This article is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails. Read the Japanese original（日本語版を読む）
Issuance of the 特定在留カード (Specified Residence Card) began on 14 June 2026 (令和8年6月14日). It combines your Residence Card and your My Number card into 1 card, and getting one is optional. No system that works backwards from your pay to calculate your working hours has been made public. However, when you apply to change to a work visa, your past part-time work is said to be checked as well, so keeping to the 28-hour-per-week rule remains important.
A guide for readers who want to know how the rules on part-time work by students are being tightened.
Your Residence Card and your My Number card become 1 card, and you no longer renew the My Number card at your city or ward office. Getting one is optional.
Issuance of the 特定在留カード began on 14 June 2026 (令和8年6月14日). What it actually does is combine your Residence Card (or your 特別永住者証明書, Special Permanent Resident Certificate) and your My Number card into 1 card. You no longer have to carry 2 cards, and you no longer have to renew your My Number card at your city or ward office. Whether you get one is up to you, so you may keep carrying your Residence Card and your My Number card separately, as before.
On the 特定在留カード, 「在留期間」 (period of stay), 「許可の種類」 (type of permission), 「許可年月日」 (date of permission) and 「交付年月日」 (date of issue) are removed from the face of the card, and this information is recorded only on the IC chip. The items recorded on the IC chip can be read with the 在留カード等読取アプリケーション (the Residence Card reader application). This is only a voluntary way of checking, and it is said that, in order to use it, you must obtain the person's consent and have them present the card.
No published material describes a system that works backwards from pay information to calculate actual working hours and so detect overwork. The start of the 特定在留カード does not mean that the way you work part-time is now watched automatically, so there is no need to worry unduly.
Your past part-time work is said to be checked going back in time. If there has been a breach, the risk of denial is said to rise.
When you graduate from a university or a vocational school and switch to a work visa, the 出入国在留管理庁 (Immigration Services Agency of Japan) is said to check your past part-time work going back in time. If you worked more than 28 hours in a week, that may be treated as poor conduct, and the risk of denial is said to rise. "I did not know" is not accepted as a reason, and the responsibility for protecting your own status of residence is said to rest with you, the student.
A shift from blanket permission to case-by-case screening is said to be under consideration.
Until now, permission for 28 hours a week has been granted almost automatically once you applied. It is said that stricter handling is now under consideration: not granting permission to students with poor attendance or poor grades, or switching to individual permission that names the specific workplace.
If you want to keep working in Japan after you graduate, strict observance of the 28-hour-per-week rule is said to matter more than ever. If you have several part-time jobs, you need to protect yourself by adding up the shifts and managing the total yourself, and it is also important to put your studies first. If you are worried about overwork in the past and are hesitating about changing to a work visa, it is recommended that you speak to a 行政書士 (certified administrative procedures legal specialist, gyoseishoshi) early.
Getting one is optional. It combines your Residence Card and your My Number card into 1 card, and issuance began on 14 June 2026 (令和8年6月14日). You no longer need to renew your My Number card at your city or ward office.
No published material describes such a system. However, the upper limit of 28 hours a week has not changed, so if you work at more than one place, please add up your shifts and manage the total yourself.
The 出入国在留管理庁 is said to check your past part-time work going back in time, and if you worked more than 28 hours in a week, the risk of denial is said to rise.
It is said that a shift is under consideration, from the blanket permission used until now to case-by-case screening that takes attendance and grades into account.
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This page is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails.