own case with the ISA or a gyōseishoshi.

What is the new PR fee?
The ISA says 「許可されるときは２００，０００円」, ¥200,000 when permission is granted, for applications received from October 1, 2026, paid with a revenue stamp. Applications received by September 30, 2026 pay the old ¥10,000. In limited cases the fee may be reduced to ¥20,000: the reduction is for financial hardship or other special reasons, and for PR only spouses or children (等) of Japanese nationals, permanent residents or special permanent residents can qualify.

Practice your ward-office, clinic and plan-and-reason lines out loud with Gu. App Store · Start Japanese speaking practice free. Hub: Learn Japanese.