No Residence for Living on an Income
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Mexico on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
195 exceptions recorded across 74 countries · none match Mexico to Japan · Residency on passive income
Japan grants residence for doing something, not for having something. The two tables attached to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act hold twenty-nine statuses of residence between them, each tied to a named activity or a named family position, and not one of them is granted to a person who lives on money from abroad. The nearest thing is a designation under the Minister of Justice's public notice on Designated Activities: item 40 lets someone aged eighteen or over stay for up to a year for sightseeing and recreation if the applicant and spouse together hold thirty million yen in savings, carry insurance, and come from one of seventy-four listed countries. It tests a balance rather than an income, it runs for a year rather than indefinitely, and it is not a route to anything else.
At a glance
- Status of residence for passive income
- None in Appended Tables I or II of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act
Both tables were read in full in the e-Gov text in force from 1 October 2026. Twenty-nine statuses, each tied to an activity or a family position.
- Nearest route
- Designated Activities, item 40 of the Minister of Justice's public notice
Sightseeing and recreation for up to one year. Public Notice No. 131 of 1990, as last amended by Notice No. 31 of 8 April 2026.
- What item 40 measures
- Savings of 30,000,000 yen
預貯金の額の合計額 - the combined bank balances of the applicant and spouse at the time of application. 60,000,000 yen where the spouse applies under the same item.
- Longest stay under item 40
- 1 year
一年を超えない期間 in the notice itself. The period is written into the definition of the activity, not into the period-of-stay table.
- Nationalities item 40 reaches
- 74 countries and regions
Appended Table 9 of the notice, which was counted entry by entry in the stored reading.
- Work under item 40
- Not part of the designated activity
Article 2-2(2) of the Act limits a holder to the activity the status covers, and this one is sightseeing and recreation.
- Insurance
- Required
Item 40(c) of the notice, covering death, injury or illness during the stay.
In detail
The list is closed, and it is a list of activities
Article 2-2(2) says a person holding a status of residence may do the things written in that status's own row. The rows describe teaching, research, art, religion, journalism, management, law, medicine, engineering, care work, entertainment, skilled trades, training, study, culture, tourism, dependency, and a handful of family positions. Living on money that arrives from somewhere else is not an activity in that sense and does not appear. This is why Japan has no equivalent of the passive-income permits that run across southern Europe and Latin America: the system is not built to grant residence on the strength of a bank statement.
Item 40 is a long holiday with a solvency test
The Minister of Justice's notice on Designated Activities creates a category for people aged eighteen or over who want to spend up to a year in Japan sightseeing. The conditions are a nationality from the appended list, thirty million yen of savings shared with a spouse, and insurance. Nothing in it asks for an income, a pension or a source of funds, and nothing in it leads anywhere: the activity is defined as a stay not exceeding one year, and the status does not permit work.
The nationality list is the visa exemption list
Appended Table 9 of the notice runs to seventy-four countries and regions, which is the same number the Foreign Ministry gives for its short-stay visa exemption arrangements, and it closes with Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao exactly as that list does. The notice reaches the same question from the other side: item 40(a) describes the qualifying nationality as one from a country Japan has told it does not need a short-stay visa, and then names them.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Mexico
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«別表第一 の上欄の在留資格をもつて在留する者は当該在留資格に応じそれぞれ本邦において同表の下欄に掲げる活動を行うことができ、 別表第二 の上欄の在留資格をもつて在留する者は当該在留資格に応じそれぞれ本邦において同表の下欄に掲げる身分若しくは地位を有する者としての活動を行うことができる。»Our translation - not official
A person residing with a status of residence in the left-hand column of Appended Table I may carry out, in Japan, the activities listed in the right-hand column of that table corresponding to that status, and a person residing with a status of residence in the left-hand column of Appended Table II may carry out, in Japan, activities as a person having the personal status or position listed in the right-hand column corresponding to that status.
Ours. The two tables hold twenty-nine statuses between them and were read in full. Six are Diplomat, Official, Professor, Artist, Religious Activities and Journalist; thirteen are the working statuses from Highly Skilled Professional to Technical Intern Training; two are Cultural Activities and Temporary Visitor; three are Student, Trainee and Dependent; one is Designated Activities; and the four in the second table are Permanent Resident, Spouse or Child of Japanese National, Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident, and Long-Term Resident. None of them is granted for having an income.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Japanese government's own consolidated statute book, run by the Digital Agency. It is the only place that publishes Japanese law as it currently stands: each law page states the date the displayed text came into force, the amending instrument that produced it, and a Law RevisionID of the form <lawid>_<yyyymmdd>_<amending-id> which identifies that exact version. A page also warns 未施行あり where amendments are enacted but not yet in force. The text is Japanese and there is no English anywhere on it; each page links out to the Ministry of Justice translation where one exists, which is how the two publishers are related. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty despite being a single-page application.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Japanese only. It publishes the consolidated law and not the amending acts, so an article number here is the article of the resulting law and the instrument that put it there has to be read from the header. It carries no commentary, no notification (告示) and no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Japanese immigration practice lives in 告示 made by the Minister of Justice which this site does not hold. It must not be cited for anything the Immigration Services Agency decides administratively, and it must not be cited for English: the English on the law pages is a link, not a text.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«四十 次 の いず れ に も 該 当 す る 十 八 歳 以 上 の 者 が 、 本 邦 に お いて 一 年 を 超 え な い 期 間 滞 在 して 行う 観 光 、 保 養 その他これらに類似する活動»Our translation - not official
(40) Sightseeing, recreation and other similar activities carried out in Japan, for a period not exceeding one year, by a person aged eighteen or over who falls under all of the following.
Ours. The activity is sightseeing and recreation. It is not residence for living on means, and it is not employment: the Designated Activities status authorises only the activity the Minister designates.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The agency inside the Ministry of Justice that administers the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act: it grants statuses of residence, issues certificates of eligibility, publishes the document lists for each application, and publishes the Minister of Justice's 告示 (public notices) which decide things the Act delegates - which Long-Term Resident positions exist, which activities fall under Designated Activities, and which permanent-residence guidelines apply.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its pages are the agency's description of how it applies the law, not the law. Where a page and an instrument differ, the instrument governs and the difference is the finding. It publishes guidelines (ガイドライン) for permanent residence which are not instruments at all and bind nobody, and they must not be cited as if they were.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«ロ 申請の時点において、申請人及びその配偶者の預貯金の額の合計額が日本円に換算して三千万円以上 （ 当該 配 偶 者 が こ の 号 に 掲 げ る 活 動を 指 定 され て 在 留し 又 は 在 留 し よ うと して いる 場 合 に あ って は 、六 千 万 円 以 上 ）で あ る こ と 。»Our translation - not official
(b) At the time of the application, the combined amount of the savings and deposits of the applicant and the applicant's spouse is, converted into Japanese yen, thirty million yen or more (sixty million yen or more where that spouse is residing, or seeks to reside, under a designation of the activity listed in this item).
Ours. A savings test, not an income test: what is measured is the balance on the day of the application and not what arrives each month.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The agency inside the Ministry of Justice that administers the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act: it grants statuses of residence, issues certificates of eligibility, publishes the document lists for each application, and publishes the Minister of Justice's 告示 (public notices) which decide things the Act delegates - which Long-Term Resident positions exist, which activities fall under Designated Activities, and which permanent-residence guidelines apply.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its pages are the agency's description of how it applies the law, not the law. Where a page and an instrument differ, the instrument governs and the difference is the finding. It publishes guidelines (ガイドライン) for permanent residence which are not instruments at all and bind nobody, and they must not be cited as if they were.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«ハ 本 邦 に お け る 滞 在 中 に 死 亡 し 、負 傷 し 、 又は 疾 病 に 罹 患 し た 場 合 に おけ る 保 険 に 加 入して いるこ と 。»Our translation - not official
(c) Being covered by insurance against death, injury or illness during the stay in Japan.
Ours. Private cover, because this status does not bring the national health insurance that a residence of three months or more brings.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The agency inside the Ministry of Justice that administers the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act: it grants statuses of residence, issues certificates of eligibility, publishes the document lists for each application, and publishes the Minister of Justice's 告示 (public notices) which decide things the Act delegates - which Long-Term Resident positions exist, which activities fall under Designated Activities, and which permanent-residence guidelines apply.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its pages are the agency's description of how it applies the law, not the law. Where a page and an instrument differ, the instrument governs and the difference is the finding. It publishes guidelines (ガイドライン) for permanent residence which are not instruments at all and bind nobody, and they must not be cited as if they were.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«別 表第 九 ア イス ラ ンド 共 和 国 、 ア イ ルラ ンド 、 ア メ リ カ 合 衆 国 、 ア ラ ブ 首»Our translation - not official
Appended Table 9: the Republic of Iceland, Ireland, the United States of America, the United Arab Emirates ...
Ours, and the opening only. The table names seventy-four countries and regions, the same count the Foreign Ministry gives for its visa exemption list, and ends with Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The agency inside the Ministry of Justice that administers the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act: it grants statuses of residence, issues certificates of eligibility, publishes the document lists for each application, and publishes the Minister of Justice's 告示 (public notices) which decide things the Act delegates - which Long-Term Resident positions exist, which activities fall under Designated Activities, and which permanent-residence guidelines apply.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its pages are the agency's description of how it applies the law, not the law. Where a page and an instrument differ, the instrument governs and the difference is the finding. It publishes guidelines (ガイドライン) for permanent residence which are not instruments at all and bind nobody, and they must not be cited as if they were.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
This is a negative finding bounded by two documents read in full: Appended Tables I and II of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act in the e-Gov text in force from 1 October 2026, and the Minister of Justice's public notice on Designated Activities as published by the Immigration Services Agency, amended to 8 April 2026.
The notice is a PDF of justified Japanese type, so the extracted text carries spaces inside words. The quotations here are taken from that extraction exactly as it stands.
The Immigration Services Agency's own page for this category was fetched and came back as an English machine translation of the Japanese page rather than as the publisher's text, so nothing has been quoted from it.
Whether item 40 can be renewed, and on what footing, is not stated in anything read here. The activity is defined as a stay not exceeding one year.
- consolidates出入国管理及び難民認定法 - e-Gov 法令検索
e-Gov 法令検索 (e-Gov Law Search) · consolidated to 2026-10-01
About this source
The Japanese government's own consolidated statute book, run by the Digital Agency. It is the only place that publishes Japanese law as it currently stands: each law page states the date the displayed text came into force, the amending instrument that produced it, and a Law RevisionID of the form <lawid>_<yyyymmdd>_<amending-id> which identifies that exact version. A page also warns 未施行あり where amendments are enacted but not yet in force. The text is Japanese and there is no English anywhere on it; each page links out to the Ministry of Justice translation where one exists, which is how the two publishers are related. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty despite being a single-page application.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Japanese only. It publishes the consolidated law and not the amending acts, so an article number here is the article of the resulting law and the instrument that put it there has to be read from the header. It carries no commentary, no notification (告示) and no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Japanese immigration practice lives in 告示 made by the Minister of Justice which this site does not hold. It must not be cited for anything the Immigration Services Agency decides administratively, and it must not be cited for English: the English on the law pages is a link, not a text.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- administers特定活動告示 (Public Notice No. 131 of 1990 on Designated Activities)
出入国在留管理庁 (Immigration Services Agency of Japan)
About this source
The agency inside the Ministry of Justice that administers the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act: it grants statuses of residence, issues certificates of eligibility, publishes the document lists for each application, and publishes the Minister of Justice's 告示 (public notices) which decide things the Act delegates - which Long-Term Resident positions exist, which activities fall under Designated Activities, and which permanent-residence guidelines apply.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its pages are the agency's description of how it applies the law, not the law. Where a page and an instrument differ, the instrument governs and the difference is the finding. It publishes guidelines (ガイドライン) for permanent residence which are not instruments at all and bind nobody, and they must not be cited as if they were.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- administers出入国管理及び難民認定法第七条第一項第二号の規定に基づき同法別表第一の五の表の下欄に掲げる活動を定める件 - 改正履歴
出入国在留管理庁 (Immigration Services Agency of Japan)
About this source
The agency inside the Ministry of Justice that administers the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act: it grants statuses of residence, issues certificates of eligibility, publishes the document lists for each application, and publishes the Minister of Justice's 告示 (public notices) which decide things the Act delegates - which Long-Term Resident positions exist, which activities fall under Designated Activities, and which permanent-residence guidelines apply.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its pages are the agency's description of how it applies the law, not the law. Where a page and an instrument differ, the instrument governs and the difference is the finding. It publishes guidelines (ガイドライン) for permanent residence which are not instruments at all and bind nobody, and they must not be cited as if they were.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source