Japan Mortgage by Residency Status: PR, Work Visa, Non-Resident

This article is part of the Zagdim wiki series on buying property in Japan. It sets out how a Japanese mortgage differs by residency status, for readers who already hold permanent residence, who work in Japan on a work visa, or who live outside Japan, for example in Taiwan or Hong Kong.

Foreigners can apply for a Japanese mortgage, but which mortgages are open to you depends on your status. As of September 2026, there are broadly three situations:

• Japanese nationals, permanent residents (eijusha) and special permanent residents (tokubetsu eijusha): eligible to apply for Flat 35 from the Japan Housing Finance Agency. Some bank products are worded as “Japanese nationality or permanent residence permission”; permanent residents fit that wording. Whether special permanent residents are covered depends on each bank’s own explanation.
• Holders of other statuses of residence (such as a work visa) who live in Japan: not eligible for Flat 35. Some banks publish products that accept applicants without permanent residence, with their own conditions on place of residence, annual income and language.
• People who live outside Japan, such as in Taiwan or Hong Kong: owner-occupier mortgages that state a place of residence, such as Rakuten Bank’s, require you to live in Japan. Among the banks reviewed, the one that currently publishes conditions for non-resident applicants is Tokyo Star Bank, with Tokyo Lucky Star. It is a real estate investment loan, not an ordinary owner-occupier mortgage.

Even if you meet the published conditions, the bank still screens every application. The sections below go through each status in turn.

Why Is There No Single Answer to Whether Foreigners Can Get a Japanese Mortgage?

The rules work on two levels. The official borrower conditions that are published apply only to Flat 35. For private banks, the conditions for foreigners and for people living overseas are set by each bank, with no official common standard. The living and working guidebook for foreign nationals, prepared under the supervision of the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, also has no section on housing loans at present.

In a survey published in March 2026 by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, 80.6% of the 994 private financial institutions that responded listed nationality as a screening item. That is the share that look at nationality, not a rejection rate. The survey also did not offer status of residence or living overseas as options. So how your status will be viewed has to be checked against the product descriptions each bank publishes.

How Do Banks Word Their Status Requirements?

The table below sets out how the banks reviewed describe applicant status and place of residence in their own product descriptions, FAQs or web pages. It lists only the wording the banks publish. It does not stand for other conditions, interest rates or approval results, and a bank missing from the table is not necessarily a bank that refuses applications.

Bank conditions can change at any time, so rely on the bank’s latest announcement.

What Should Japanese Nationals, Permanent Residents and Special Permanent Residents Watch For?

On status alone, you can apply for Flat 35. Permanent residents also meet the “Japanese nationality or permanent residence” status condition at each bank in the table above. For special permanent residents, each bank’s own explanation governs (Sumitomo Mitsui’s special page states that the status of residence field must read “permanent resident” or “special permanent resident”). Other conditions, such as age, group credit life insurance (dantai shinyo seimei hoken, or dan-shin) and annual income, still depend on the product. The full Flat 35 conditions are covered in the main article. The points below vary with the details of your status:

• Proving your status: the Flat 35 leaflet for foreign applicants (version as of April 1, 2020) lists the residence card for permanent residents, and the special permanent resident certificate or an alien registration certificate for special permanent residents. New residence cards and special permanent resident certificates issued from June 14, 2026 no longer show the period of stay on the card. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, for example, asks these applicants to submit a resident record stating status of residence and period of stay instead.
• Special permanent residents are worded differently by each bank: Flat 35 and Sumitomo Mitsui name special permanent residents explicitly. Mizuho writes “permanent residence permission or similar”, and its FAQ does not say whether the “or similar” includes special permanent residents. For other banks, rely on that bank’s explanation.
• Buying a home for family: Flat 35 can also be used for a home where parents, children or other relatives will live, but the relatives who move in must likewise be Japanese nationals, permanent residents or special permanent residents; there are exceptions on which relatives may move in. Such loans generally cannot claim the housing loan tax deduction, and some participating lenders do not accept them.
• Second homes: Flat 35 can be used to buy a second home (second house) such as a weekend residence for your own use, on the same conditions as a main home. However, you cannot borrow Flat 35 twice for second homes, the property cannot be rented out, and the housing loan tax deduction does not apply.
• Living overseas long-term: for people who qualify but live abroad long-term with no plan to return to live in Japan, there is currently no published route to Flat 35. People posted overseas who expect to return and live in the home are covered by separate rules, detailed in the main article. Among private banks, Sony Bank states that a Japanese national who has moved abroad cannot newly apply.
• Language: Flat 35’s official documents do not list a Japanese-language requirement for foreign applicants. How the contract terms are explained and confirmed is a question for the participating lender.

What Should Work-Visa Holders and Other Residents of Japan Watch For?

A work visa or similar status does not meet the Flat 35 conditions, nor the conditions of the products in the table that require permanent residence permission. You can look at products that openly accept applicants without permanent residence, such as those of SMBC Trust Bank, Tokyo Star Bank and Suruga Bank in the table, and at SBI Shinsei Bank’s route in which the spouse acts as joint guarantor. If someone without permanent residence obtains Flat 35 and this is later discovered, the whole loan must be repaid at once.

• Period of stay: a permanent resident’s period of stay has no limit. Work statuses such as Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services are granted for 5 years, 3 years, 1 year or 3 months at a time, and Spouse or Child of Japanese National for 5 years, 3 years, 1 year or 6 months. The banks do not publish why they make permanent residence a condition, and the bank descriptions reviewed here do not state how much of the period of stay must remain. Ask the bank before applying.
• Language: SMBC Trust Bank requires the ability to communicate in Japanese or English; contract documents are in Japanese, with English translations provided separately. Tokyo Star Bank requires the ability to read and write Japanese, and to fill out the application and disclosure form for its group credit life insurance in Japanese. Suruga Bank states that it declines financing where the applicant cannot understand the explanations in Japanese.
• Spouse: SBI Shinsei Bank’s approach is for a spouse who is a Japanese national or permanent resident to act as joint guarantor, applying as a pair loan (two separate loans, one for each person) or with incomes combined. It does not accept anyone other than a spouse as joint guarantor. Tokyo Star Bank requires married applicants to have the spouse act as joint debtor or joint guarantor.
• Permanent residence pending: a pending permanent residence application is not the same as holding permanent residence. Mizuho states that, in principle, people whose application is pending cannot apply, and Suruga Bank asks about the outlook for the permanent residence application and career plans in Japan when you inquire.
• Purpose: Tokyo Star Bank’s product for people without permanent residence is limited to a home for the applicant or family members who share their livelihood; investment and rental properties are excluded. Suruga Bank also states that applicants who will not live in the property are excluded. SMBC Trust Bank’s FAQ, by contrast, lists real estate investment loans and second-house loans as within scope.

What Can Applicants Living Outside Japan Borrow?

General owner-occupier mortgages that state a place of residence, such as those of Rakuten Bank, SMBC Trust Bank and Tokyo Star Bank’s Star Housing Loan, all assume you live in Japan. Among the banks reviewed, the non-resident loans with published conditions are the Taiwan resident and Hong Kong resident versions of Tokyo Star Bank’s Tokyo Lucky Star. These are real estate investment loans with variable rates.

Taking the Taiwan resident version (as of March 7, 2025) as an example, the product description lists:

• Eligible applicants: people who do not live in Japan, hold a Republic of China (Taiwan) passport and live in Taiwan; who are Taiwan residents under the applicable tax law and not residents of any other country or region; and who can submit official proof of income.
• Age: 20 or older at application, and 75 or younger at final repayment.
• Threshold: annual income of JPY 10 million or more as stated in the official income certificate for the previous year, or net assets of JPY 30 million or more, converted to yen at the bank’s exchange rate at the time of application.
• Purpose and area: investment real estate in Japan, and second homes or homes for family members; properties are in principle limited to Tokyo (the 23 wards and others), Yokohama, Kawasaki, Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Kobe, Fukuoka and parts of Kumamoto Prefecture.
• Loan terms: JPY 20 million or more, a term of 1 to 25 years, a variable rate, and a limited-recourse clause (sekinin zaisan gentei tokuyaku; the exact scope is in the bank’s supplementary explanation). A handling fee of 0.1% of the loan amount (tax-exempt) is charged at drawdown.
• Procedure: signing must be done in person at Tokyo Star Bank’s head office.

The Hong Kong resident version differs in its threshold, final repayment age and handling fee, so the two cannot be applied to each other. How income earned in Taiwan or Hong Kong is certified and converted is spelled out only in this product among the banks reviewed. Details are in the companion article “Can Overseas Income Qualify for a Japanese Mortgage?”.

Two further matters tied to status arise when you buy from abroad:

• Housing loan tax deduction (jutaku kariirekin tou tokubetsu koujo): this system applies to owner-occupied homes bought with a housing loan, and should not be confused with the real estate investment loan above. A non-resident under the Income Tax Act can apply it to a home acquired on or after April 1, 2016, if the other requirements are met. However, you must move in within 6 months of acquisition and keep living there; if you do not move in, the residence requirement is not met, with an exception where family members move in first.
• Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act report: a non-resident under that Act who acquires real estate in Japan must report within 20 days, whether paying cash or borrowing. Borrowing from a Japanese bank as a non-resident under that Act does not, according to current official explanations, require a separate report from the borrower.

Does “Non-Resident” Mean the Same Thing Everywhere?

No. The same person can get different answers under a bank product, the Foreign Exchange Act and the Income Tax Act:

• Bank products: the “non-resident of Japan” in Tokyo Lucky Star means someone who does not live in Japan and meets the product’s eligibility conditions. The “non-resident” in Suruga Bank’s product summary means someone who will not live in the property, not someone living overseas.
• Foreign Exchange Act: foreigners are presumed to be non-residents in principle; people who work at an office in Japan, or who have been in Japan for 6 months since entering, are presumed to be residents.
• Income Tax Act: people who have a domicile in Japan, or who have had a residence there continuously for 1 year or more, are residents; everyone else is a non-resident.

The result affects procedure. For example, someone who lives in Japan on a work visa and is presumed a resident under the Foreign Exchange Act must report after the fact, personally, each payment or receipt exceeding the equivalent of JPY 30 million with overseas; non-residents are exempt from this report.

What Statements and Situations Call for Extra Care?

• “You can get Flat 35 without permanent residence”: the Japan Housing Finance Agency’s leaflet for foreign applicants warns readers to be very careful about such solicitations.
• “Tokyo Lucky Star is simply a mortgage for Taiwan and Hong Kong residents”: it is a real estate investment loan with a variable rate and a minimum loan of JPY 20 million; in the Taiwan resident version, properties are in principle limited to designated areas. It is a different product from the owner-occupier mortgages that people living in Japan apply for.
• Online articles that disagree with bank documents: go by the bank’s own published product description and check the document date. In the table, the Sumishin SBI Net Bank FAQ was created in 2021 and the SBI Shinsei Bank FAQ carries no date, so both are worth confirming with the bank again before applying.
• Looking at status alone, not residence and purpose: two people without permanent residence can compare different products depending on whether they live in Japan or elsewhere, and products open for owner-occupied use differ from those open for rental use.

Example: Ms. Wu in Taichung wants to buy a home for her daughter working in Tokyo

Ms. Wu lives in Taichung. Her daughter works in Tokyo on a work-type status of residence and has not yet obtained permanent residence permission. Ms. Wu wants to buy a Tokyo apartment for her daughter to live in.

For the relative-occupancy use of Flat 35, both the applicant and the relative who moves in must be Japanese nationals, permanent residents or special permanent residents, and neither mother nor daughter qualifies. They can compare two routes. One is for the daughter, who lives in Japan, to apply in her own name for one of the products in the table that accept applicants without permanent residence, checking conditions such as income, language and property area. The other is for Ms. Wu to look at the Taiwan resident version of Tokyo Lucky Star. Its permitted use includes a home for family members, but it is a real estate investment loan with a variable rate, with a threshold of annual income of JPY 10 million or more, or net assets of JPY 30 million or more.

If Ms. Wu holds the property, she is in principle presumed a non-resident under the Foreign Exchange Act, and must report within 20 days of acquisition. They need to decide first who will hold the property and who will borrow, then check each item against the bank’s latest product description. Whether a loan is approved is decided by the bank’s screening.

How Do You Work Out Your Next Step?

1. Confirm your status: Japanese national, permanent resident or special permanent resident, or another status of residence. If permanent residence is still pending, you do not yet hold permanent resident status.
2. Confirm where you live: in Japan with a resident registration, or outside Japan, for example in Taiwan or Hong Kong.
3. Confirm the purpose: a home for yourself, a home for family, a second home, or a rental.
4. Check the table: find the products that match your status and residence, get the latest version of each product description, and check age, income, language and property area one by one.
5. Return to the full picture: for the complete Flat 35 conditions, bank screening items, rate types and the difference between cash and loan purchases in Japan, see the main article “Can Foreigners Get a Mortgage to Buy a Home in Japan?”.

Japan Mortgage by Residency Status: FAQ

My permanent residence application is still under review. Can I apply for a Japanese mortgage on permanent-resident terms?

A pending application is not the same as holding permanent residence. Foreign applicants for Flat 35 must be permanent residents or special permanent residents, and Mizuho also states that, in principle, people whose permanent residence application is pending cannot apply. While the review is under way, you can look at products that openly accept applicants without permanent residence.

If I obtain permanent residence after taking out the loan, does the mortgage change?

The products of Tokyo Star Bank and Suruga Bank for people without permanent residence state that if you obtain permanent residence permission during the loan term and notify the bank, the rate may be reduced after screening. Whether other banks have a similar arrangement depends on that bank’s explanation.

Are the conditions the same for special permanent residents and permanent residents?

Both can apply for Flat 35, but the status documents differ: permanent residents submit the residence card, and special permanent residents submit the special permanent resident certificate or similar. Private banks word this differently; Sumitomo Mitsui names both, while Mizuho writes “permanent residence permission or similar”.

Notes on the Information

• The information was checked on September 30, 2026, against official materials from the Japan Housing Finance Agency, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Japan and the National Tax Agency, and against product descriptions, FAQs and web pages that each bank publishes itself. All are in Japanese; the English is Zagdim’s summary.
• The following conclusions are drawn from official documents rather than stated directly by them: “private banks have no official common standard” (the report and survey form of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s survey on private housing loans, and the 8th edition of the living and working guidebook prepared under the supervision of the Immigration Services Agency, contain no rules on mortgages for foreigners); “people who live abroad long-term with no plan to return to live in Japan have no published route to Flat 35”; “Flat 35’s official documents do not list a Japanese-language requirement”; “how income in Taiwan or Hong Kong is recognized is stated only by Tokyo Lucky Star among the banks reviewed”; “if the borrower does not move in, the residence requirement for the tax deduction is not met”; and “no separate Foreign Exchange Act report by the borrower is evident for borrowing from a Japanese bank as such” (based on the Bank of Japan’s Foreign Exchange Act Q&A on capital transactions, which does not cover a bank’s own reporting).
• The bank table represents only each product’s published wording on the dates listed, not complete application conditions. Mizuho Bank’s product summary page could not be read at the time of checking, so its FAQ was used instead; SBI Shinsei Bank’s application conditions page could not be read, so age, income and residence conditions were not checked; and for Sumitomo Mitsui only the web-only housing loan was checked. The public products for people living overseas are as found among the banks reviewed. The materials reviewed do not record any bank’s requirement on remaining period of stay.
• The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism survey records which screening items financial institutions ticked, not approval rates or rejection rates. The housing loan tax deduction follows the law as of April 1, 2026.

Have a question about this guide? Leave a comment below, or ask Zagdim directly.

Sources

住宅金融支援機構－【フラット３５】ご利用条件 ／ 住宅金融支援機構－よくある質問 Q&A308「外国籍でも申込みできますか。」 ／ 住宅金融支援機構－ご案内チラシ「【フラット３５】をお申込みいただく外国籍の方へ」 ／ 住宅金融支援機構－よくある質問 Q&A3266「海外勤務中でも申込みできますか？」 ／ 住宅金融支援機構－セカンドハウスのお申込みについて ／ 住宅金融支援機構－親族居住用住宅のお申込みについて ／ 国土交通省－令和７年度 民間住宅ローンの実態に関する調査 結果報告書（令和８年３月） ／ 出入国在留管理庁 監修－生活・就労ガイドブック 第8版 ／ 出入国在留管理庁－在留資格一覧表 ／ 出入国在留管理庁－在留カードとは？ ／ 三菱ＵＦＪ銀行－住宅ローン 商品説明書 ／ 三井住友銀行－WEB申込専用住宅ローン 特設ページ ／ みずほ銀行－よくあるご質問 No.4663 ／ みずほ銀行－よくあるご質問 No.5299 ／ 住信SBIネット銀行－よくあるご質問「〔住宅ローン〕 外国人でも利用することはできますか？」 ／ auじぶん銀行－住宅ローン商品詳細説明書 ／ ソニー銀行－住宅ローン商品詳細説明書 ／ ソニー銀行－海外転勤・留学などをご予定の皆さまへ ／ 楽天銀行－楽天銀行住宅ローン（金利選択型）商品詳細説明書 ／ SBI新生銀行－よくあるご質問「わたしは外国籍で永住権がありませんが、住宅ローンの申し込みができるか教えてください。」 ／ SMBC信託銀行（プレスティア）－よくあるご質問 No.144 ／ 東京スター銀行－スター住宅ローン（永住権のない外国籍の方向け） ／ スルガ銀行－外国人のお客さま向け住宅ローン ／ スルガ銀行－スルガ銀行住宅ローン（外国人専用プラン）商品概要説明書 ／ 東京スター銀行－「東京招福星」スター不動産投資ローン（日本非居住者向け）商品説明書（台湾居住者向け） ／ 東京スター銀行－「東京招福星」スター不動産投資ローン（日本非居住者向け）商品説明書（香港居住者向け） ／ 国税庁－タックスアンサー No.1211-3 中古住宅を取得し、令和4年以降に居住の用に供した場合（住宅借入金等特別控除） ／ 国税庁－タックスアンサー 住宅借入金等特別控除 QA ／ 国税庁－タックスアンサー No.1234 転勤と住宅借入金等特別控除等 ／ 財務省－非居住者による本邦の不動産等取得に係る報告 制度の概要 ／ 財務省－よくあるご質問「日本と海外との間の送金を行う際に必要な手続」 ／ 日本銀行国際局－外為法Ｑ＆Ａ（資本取引編）（令和８年４月改訂）

Important Notice

This article is a general information summary. It is not individual legal, tax, financial or real estate advice, and it does not represent any bank’s approval decision. The information was checked on September 30, 2026. Rules and bank products may change at any time, so rely on the latest announcements from the Japanese authorities and the financial institutions.