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）
Even if you return within 1 year on a Special Re-entry Permit, a 定住者 can lose the status of residence if it is judged that your base of life has moved abroad. Keeping track of the validity of your 在留カード, meeting your public obligations and notifying a change of job or loss of work all mean that looking after your own affairs steadily is essential to a secure 定住者 visa.
A guide for people who want to know the traps that can make a 定住者 lose their visa without meaning to.
Even if you return within 1 year, you can lose the status if your base of life is judged to have moved abroad.
For a 永住者 (Permanent Resident), leaving Japan on a みなし再入国許可 (Special Re-entry Permit) and returning within 1 year causes no problem, and permanent residence is kept. For a 定住者, however, if it is judged while you are away that your base of life has moved from Japan to another country, the 定住者 status of residence can be lost even if you return within 1 year. 永住者 is a special status premised on settling in Japan permanently, whereas 定住者 rests on the Minister of Justice allowing you to live in Japan for special reasons, so whether your base of life continues here is looked at more strictly. Starting work abroad, giving up your home in Japan, the whole family staying abroad for a long time, and joining social insurance abroad while stopping your Japanese premiums are all given as examples.
If you plan to stay abroad for 1 year or more, always obtain an ordinary 再入国許可 (Re-entry Permit) from the Regional Immigration Services Bureau before you go. Even for a short stay abroad, it is important to keep your residence record in Japan and to keep paying your rent, utilities, tax and social insurance premiums. It also helps to keep a record of what you did abroad and why.
It must be renewed every 7 years (for those under 16 years old, until they turn 16 years old).
Like a 永住者, a 定住者 has a duty to renew the 在留カード (Residence Card) every 7 years — for those under 16 years old, until they turn 16 years old. If you let the validity lapse, you risk being treated as staying unlawfully even though you hold a status of residence, which can carry a penalty and make it harder to re-enter Japan in future. It is a good idea to set several reminders on your phone or calendar — 3 months, 1 month and 1 week before the date — and to tell your family or a friend you trust when the renewal is due. If you move house, you must go to the municipal office within 14 days to change your residence record, and you must also notify your new address to the Regional Immigration Services Bureau.
Unpaid tax or social insurance premiums, and repeated traffic offences, affect renewals.
Unpaid resident tax or income tax, unpaid national pension or national health insurance premiums, and repeated traffic offences can all lead to a finding at renewal that your conduct is not good. Check your payment record regularly with the municipal office or the pension office, and use direct debit or card payment so that nothing is missed. Keeping firmly to the traffic rules in daily life matters too.
Notification is needed within 14 days of changing or leaving a job.
The 定住者 visa places no limit on work, so you can change jobs freely, but if you do not notify a change such as a new job or the loss of a job, problems can arise at renewal. When you change jobs you have to submit a notification of the change in your employment, and if you do not, your circumstances may be treated as unclear at your next renewal. If a period without work runs on too long, there is also a risk of being judged not to meet the livelihood requirement, so notify the Regional Immigration Services Bureau online or on paper within 14 days of changing or leaving a job. If you do lose your job, it is important to look actively for new work and to keep the period without work as short as you can.
Not necessarily. If it is judged while you are away that your base of life has moved abroad, the status can be lost even if you return within 1 year.
There is a duty to renew it every 7 years; for those under 16 years old, until they turn 16 years old.
Yes. You have to notify the change in your employment to the Regional Immigration Services Bureau, online or on paper, within 14 days of changing or leaving a job.
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This page is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails.