Contents
Key points
- An amendment to the Immigration Control Ordinance takes effect on March 19, 2027.
- From that date, most applications (COE, change of status, acquisition of status, extension of period of stay and permanent residence) must include documents on annual income, taxation and tax payment, and enrollment in and payment of Japanese social insurance.
- If someone else pays your expenses or supports you (a sponsor or supporter), that person’s documents are required too.
- The Immigration Services Agency (ISA) has not yet published the new document checklists or the cases in which documents may be omitted.
- Unpaid resident tax, National Health Insurance or National Pension will be much harder to overlook. Now is the time to check your records and fix any gaps.
1. What is changing and when
The Ordinance for Enforcement of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act lists the documents that must be submitted with each residence application. On September 8, 2025, the Ministry of Justice promulgated an amendment (Ministry of Justice Ordinance No. 43 of 2025) that adds tax and social insurance records to these lists.
| Step | Date |
|---|---|
| Draft published for public comment | June 22 – July 21, 2025 (13 comments received) |
| Ordinance promulgated | September 8, 2025 |
| Takes effect | March 19, 2027 |
The stated purpose is “appropriate management of the entry and residence of foreign nationals.” In practice, the ISA will check tax and social insurance compliance in a more systematic way across almost all residence applications, not only permanent residence.
2. Which applications are affected
| Application | Affected statuses |
|---|---|
| Certificate of Eligibility (COE) | All statuses except Diplomat and Official |
| Change of status of residence | Changes to any status except Diplomat and Official (changes to Temporary Visitor are included) |
| Acquisition of status of residence (e.g. a child born in Japan) | All statuses except Diplomat and Official |
| Extension of period of stay | Most statuses (Diplomat, Official and Temporary Visitor are not covered) |
| Permanent residence | Yes |
This includes work statuses such as Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services and Specified Skilled Worker, as well as Student, Dependent, Spouse or Child of Japanese National, Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident and Long-Term Resident. See also our pages on change of status of residence and extension of period of stay.
3. What documents will be required
The amended ordinance adds two types of documents:
- Documents on annual income
- Documents on taxation and tax payment, and on enrollment in social insurance and payment of social insurance premiums
The ordinance describes only the types of documents. The ISA has not yet published which specific certificates it will ask for. The ISA’s reply to a public comment does make clear that “social insurance” means Japanese social insurance only, not foreign schemes.
Our expectation (not an official ISA list)
Permanent residence applications already require documents of this kind. Based on that, the following are likely candidates. This is our own expectation, and the final lists may differ.
- Resident tax certificates of taxation and of tax payment (課税証明書・納税証明書), issued by your city or ward office
- National tax payment certificates from the tax office, mainly for self-employed people
- Pension records, such as your pension record printout or a certificate of premium payment
- Health insurance records, such as proof of National Health Insurance premium payments
4. Sponsors and supporters must also submit documents
If someone other than the applicant pays the applicant’s living expenses, or if the applicant is supported by someone, that person’s income, tax and social insurance documents are also required. Typical cases are the parents of an international student and the working spouse of a Dependent visa holder.
Some public comments called this “guilt by association.” The ISA replied that it is not collective responsibility. The documents are used to judge whether the sponsor or supporter can actually pay the expenses and is a suitable person to do so.
For family members, this means one person’s unpaid taxes or premiums can affect another person’s application in practice. A household should check everyone’s records together.
5. Can some documents be omitted?
The existing rule stays in place: the director of a regional immigration bureau may allow some or all documents to be omitted when this causes no problem for the examination. Today, for example, employees of large “Category 1” and “Category 2” companies submit fewer documents for work visa applications.
However, the ISA said that it would not list examples of omission in the ordinance, because omission depends on individual circumstances. How the new tax and social insurance documents will be handled for each category has not been published. We will update this article when the ISA publishes new checklists.
6. Why this matters: compliance is already part of the review
Paying taxes and social insurance premiums is not a new requirement. The ISA’s guidelines for change of status and extension already treat failure to pay taxes as a negative factor. For permanent residence, the guidelines require that public obligations (taxes, pension and health insurance premiums, and notifications under the Immigration Control Act) are properly met. Late payment can also be treated as not meeting this requirement.
What changes in 2027 is that these records become part of the standard document set for almost every application. Problems that might not have surfaced before are more likely to be found.
Related development: data sharing between government agencies
Under the government’s “Comprehensive Measures” adopted in January 2026, the ISA will receive information on National Health Insurance and National Pension premium payments and resident tax assessments from March 2027 onward, through data linkage using My Number. This means the ISA will be able to check for unpaid amounts independently of the documents you submit. How this information will be used in the review, such as how much unpaid tax or premiums would lead to a refusal, has not been published.
7. How to prepare before March 2027
- Get your current certificates. Request your resident tax certificates of taxation and of tax payment from your city or ward office. Check that your income is recorded correctly and that nothing is unpaid.
- Check how your resident tax is paid. If you have changed jobs, left a job or work part-time, your resident tax may have switched from salary deduction to payment by yourself (ordinary collection). This is one of the most common causes of unpaid tax.
- Check your health insurance and pension enrollment. If you are not covered by your employer’s insurance, you generally need to enroll in National Health Insurance and National Pension yourself. Gaps often happen between jobs, after graduation or when starting freelance work. For the steps to take after leaving a job, see Quit Your Job in Japan? Health Insurance, Pension and Immigration Steps to Take Within 14 Days.
- Pay any arrears now and keep the receipts. If paying in full is difficult, talk to your municipal office about payment arrangements. An arrangement is usually noted on the certificate.
- Ask your sponsor or supporter to check too. This includes a spouse who supports you and anyone who pays a student’s expenses.
Tip for students
Many international students are enrolled in National Health Insurance and National Pension. If your income is low, you may be able to apply for a student deferral of pension premiums (学生納付特例) or a reduction of health insurance premiums. Applying for these is very different from simply not paying.
Sources
- e-Gov Public Comment, “Results of the public comment on the draft ordinance amending the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act” (Case No. 315000111) (Japanese)
- Immigration Services Agency, “Outline of the draft ordinance” (June 2025) (Japanese)
- Immigration Services Agency, “Comments received and the ISA’s views” (Japanese)
- Immigration Services Agency, “Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence” (Japanese)
- e-Gov Law Search, “Ordinance for Enforcement of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act” (version effective March 19, 2027, as amended by MOJ Ordinance No. 43 of 2025) (Japanese)
- Ministerial Council on the Acceptance of Foreign Nationals, “Comprehensive Measures for the Acceptance of Foreign Nationals and Orderly Coexistence” (January 23, 2026) (Japanese)
Disclaimer: This article is provided for general information only and is not legal advice on any individual case. The information is based on sources available as of October 19, 2026. The ISA has not yet published the new document checklists, and the actual requirements may differ from our expectations described above. Laws, guidelines and their application may change without notice. TKG Immigration Consulting Office accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of this information. In case of any difference between our English descriptions and the original Japanese texts, the Japanese texts prevail.