Basic Resident Registration System for Foreign Residents

You will need an Individual Number for administrative procedures for social security, taxation and disaster response from January 2016. Foreigners registered as residents in Japan will also receive their Individual Numbers from October 2015 onward. After receiving an application form with a notification card, you can apply for an Individual Number Card (IC card) by returning the application form by post or by one of the other options available. From January 2016 onward, your Individual Number Card will be ready for issuance. *The Individual Number Cards of foreign residents shall be valid until the expiration date, etc. of their period of stay (with the exception of those residing in Japan under the following statuses: Highly Skilled Professional(ii), Permanent Resident and Special Permanent Resident). Therefore, if you are in the process of applying to extend your period of stay, etc., or if you expect that your period of stay will expire prior to the scheduled issuance of your Individual Number Card, then please apply for your Individual Number Card after the extension to your period of stay has been approved. Please carefully handle your Individual Number, as it is valid throughout your entire lifetime.

Click here for details of the Social Security and Tax Number System.

mage-NotificationCard(made of paper) On the front of the card, there is the Individual Number.

Each year sees more and more foreign nationals entering and living in Japan. This has increased the need for a system where the municipalities can provide the same basic administrative services to foreign residents as they do to Japanese nationals.

Therefore, in order for foreign residents to be included in the Basic Resident Registration Act in the same way as Japanese nationals, and to rationalize the administration of municipalities and make life more convenient for foreign residents, the Law for Partial Amendments to the Basic Resident Registration Act was enacted at the 171st Diet session, and promulgated on July 15, 2009, came into effect on July 9, 2012.

With this law in effect, Resident Records have been created for foreign residents, and the Basic Resident Registration Network System and the Basic Resident Registration Card also started use from July 8, 2013.

The following foreign nationals legally residing in Japan for more than three months (Tourists and persons who stay in Japan with a status of residence of "temporary visitor" are exempted)will be listed on the Basic Resident Registration. The person, however, must have established and maintain a residence in the municipality where the registration takes place.

• This revision enables municipalities to have a better grasp of the members of multinational households (households composed of Japanese and non-Japanese individuals), compared with the two-tier system that list Japanese members and non-Japanese members of the same household in two separate registrations (Basic Resident Registration Act and Alien Registration Act). Municipalities are also able to issue certified copies of the Resident Record listing all members of such households.
• The Basic Resident Registration is the basis for the provision of various public services. Therefore when foreign residents move to another municipality, they can continue receiving necessary services such as National Health Insurance just by completing registration ("move-in notification") at their new municipal office. No extra applications are necessary.
• The Minister of Justice and municipalities are collaborating in exchanging personal information of foreign residents, which lightens the work of foreign residents by avoiding overlapped notices to both Justice Ministry (Regional Immigration Bureau) and municipalities.

The Basic Resident Registration System for Foreign Residents

Besides the change of address, the Alien Registration Act also required foreign residents to notice any other changes in personal information (name, status of residence, period of stay) to the municipality where they reside. Since those changes are made at the Regional Immigration Bureaus, foreign residents were required to go to the Regional Immigration Bureau first and then to their municipality to submit the notice.

However, after the amendment becomes effective, when a foreign resident makes such changes at the Regional Immigration Bureau, those changes are reflected in the Basic Residence Registration. Foreign residents no longer have to go to their municipality. Instead, the Ministry of Justice notices such changes to the municipality and the municipality updates their records. This new system prevents the overlapped notices of the foreign residents concerned and at the same time keeps the registered information accurate.

The revised Immigration Control Act requires foreign nationals to inform the Minister of Justice of their addresses via the mayor of their municipality. This procedure is considered to be completed by submitting the move in/change of address notifications. The municipality then notifies the Ministry of Justice of the new residential information obtained through these move in/change of address notifications.

This is where to contact for questions about the Basic Resident Registration

1) Telephone

0570-066-630 (Navi Dial)
03-6436-3605 (for select VoIP phones and other devices which are unable to call the above number)

2) Office hours

8:30 to 17:30

3) Call Center Open Period

From April 3, 2023, to March 29, 2024.
(Not open weekends and public holidays, or Dec. 29 to Jan. 3)

4) Available languages

Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Tagalog, and Nepali (11 languages)

For procedures related to foreign nationals entering or residing in Japan:
Immigration Bureau of Japan websiteopen link in new window

• Basic Resident Registration System for Foreign Residents
• Move in/Move out
• Resident Record
• Basic Resident Registration Card
• Related Materials, Publicity Leaflets, etc.