Alien Registration in Japan - Foreign Residents' Registration System

Foreign Residents' Registration System

The Japanese government passed a law to replace the alien registration system with a residents' registration system. This new system started from July 9, 2012. The changes see non-Japanese residents recorded alongside Japanese residents in the jūminhyō system. (Note the distinction between the koseki system, which has not changed, and the jūminhyō). From July 10, 2012, no new Alien Registration cards will be issued, and foreign residents can apply at Regional Immigration Bureaus for Residents' ID Cards. Current Alien Registration cards will be replaced with Residents' ID Cards the next time foreign residents apply for a visa extension (or when they apply to change their Status of Residence, if they do this at an earlier date). Alien Registration cards will become invalid on 8 July 2015, or when the resident's current visa expires, whichever comes first. It appears that anyone issued with a visa valid for more than three months, or anyone who stays for more than three months, will require a Resident's ID Card. These cards will resemble the 'Juki Net' jūminhyō-linked resident ID cards with photos that Japanese nationals may opt to get.

With the new ID, the maximum length of a visa (other than visas such as eiju permanent residence or teiju special long-term residence) for foreign residents was extended from three to five years, and a reentry permit won't be required for overseas trips of up to one year (but of course not such that the visa expires while one is out of the country). Visa renewals will be automatically reported to City Offices. Immigration Dept. penalties for failing to promptly report changes in address to the City Office may turn out to be quite severe. As was the case for Alien Registration, penalties for not carrying registration cards at all times are still likely to be heavy.

Special Permanent Residents such as special Korean residents of Japan will have a Special Permanent Resident Certificate instead of a Resident's ID card.

The former alien registration system was linked with the Japanese National Health Insurance (国民健康保険, kokumin kenkou hoken?) health care system and Japanese national pension scheme, with the changes becoming effective April 2010. This will also apply to the new Resident's ID system. However, under the former alien registration system, where foreign residents registered through the local municipal offices, the local offices did not always check if people were staying in Japan illegally, so illegal residents were able to register themselves and join such services. This may be prevented by the introduction of this new registry system for non-Japanese.