Japan Permanent Residence: Notification Obligations Under the Immigration Act – Deadlines, Where to File, and What Happens If You Missed One

Note: This article is based on Japanese laws and materials published by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA) as of October 9, 2026.

In the examination for permission for permanent residence (永住許可; the permission to obtain the status of residence "Permanent Resident", 永住者), the immigration office checks whether you have complied with obligations such as the notifications provided for in the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (出入国管理及び難民認定法; "the Immigration Act", 入管法). There are three main types of notification: place of residence; the organization you belong to and your spouse; and the items stated on the residence card. The deadline for each of these notifications is within 14 days.

For applications filed on or after April 1, 2027, past violations that come to light are also, in principle, evaluated negatively (treated as an unfavorable factor in the examination). This article explains the deadline and place of filing for each notification, how missed notifications are treated, and what you can do now.

What are the "notification obligations under the Immigration Act" checked in a permanent residence application?

In the examination for permission for permanent residence, along with the payment of taxes and social insurance premiums, the immigration office checks whether you are complying with the notification obligations under the Immigration Act. The obligations in question are those imposed on mid-to-long-term residents (中長期在留者; people residing in Japan with a residence card).

The Guidelines used for applications filed on or before March 31, 2027 (revised on February 24, 2026) list "the obligations of notification, etc. provided for in the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act" (出入国管理及び難民認定法に定める届出等の義務) as one of the public obligations. The revised Guidelines used for applications filed on or after April 1, 2027 (revised on October 1, 2026) set out the scope by article, under the heading "obligations provided for in the Act" (法に規定する義務).

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised on October 1, 2026)" (in Japanese), Part 2, 5(2) (第2の5(2)), "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised on February 24, 2026)" (in Japanese), 1(3)(イ)

Of these, this article covers the notifications and the residence card procedures (Articles 19-7 to 19-16). The revised Guidelines as a whole are summarized in What Changed in the Revised Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence.

Place of residence and residence card: deadlines and where to file

The notifications concerning the place of residence and the residence card concern all mid-to-long-term residents, regardless of the type of status of residence. The places of filing are separate: the counter of the municipal office for the place of residence, and a Regional Immigration Services Office (地方出入国在留管理官署; the counter of the immigration office) for the residence card.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Notification of Place of Residence after New Landing" (in Japanese), "Notification of Place of Residence Following a Change of Status of Residence, etc." (in Japanese), "Notification of Change of Place of Residence" (in Japanese), "Notification of Change of Items on the Residence Card Other Than the Place of Residence" (in Japanese), "Application for Reissuance of the Residence Card Due to Loss, etc." (in Japanese), "Application for Reissuance of the Residence Card Due to Damage or Defacement, etc." (in Japanese), "Application for Renewal of the Validity Period of the Residence Card" (in Japanese); Immigration Act, Articles 19-7 to 19-13

The 14 days are counted from a date such as the date you established your place of residence or the date the change occurred.

The application for renewal of the validity period of the residence card is a procedure that becomes necessary after you have received permission for permanent residence. People whose residence card is valid until the date of expiration of the period of stay are not covered.

If your residence card was issued on or before June 13, 2026 and the expiration date of its validity period is set as your 16th birthday or the day before it, you apply between six months before that expiration date and the expiration date.

The Notification of Place of Residence can be completed together with a moving-in or change of address notification

If you file a moving-in notification (転入届) or a change of address notification (転居届) at the counter of the municipal office with your residence card, you are deemed to have also made the Notification of Place of Residence under the Immigration Act. You do not need to file a separate notification with the immigration office.

The condition is that you submit your residence card when you file the notification. The municipality that receives the notification writes the new place of residence on the residence card and returns it. If the place of residence column on your residence card shows your current address, the notification has been made.

If you filed only a moving-in notification without submitting your residence card, the Notification of Place of Residence under the Immigration Act has not been made. Take your residence card to the counter of the municipal office of your place of residence and submit a notification form for place of residence (住居地届出書).

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Notification of Change of Place of Residence (Mid-to-Long-Term Residents)" (in Japanese); Immigration Act, Article 19-7, paragraphs 2 and 3, and Article 19-9, paragraphs 2 and 3

Notifications about the organization you belong to and your spouse differ by status of residence

For notifications about your place of employment, your school or your spouse, the situations in which a notification is required differ depending on the status of residence you hold. In every category, the deadline is within 14 days from the date on which the event occurred (Article 19-16 of the Immigration Act).

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Notification of the Organization of Affiliation (Accepting Organization)" (in Japanese), "Notification of the Organization of Affiliation (Contracting Organization)" (in Japanese), "Notification of Relationship with Spouse" (in Japanese); Immigration Act, Article 19-16

"Leaving the organization" and "termination of the contract" mean resignation or graduation, and "transfer" and "conclusion of a new contract" mean going on to further education or starting a job. A job change counts as both leaving the previous place of employment (termination of the contract) and transfer to the new place of employment (conclusion of a new contract). Statuses of residence that are not in this table, such as Long-Term Resident (定住者) and Designated Activities (特定活動), have no notification under Article 19-16.

There are three ways to make the notification: online (the Electronic Notification System, 電子届出システム), at a counter, or by mail. At a counter, you go to the nearest Regional Immigration Services Office, show your residence card and submit the notification form. By mail, you attach a copy of your residence card to the notification form and send it to the Notification Reception Desk, Residence Investigation Department, Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau (the addressee in Japanese: 東京出入国在留管理局 在留調査部門 届出受付担当).

Situations where it is easy to be unsure whether a notification is required

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Q&A on Notifications regarding Affiliated Institutions, etc. and Notifications by Affiliated Institutions" (in Japanese), Q9, Q10, Q12 and Q17

Penalties for failing to make a notification

The Immigration Act provides for a fine of not more than 200,000 yen for failing to make a notification, and for imprisonment (拘禁刑) of not more than one year or a fine of not more than 200,000 yen for making a false notification.

Apart from the penalties, the Notification of Place of Residence is also subject to provisions on revocation of status of residence. This is the case where you do not notify your new place of residence within 90 days from the date you left the place of residence you had notified. Cases where there are justifiable grounds for not making the notification are excluded (Immigration Act, Article 22-4, paragraph 1, item 9; item number as of October 2026). The same applies where a person who has newly become a mid-to-long-term resident does not make the Notification of Place of Residence within 90 days (item 8 of the same paragraph).

Notifying a false place of residence is also subject to revocation (item 10 of the same paragraph). The provision on revocation states that the Minister of Justice "may revoke" (取り消すことができる) the status of residence.

From April 1, 2027, a Permanent Resident's failure to comply with obligations under the Immigration Act without justifiable grounds will be added to the grounds for revocation of status of residence. The ISA states that it does not envisage revocation in cases such as inadvertently not carrying the residence card (Article 22-4, paragraph 1, item 8 of the Immigration Act as amended by the 2024 Act amending the Immigration Act and other acts; coming into effect on April 1, 2027). The obligations covered and the procedure are summarized in Japan's Permanent Residency Revocation System.

Source: Immigration Act, Article 22-4, paragraph 1, Article 71-2 and Article 71-5; Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Q&A on Ensuring the Proper Operation of the Permanent Residence Permission System" (in Japanese), Q8

How are missed or late notifications evaluated in a permanent residence application?

The wording of the Guidelines differs depending on whether the date of application is on or before March 31, 2027, or on or after April 1, 2027. Which version's statement on the notification obligations is used is determined by the date of application, not by the date permission is granted.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised on February 24, 2026)" (in Japanese), 1(3)(イ), "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised on October 1, 2026)" (in Japanese), Part 1, Part 2, 5(2) and Part 6 (第1、第2の5(2)、第6)

The version revised on February 24 has a note saying that where an obligation was fulfilled after the deadline, this "is, in principle, evaluated negatively" (原則として消極的に評価されます). However, what this note lists is the payment of taxes and insurance premiums. This version does not say how a notification made after the deadline is evaluated.

This does not mean, however, that late notifications are not looked at if the application is filed on or before March 31, 2027. The revised Guidelines note that the wording to be added to the Act, "compliance with the obligations provided for in this Act" (この法律に規定する義務の遵守), makes clear as a statutory requirement what was stated in the previous Guidelines, and that it was also taken into consideration in examinations before April 1, 2027 (Part 2, 1, Note 1).

The ISA's Q&A states that if you fail to make a notification about the organization you belong to or your spouse, or make a false notification, you "may also be put at a disadvantage in applications relating to residence" (在留諸申請で不利になる場合もあります). The immigration office's examination manual (the Immigration and Residence Examination Guidelines, 入国・在留審査要領; a disclosed document) states that the examiner is to confirm that the notification obligations under the Immigration Act for the status of residence held at the time of application have been properly fulfilled.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Q&A on Notifications regarding Affiliated Institutions, etc. and Notifications by Affiliated Institutions" (in Japanese), Q7; Immigration and Residence Examination Guidelines (入国・在留審査要領), Part 12, Section 27 "Permanent Resident" (disclosed document; the version before the revision of the Guidelines on October 1, 2026)

Is a notification made after the deadline a "past violation of obligations"?

From here on is our office's own analysis. The Immigration Act makes it an obligation to notify "within 14 days".

With a notification made late, the state of violation ends at the time it is made, but the fact that the deadline was not met remains. For that reason, we think it may fall under the "past violations of obligations" referred to in the version revised on October 1.

On the other hand, the wording of the Guidelines is "in principle". They also state that the decision on permission for permanent residence is made by comprehensively considering the circumstances of each individual case. The published materials do not show any dividing line by the number of late notifications or the length of the delay (as of October 2026).

If you notice a missed notification: what to do now

If you notice that you have not made a notification, make it at the time you notice, even if 14 days have already passed. The ISA's Q&A also asks people, with regard to notifications about the organization they belong to and their spouse, to make the notification promptly when they find that it has not been made.

1. Write down what has happened so far. List your moves, starting a job, resignations and job changes, changes of name or nationality, and divorce or death of your spouse, together with the dates.
2. Check whether the notifications have been made. For the place of residence, you can check the place of residence column on your residence card. If you made notifications about the organization you belong to or your spouse through the Electronic Notification System, you can check your notification history in the system.
3. Make the notifications that have not been made. The place of residence goes to the counter of the municipal office; the organization you belong to and your spouse, through the Electronic Notification System or at a counter or by mail; and the items stated on the residence card, to the Regional Immigration Services Office that has jurisdiction over your place of residence.
4. Put together how the delay came about. For a notification of change of the items stated on the residence card, if the period has passed, you submit a separate document stating the reason and other details.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Q&A on Notifications regarding Affiliated Institutions, etc. and Notifications by Affiliated Institutions" (in Japanese), Q5, "Notification of the Organization of Affiliation (Contracting Organization)" (in Japanese), "Notification of Change of Items on the Residence Card Other Than the Place of Residence" (in Japanese)

If you are unsure about your notification history, through our support for applications for permanent residence we help you check your notification history and sort out your situation before applying.

Frequently Asked Questions

There was a gap between leaving my job and my next place of employment being decided. What happens with the notifications?

You make two notifications: one for the resignation and one for the new job. At the time you resign, you notify the termination of the contract (in the accepting organization category, leaving the organization), and at the time you start the new job, the conclusion of a new contract (likewise, transfer), each within 14 days. A notification cannot be made with a future date as the date on which the event occurred, so the notification for the new job is made after you have actually joined the company.

I entered Japan and joined the company I was planning to join. Do I need to make a notification about the organization I belong to?

No. The ISA's Q&A states that no notification is required where you received new landing permission and came to belong to the planned organization as planned. A notification becomes necessary when there is a resignation, a job change or the like after that.

Do I need documents such as a written employment contract for a notification about the organization I belong to?

No. The ISA's Q&A states that no documents relating to the notification are required. If you make the notification by mail, enclose a copy of your residence card.

Summary

In the examination for permission for permanent residence, the immigration office checks whether you have complied with the notification obligations under the Immigration Act. The deadline for each of these notifications is within 14 days. The place of filing is the municipality for the place of residence, the Electronic Notification System and other channels for the organization you belong to and your spouse, and a Regional Immigration Services Office for changes to the items stated on the residence card.

For applications filed on or after April 1, 2027, past violations of obligations that come to light are also, in principle, evaluated negatively. Before applying, compare your history of moves, job changes, name changes and the like against your notifications, and if any notification has not been made, make it at the time you notice. The fact of the delay remains, but the state of not having made the notification can be resolved.

References

• Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, Articles 19-7 to 19-16, Article 22-4, paragraph 1, Article 71-2 and Article 71-5 (e-Gov Laws and Regulations Search; retrieved on October 9, 2026)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised on October 1, 2026)" (in Japanese; October 2026)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence (revised on February 24, 2026)" (in Japanese; February 2026; the version before the revision)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Notification of Place of Residence after New Landing (Mid-to-Long-Term Residents)" (in Japanese)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Notification of Place of Residence Following a Change of Status of Residence, etc. (Mid-to-Long-Term Residents)" (in Japanese)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Notification of Change of Place of Residence (Mid-to-Long-Term Residents)" (in Japanese)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Notification of Change of Items on the Residence Card Other Than the Place of Residence" (in Japanese)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Application for Reissuance of the Residence Card Due to Loss, etc." (in Japanese)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Application for Reissuance of the Residence Card Due to Damage or Defacement, etc." (in Japanese)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Application for Renewal of the Validity Period of the Residence Card" (in Japanese)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Notification of the Organization of Affiliation (Accepting Organization)" (in Japanese)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Notification of the Organization of Affiliation (Contracting Organization)" (in Japanese)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Notification of Relationship with Spouse" (in Japanese)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Q&A on Notifications regarding Affiliated Institutions, etc. and Notifications by Affiliated Institutions" (in Japanese)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Q&A on Ensuring the Proper Operation of the Permanent Residence Permission System" (in Japanese)
• Immigration and Residence Examination Guidelines (入国・在留審査要領), Part 12, Section 27 "Permanent Resident" (disclosed document; the version before the revision of the Guidelines on October 1, 2026)