Beginning on Monday, July 9th, 2012
Start of a New Residency Management System!
<< The new system covers mid-to-long-term residents in Japan. >>○ The new residency management system applies to all foreign nationals who stay in Japan with a legal resident status defined byImmigration Control Act (hereinafter referred to as “mid-to-long-term residents”). More specifically, the new system covers those foreigners towhom none of the 1) through 6) applies:
1) Those granted permission to stay for “3 months” or less2) Those granted "Temporary Visitor" status
3) Those granted “Diplomat” or “Official” status
4) Staff of the Japanese office of the Association of East Asian Relations and the Permanent General
Mission of Palestine in Japan who have "Designated Activities" status5) Special permanent residents
Residence Card
6) Those foreigners without a resident status○ A Residence Card is issued to each mid-to-long-term resident, when a residential permission is given to him/her, such as the permissionof landing, of changing his/her resident status, of extending his/her period of stay, etc.
○ As the New Residency Management System goes into effect, the Alien Registration System will be abolished. An Alien Registration
Certificate, already held by a mid-to-long-term resident, will be deemed to be equivalent to a “Residence Card,” for a specified period of time.
[Time periods when an "Alien Registration Certificate" is deemed to be equivalent to a “Residence Card”]
Permanent Resident
Designated Activities

16 years old or above
Younger than 16 years old
16 years old or above(Excluding those activities listed in the lower
section d of Table (5), Appended Table I ofYounger than 16 years oldthe Immigration Control Act)

Other resident statuses

16 years old or above
Younger than 16 years oldUntil July 8, 2015
Whichever comes sooner, July 8, 2015, or his/her 16th birthday
Whichever comes sooner, the expiration date of his/her period of stay, orJuly 8, 2015
Whichever comes sooner, the expiration date of his/her period of stay, July8, 2015, or his/her 16th birthday
The expiration date of his/her period of stay
Whichever comes sooner, the expiration date of his/her period of stay, orhis/her 16th birthday○ The new system includes a "special re-entry permit system."Foreign nationals in possession of a valid passport and a residence card(*) who will be re-entering Japan to continue their activities in Japan
within 1 year of their departure or by the expiration date of the period of stay, whichever comes first, will, in principle, not be required to apply
for a re-entry permit at a Regional Immigration Bureau (Office) anymore.
(This is called a “special re-entry permit.”)(Note) This special re-entry permit system is applicable to diplomats as well.
Please note the followings, when you leave Japan on this “special re-entry permit:”
1) When you leave Japan, be sure to check the specified box of an embarkation card for reentrant (ED Card) to express that you are leaving
Japan on the special re-entry permit. At departure, be sure to present your Residence Card, as well as your passport and the ED Card.
2) Once you have left Japan on this special re-entry permit, if you fail to re-enter Japan within 1 year of their departure or by the expiration
date of the period of stay, whichever comes first, you will lose your resident status.
3) Once you have left Japan on this special re-entry permit, you will not be able to extend the permit while abroad. Before you leave,
therefore, be sure to apply for a re-entry permit at a Regional Immigration Bureau (Office) which is in charge of your residence, in case you
might stay outside Japan longer than a year.
The special re-entry permit system does not apply to any of the following people:- Those whose resident status in Japan is in the process of revocation- Those whose confirmation of departure is suspended- Those who have received a written detention order- Those who are in the process of a refugee application and staying with the resident status of "Desiganated Activities"- Those who are specified by Japan’s Minister of Justice to be a threat to Japan's national interests or public order, or for other goodreasosns to be in need of a re-entry permit for the sake of fair control of entries and departures

For more information, please visit the website of Immigration Bureau, Ministry of Justice, Japan.

http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_1/en/index.html

○ In any of the following cases, you need to make a notification or an application.
When finding a place to settle down or moving house

Procedure at your municipality office

Within 14 days of finding a place to settle down or of moving house, visit the municipality office of your (new) residence and submit a
notification of your residence, showing your Residence Card.(Note)(Note) If "Residence Card will be issued at a later date" is stamped beside the landing permission seal on your passport, when you enter Japan on or after July 9th, 2012, submit a notification of yourresidence, showing this passport instead of a Residence Card.
(Note) On and after July 9th, 2012, when a foreign resident registered in Japan's Basic Resident Registration moves into another municipality, he/she needs to submit a move-out notification to theprevious municipality office in accordance with the Basic Resident Registration Act.

When changing your name, nationality/region, etc.

Procedure at a Regional Immigration Office

In case you change your name, date of birth, gender, or nationality/region, for instance, you change your name or nationality/region because of marriage,
be sure to visit your Regional Immigration Bureau (Office) and notify the change(s) to the Minister of Justice, within 14 days of the change. In doing so,bring your passport, photo, Residence Card, and some documents that prove the change.
(Note) For a notification of a change with a person younger than 16 years, photo is not needed.

When losing your Residence Card or damaging it badly

Procedure at a Regional Immigration Office

In case your Residence Card is lost, stolen, badly damaged or defaced, apply for a reissuance at your Regional Immigration Bureau(Office).
(Note) In case you have lost your Residence Card for a loss, theft, etc., be sure to bring with you a written certificate of the loss when you apply for a reissuance. Such written certificates include areport of loss / a stolen property report issued by a Police Department, and a disaster victim certificate issued by a Fire Department, etc.

When changing the activities you are engaged in based on yourresident status or when your period of stay in Japan terminating

Procedure at a Regional Immigration Office

Apply for a change of your resident status or an extension of your period of stay. Make such an application at your Regional Immigration
Bureau (Office), with your passport, photo, Residence card, and the other specified documents.

○ Depending on your resident status, the following applications and/or notifications are necessary.
<< “Permanent Resident” and residents younger than 16 years >> [Procedure at a Regional Immigration Bureau (Office)]
A permanent resident or a foreign resident in Japan younger than 16 years old whose Residence Card's validity expires on his/her 16th birthday isadvised to apply for a renewal of the validity period of the Residence Card at your Regional Immigration Bureau, taking your passport, photo and current
Residence Card with you.
* A permanent resident can make this application at most two months before the expiration date of his/her Residence Card. A foreign resident in Japan younger than 16 years old whose Residence
Card's validity expires on his/her 16th birthday, can make this application at most six months before that birthday<< Residents with employment status (with some exceptions), students, or a trainee>> [Procedure at a Regional Immigration
Bureau (Office)]○ This requirement applies to those residents with one of the following statuses, who obtained the permission of landing or renewal of the period of stay on or after July
9th, 2012.
○ A resident with the status of “Professor", "Investor/Business Manager", "Legal/Accounting Services", "Medical Services", "Researcher", "Instructor", "Engineer","Specialist in Humanities/Inter-national Services", "Intra-company Transferee", "Enternatiner (only if he/she is engaged in activities relevant to this status, based on a contract
signed with a Japanese organization, either public or private), "Skilled Labor", "Technical Intern Training", "Student", or "Trainee" is required to notify the Minister of Justicesuch changes as the change of the name or address of the organization which he/she belongs, bankruptcy of the organization, termination of his/her employment contract,and signing of a new employment contract. Such resident must report the change(s) above by visiting a Regional Immigration Bureau (Office) or sending a notification to theTokyo Regional Immigration Bureau within 14 days of the event.
○ When you submit such a notification at a Regional Immigration Bureau (Office), be sure to take your Residence Card with you. If you mail your notification, enclose in the
mail the notification document and a copy of your Residence Card.

<< Residents staying in Japan with the spouse status >> [Procedure at a Regional Immigration Bureau (Office)]○ This requirement applies to those residents with one of the following statuses, who obtained the permission of landing or renewal of the period of stayon or after July 9th, 2012.
○ A resident with the status of “Dependent”, “Designated Activities (C),” “Spouse or Child of Japanese National,” or “Spouse or Child of PermanentResident” is required to, in case when he/she divorces his/her spouse or the spouse dies, notify the Minister of Justice of that event, either by visiting aRegional Immigration Bureau (Office) or sending a notification of the event to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau, within 14 days of the event.
○ When you submit such a notification at a Regional Immigration Bureau (Office), be sure to take your Resident Card with you. If you mail yournotification, enclose in the mail the notification document and a copy of your Residence Card.
Immigration Information Center (Weekdays between 8:30am and 5:15pm)
Phone: 0570-013904 (IP Phone, PHS, International Call: 03-5796-7112)○ For information on a move-in notification or a notice of change of address under the Basic Resident Registration Law, please consult your nearest municipality office.