Osaka vs Nagoya Immigration PR: 8-Month vs 5-Month Wait

If you live in Kansai, you file PR at Osaka Immigration (8 months processing). For Tokai or western Shizuoka, Nagoya Immigration (5 months — the fastest of any major bureau). You cannot choose your bureau — it's determined by your address. Both apply the same 2026 guideline rules.

Bottom line: If you live in Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, Nara, Wakayama, or Shiga, you file PR at Osaka Immigration (~8 months processing). If you live in Aichi, Mie, Gifu, Fukui, Toyama, Ishikawa, or Shizuoka, you file at Nagoya Immigration (~5 months — the fastest of any major bureau). You cannot choose your bureau — it's determined by your address. Both run weekday 9:00–16:00, both require the ¥10,000 revenue stamp, both apply the same 2026 guideline.

Information current as of April 2026 based on the ISA's official examination period statistics and 2025 reports from Calico Legal and Real Partner Gyousei. For the substantive PR rules, see our PR complete guide.

Why your bureau matters

The PR substantive review (residence years, income, payment history) is national — but the wait time is determined entirely by which regional bureau processes your file, and by the queue at that bureau. The data for 2025 shows a 3.6× spread:

Bureau	Average PR examination period	Approval rate (2025)
Tokyo (Shinagawa)	~18 months	~44%
Osaka	~8 months	Around national average (~50%)
Nagoya	~5 months	Slightly above national average
Fukuoka	~6 months	~58%
Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima, Takamatsu	~4–7 months	Varies

These figures are practitioner-reported bureau-specific waits. The ISA's official examination-period statistics publish only a national average for 永住者 (approximately 294.5 days / ~10 months as of 令和8年1月許可分), not bureau-by-bureau. For a Kansai- or Tokai-based foreigner, the practitioner reports suggest PR may come a full year sooner than for a Tokyo resident filing the same application — though individual cases vary.

Osaka Immigration: Kansai's main bureau

The Osaka Regional Immigration Services Bureau (大阪出入国在留管理局) is at Nankokita 1-29-53, Suminoe-ku, Osaka — a short walk from Cosmosquare Station on the Osaka Metro Chuo Line / Nankoport Town Line. It covers six prefectures: Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, Nara, Wakayama, and Shiga. There's a Kobe branch (神戸支局) for Hyogo residents and a Kyoto sub-office (京都出張所) for Kyoto residents.

Office	Address	Covers
Osaka main office	Nankokita 1-29-53, Suminoe-ku, Osaka (〒559-0034)	Osaka Pref + Nara + Wakayama + Shiga
Kobe branch (神戸支局)	Kaigan-dori 29, Chuo-ku, Kobe — Kobe Joint Government Building (〒650-0024)	Hyogo Prefecture
Kyoto sub-office (京都出張所)	Higashi-Marutamachi 34-12, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto (〒606-8395)	Kyoto Prefecture (mainly card issuance/renewal; PR adjudication often routed to Osaka main)

Wait times at Osaka main: 1–2 hours at the PR counter on weekday mornings. Less crowded than Shinagawa but noticeably busier than Nagoya. Mondays and post-holiday days are the worst.

Why Osaka takes 8 months — not 5

Osaka's longer processing compared to Nagoya is mainly volume. Kansai has the second-largest foreign population in Japan after Greater Tokyo, and the Kobe branch funnels most non-Hyogo PR cases to the main office for adjudication. Osaka's screening reputation is also moderately strict — administrative scriveners report stronger income-stability scrutiny than Nagoya, especially for self-employed applicants.

Nagoya Immigration: the fastest of the major bureaus

The Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau (名古屋出入国在留管理局) is at Shoho-cho 5-18, Minato-ku, Nagoya — the bureau relocated from its former central Nakamura/Sannomaru location to the port-area site. It covers Aichi, Mie, Gifu, Fukui, Toyama, Ishikawa, and Shizuoka. PR processing averages 5 months — the fastest of any major bureau. For a foreigner planning to file PR in 2026, this is a meaningful advantage.

Office	Address	Covers
Nagoya main office	Shoho-cho 5-18, Minato-ku, Nagoya (〒455-8601)	Aichi + Gifu + Mie + Shizuoka + Fukui + Toyama + Ishikawa
Hamamatsu sub-office	Chuo 1-12-4, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu — Hamamatsu Joint Government Building 1F	Western Shizuoka
Sub-offices in Yokkaichi, Kanazawa, Toyama, Fukui, Gifu, Nagoya Airport (Chubu)	Each major city or port	Their service areas (mostly residence card issuance/renewal — PR adjudication routed to Nagoya main)

Counter waits at Nagoya main: typically 30–60 minutes — you can often file and be back home in under 2 hours. The bureau is in the port area of Nagoya, accessible by the Aonami Line and city buses; check the official ISA Nagoya page for current access details.

Why Nagoya is fast

Lower volume relative to staff capacity. The Tokai region has a substantial foreign population (especially Brazilians, Filipinos, and Vietnamese in the auto and manufacturing belt), but the PR filing rate is lower than Tokyo and Osaka because many in this population are on long-term resident or specified-skilled-worker statuses where PR routing is different. Adjudicators have time to process each file faster.

One caveat: "fast" doesn't mean "lenient." Nagoya's approval rate is in line with the national average. If your file has weaknesses, Nagoya can reject weak files just as readily as any other bureau.

What if I'm willing to move?

Some applicants ask whether moving from Tokyo to Nagoya before filing would speed things up. The short answer: it works, but only if the move is real and your residence card is updated well before filing.

You cannot just put your friend's Nagoya address on your card. Immigration cross-checks against your tax record, employer's address, and utility bills. A "paper move" with no actual residence is likely to be flagged and may weaken your file. But if you're already considering relocating for work or family, the bureau-speed difference is a real bonus to factor in.

If you're trying to work out which bureau will handle your case after a planned move, post your situation on LO-PAL for free — a local helper can confirm jurisdiction, check your residence card status, and outline what address evidence Immigration will look for.

Application day: what to bring at both bureaus

The required documents are nationally standardized, but at the counter you'll need:

Application form (永住許可申請書) — download from the ISA permanent residence procedures page
Photo 4cm × 3cm, taken within 3 months
Residence card and passport (originals, plus copies if requested)
Reason letter (理由書)
Tax certificates: 課税証明書 + 納税証明書, past 3–5 years from your municipal office
Pension and health insurance records: 年金記録 (from ねんきんネット or 年金事務所), and 健康保険納付証明 from your employer or ward office
Income evidence: source-withholding slips (源泉徴収票) for the past 3 years
Identity guarantee letter (身元保証書) signed by your guarantor
¥10,000 revenue stamp (収入印紙) — buy at the post office in or near the building

For the full document detail, see our PR document checklist.

Counter phrases

永住の申請です (Eijuu no shinsei desu) — This is for a permanent residency application.
書類は揃っていますか (Shorui wa sorotteimasu ka) — Do I have all the documents?
収入印紙はどこで買えますか (Shuunyuu inshi wa doko de kaemasu ka) — Where can I buy the revenue stamp?
結果通知書はいつ届きますか (Kekka tsuuchisho wa itsu todokimasu ka) — When will I receive the result notice?

Book a Local Helper to Go to Osaka or Nagoya Immigration

Even at fast bureaus, missing one document means a wasted day and another visit. Post a task on LO-PAL for free — a local Kansai or Tokai helper can pre-check your documents, ride to the bureau with you, and translate at the counter so you finish in one trip. You only pay when the task is done.

Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal advice. Japanese immigration rules change frequently and individual outcomes depend on adjudicator discretion. Before filing any application, consult a licensed administrative scrivener (行政書士) or immigration attorney (弁護士). The Immigration Services Agency website (moj.go.jp/isa) is the authoritative source for current rules and forms.