1. Notify Immigration within 14 days
If you have a work status such as Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services (技術・人文知識・国際業務), Researcher, Skilled Labor, Nursing Care or Specified Skilled Worker, you must notify Immigration within 14 days when your contract with your employer ends, and again within 14 days when you sign a contract with a new employer. This is the Notification of the Contracting Organization (所属機関に関する届出). If both happen close together, one combined notification is possible.
- Online: the Immigration Services Agency's e-notification system (電子届出システム) is open 24 hours, and no documents need to be attached.
- At the counter: bring the form and your residence card to a regional immigration office.
- By post: send the form and a copy of your residence card to the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, marking the envelope "届出書在中" or "NOTIFICATION ENCLOSED". Receipt is not confirmed, so use trackable mail.
Statuses such as Business Manager, Intra-company Transferee, Instructor and Student use a similar notification about the organization where you are active, also within 14 days.
2. Does the new job fit your status?
Your status of residence allows only certain kinds of work. If the new work belongs to a different status, you need a Change of Status of Residence (在留資格変更許可申請) before you start. The standard processing time is 1 to 2 months.
If you are not sure, you can apply for a Certificate of Authorized Employment (就労資格証明書). It is optional, and it certifies that your new work is allowed under your current status. The fee is 2,000 yen (1,600 yen online) if issued. When your employer or work has changed, it can take about 1 to 3 months.
At your first renewal after a job change, you may be asked for more documents than usual, so keep your new employment contract and job description.
3. Pension and health insurance if there is a gap
If you do not start the new job the day after leaving the old one, you drop out of your company's Employees' Pension and health insurance for the days in between.
- National Pension (国民年金): register at your city or ward office within 14 days from the day after you left. Bring something showing your Basic Pension Number and your My Number card (or residence card). A document showing your leaving date, such as 離職票, may be needed. If you cannot pay, ask about exemptions; losing a job can qualify.
- National Health Insurance (国民健康保険): join at your city or ward office within 14 days. Your coverage starts the day after you left. If you register late, you still pay premiums back to that date (up to 2 years).
- If your spouse is employed and you become their dependent, you can join their insurance instead. Your spouse's employer files the paperwork.
- When you join the new company, you are enrolled in its pension and health insurance again. Tell the city office that you have left National Health Insurance.
4. Resident tax when you leave a company
While employed, resident tax is usually taken from your salary. What happens to the rest of the year's tax depends on when you leave:
- Leaving between June and December: the remaining tax is switched to paying it yourself with payment slips sent by your city. If you ask, your employer can take it all at once from your last salary or retirement pay.
- Leaving between January and April: the remaining tax is taken in one lump from the salary or retirement pay paid by 31 May, without you asking.
- Leaving in May: it is taken as the last monthly instalment.
5. Get your 源泉徴収票 and give it to the new employer
Ask your old employer for your withholding slip (給与所得の源泉徴収票). Your new employer needs it to include the old salary in the year-end adjustment (年末調整). Without it, the year-end adjustment cannot be done, and you have to file a tax return yourself.
Last checked: 2026-11-04