SSW, trainees and 育成就労

ISA’s current PR guideline says that taxes and premiums paid by the time you apply still count against you, as a rule, if they weren’t paid within the original period. The October 2026 guideline keeps that approach: past non-payment can count even if nothing is unpaid on the day you apply.

The self-check sheet you hand in with a PR application asks about on-time payment over the years your route looks back on, and one No makes refusal more likely. Asked how far back it looks at arrears, ISA said it checks as far as payment records can be confirmed, and that it can’t give a single rule because it looks at each applicant’s circumstances.

Due dates depend on the bill:

• Resident tax on slips comes in four instalments a year. Your notice shows the dates. In Shinjuku, for example, they fall at the end of June, August, October and January.
• National Pension is due on the last day of the month after the month it covers.
• National Health Insurance follows a schedule your city sets.

Renewals are less strict for now. ISA’s renewal guideline counts large or long-running arrears in serious cases, but the government plans to give ISA electronic access to health insurance and pension records.

ISA’s SSW manual lists taking a worker’s passport or residence card as improper conduct, including when it’s done to stop someone leaving. Technical intern training and 育成就労 are stricter: hosts and supervising organisations can’t hold them even if you agree, and holding them against your will can bring up to 6 months in prison or a fine of up to ¥300,000.

If someone is holding yours, ask for it back. ISA’s information centre is on 0570-013904.

Registering as a resident at the city office counts as your notice to ISA, so you only file once. There’s no fee.

Health insurance, pension and tax letters all go to this address, so a missed letter can turn into a missed payment.

ISA’s document lists say to keep your receipts for as many years as you’ll need, because they’re how you show you never paid after the due date.

What to keep:

• Resident tax: proof of payment for any period it wasn’t deducted from your salary. If your employer deducted it for the whole period, you don’t need this.
• National Pension: a receipt (領収証書) for every month you were enrolled during the period.
• National Health Insurance: a receipt for every month you were enrolled during the period.

For resident tax, bank records count, including a printout of your online banking history, as long as it’s printed in a form that can’t be edited. Excel files aren’t accepted. If you can’t supply every pension or health insurance receipt, ISA asks for a written explanation of why.

Konbini receipts fade, so photograph or scan each one the day you pay, and keep the paper too.

The number of years depends on your route. Keep them all anyway. Your route can change, and ISA says it checks as far as records can be confirmed.

The skills test can be a Grade 3 trade skills test (技能検定) or an SSW (i) evaluation test. Some fields ask for Japanese above A2.2. The tracker explains how trainees move across.

If you’re thinking about PR later, plan for this too: from April 2027, years on Technical Intern Training, 育成就労 or SSW (i) don’t count toward the 5 years on a work status.

If your employer deducts resident tax, health insurance and pension from your salary, there’s nothing to set up. Your payslip shows it: look for 住民税, 健康保険 and 厚生年金.

If any of them reaches you as a paper slip, ask to move it to direct debit. Your city office handles resident tax and National Health Insurance, and your pension office handles National Pension.

A debit that fails is a missed payment, so keep the money in the account on the debit date. Keep your bank statements too, since they show the date each payment went out. After a move, ask your new city office how to set the debits up again.

If you work for a company, check your payslip for 健康保険 and 厚生年金. If they aren’t there and you think they should be, ask your employer.

If you’re not covered through work, register for National Health Insurance at your city office within 14 days of becoming eligible. If you’re 20 to 59, join National Pension there too. A spouse supported by someone on the Employees’ Pension may be covered as a Category 3 member instead, through that person’s employer.

ISA asks for payment records from every pension and health scheme you were in over the period it checks, so a gap in enrolment will show there too.

Not carrying it can bring a fine of up to ¥200,000. Refusing to show it can bring up to 1 year in prison or the same fine.

If you lose it, apply for a new one at a regional immigration office within 14 days of finding out. If you lose it abroad, the 14 days start on the day you return to Japan.

This covers side jobs as well as part-time work. Students and Dependents normally get a blanket permission for up to 28 hours a week. For students, the limit rises to 8 hours a day during long school holidays.

ISA’s PR guideline counts work outside your status against you, including past breaches that have ended.

The count includes periods you weren’t working, time abroad on a re-entry permit, and time on Designated Activities while moving to SSW (i). Maternity and childcare leave, and leave for illness or injury, can be left out if you apply with proof. Some people who fail the SSW (ii) tests can stay up to 6 years. SSW (ii) has no limit.

To work out your own count, ask ISA for your entry and exit records and write 通算在留期間の確認のため in the margin of the request. ISA won’t calculate it for you by phone or at the counter.

Self-employed PR applicants prove their work with a copy of their tax return (確定申告書控え). Naturalisation applicants in Tokyo are asked for their latest withholding slip, and one from each employer if they changed jobs that year.

If you leave a job, ask for your slip before you go.

The National Tax Agency says employees generally have to file if any of these apply, unless filing would only bring a refund:

• salary over ¥20 million in the year
• one employer, and over ¥200,000 of other income
• two or more employers, and over ¥200,000 in total of other income plus pay that wasn’t year-end adjusted

Anyone self-employed should expect to file too.

ISA’s revocation guideline treats not filing a return you clearly had to file as a form of not paying. PR applicants also have to show that no national tax is unpaid.

Filing your move-in notice at the new city office, with your residence card, also counts as telling ISA.

A move also changes who bills you:

• Resident tax is charged by the city where you lived on 1 January, so keep paying the slips you already have.
• Set up National Health Insurance and any direct debits again at the new city.
• Tax certificates for past years still come from the city you lived in on 1 January of that year.

You can change jobs within the same job category, or between categories where a test shows the skills match.

If you lose your job you don’t have to go home straight away. You can stay within your period of stay while you look for work. Spending 3 months or more without looking, or without another good reason, can lead to your status being revoked.

This covers Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services, Skilled Labor, Highly Skilled Professional, Specified Skilled Worker, Business Manager, Student and others. You also report it if the organisation changes its name or address, or closes. You can file online at any hour, at a regional immigration office, or by post.

A late notification can bring a fine of up to ¥200,000, and ISA’s renewal and PR guidelines both look at whether you’ve kept up with these duties.

If you’re out of work, your status can be revoked after 3 months without doing the activity it’s for, unless you have a good reason. ISA gives actively looking for a new job as an example, so keep a record of your applications and interviews.

If you aren’t going straight to a new employer:

• Join National Pension at your city office within 14 days of leaving.
• Join National Health Insurance within 14 days.
• Watch the post for resident tax. What’s left for the year usually moves to a tax notice your city sends you, and those dates are yours to meet. There are exceptions: if you start a new job straight away, you can ask to keep it deducted from your salary, and if you leave between January and April it can usually be taken from your final pay.

You’ll need proof for these months later. ISA asks for payment records for any period resident tax wasn’t deducted from your salary, and for every pension and health scheme you were in.

Tell the officer when you leave that you’re using special re-entry (みなし再入国). It lasts 1 year from departure, or until your period of stay ends if that’s sooner, and you can’t extend it from abroad.

If you might be away longer, get a regular re-entry permit before you go. It can last up to 5 years, within your period of stay. Leave without either and your status and period of stay end.

Bills keep coming while you’re away. Set up direct debit before you go, or arrange for someone to pay them.

If you’re working toward PR or naturalisation, check the limits on time abroad first.

A payment plan doesn’t erase a late payment, but ISA’s PR revocation guideline treats a plan or deferral as a sign that non-payment isn’t deliberate, as long as you keep to the agreed dates. It also doesn’t treat non-payment as deliberate when there’s an unavoidable reason such as illness, a disaster or losing your job.

For National Pension, you can apply for an exemption or deferral up to 2 years and 1 month back. Apply early: the Japan Pension Service warns that a late application can leave you without disability or survivors’ cover.

ISA’s Q&A for Specified Skilled Workers gives a similar order: go to the pension office, tax office or city office first, and if there’s a real reason you can’t pay before an application, talk to ISA before you apply.

Apply at your regional immigration office. If both parents are foreign nationals, being born in Japan doesn’t make the child Japanese, so report the birth to your home country as well.

If you apply in time and there’s no decision by the expiry date, you can stay on the same status until the decision or for 2 months after the expiry date, whichever comes first. If you leave Japan during that time, you have to come back and get the decision within those 2 months.

ISA looks at tax, insurance and your notifications at renewal. Fees now depend on the length of the permit you’re given.