Daily lifeCity hall and paperwork
Moving in Japan as a foreigner: file at city hall within 14 days to update your residence card, keep your My Number card valid, and move NHI and mail.
As of October 2026, a foreign resident moving within Japan must report the new address at the new city office within 14 days of moving, bringing the residence card. Moving to another city takes a moving-out notice at the old office (or online via Mynaportal) and a moving-in notice at the new one; a move inside the same city takes one change-of-address notice. Not notifying can bring a fine of up to ¥200,000. Also update NHI, child allowance, your bank and license, and file free mail forwarding.
When you are moving in Japan as a foreign resident, the one hard deadline is this: report your new address at the new city office within 14 days of moving, and bring your residence card (在留カード). That single visit updates your resident record and counts as your notice to immigration, as of October 2026. Missing it can bring a fine of up to ¥200,000. After that come your My Number card, health insurance, child allowance, bank, license and mail.
Deadline for your new address
14 days from the day you move
Immigration Control Act Art. 19-9. Filing at the city office with your residence card counts.
It depends on whether you move to a different city (or Tokyo ward) or stay inside the same one.
| Your move | What you file | Where | When (Setagaya City) |
|---|---|---|---|
| To another city or ward | Moving-out notice (転出届, tenshutsu todoke) | Old city office, by mail, or online | Within 14 days before or after the move |
| To another city or ward | Moving-in notice (転入届, tennyū todoke) | New city office, in person | Within 14 days of starting to live there |
| Inside the same city or ward | Change-of-address notice (転居届, tenkyo todoke) | Your city office, in person | Within 14 days after moving |
All three are free at Setagaya. When you file the moving-out notice at the counter, you get a moving-out certificate (転出証明書) to take to your new city. If you did the move-out with your My Number card, you don’t need the paper certificate.
You don’t go to immigration. The Immigration Services Agency (出入国在留管理庁) says a mid- to long-term resident who moves must report the new address within 14 days, at the city office for the new address. If you show your residence card when you file the moving-in or change-of-address notice, that counts as the immigration notice. No separate form is needed and there is no fee.
So bring the residence card of every person moving. Setagaya City confirms that handing in the cards at the counter also notifies immigration. If you are 16 or older, you file yourself. A family member living with you, aged 16 or older, can file for you, and others need a power of attorney (委任状). At Setagaya, a power of attorney written in another language needs a Japanese translation.
The Immigration Control Act (出入国管理及び難民認定法) sets three levels:
Your My Number card (マイナンバーカード) needs its address updated too, at the same counter. Bring every household member’s card, and know each card’s 4-digit PIN. If someone has forgotten theirs, it has to be reset first. At Setagaya, the signature electronic certificate (署名用電子証明書) has to be issued again after the move.
Watch the deadlines. Setagaya and Kumamoto both say the card becomes invalid if you don’t file the moving-in notice within 14 days of moving in and within 30 days of the planned move-out date you gave the old city, whichever comes first. You would then need a paper moving-out certificate instead.
Two more details from Setagaya: convenience-store certificate printing with your card stops once your planned move date arrives, and if you chose the combined residence card and My Number card (特定在留カード), you can apply for it at the moving-in counter. See our My Number card guide.
Yes. Since 6 February 2023, every city in Japan accepts the moving-out notice through Mynaportal (マイナポータル), according to the Digital Agency (デジタル庁). You also send the new city a note of when you plan to visit. The old city then passes your moving-out data to the new one, so you generally don’t visit the old office at all.
What you need:
Setagaya accepts the online notice from about 14 days before the move. If you have already moved, file it early enough to make the 14-day moving-in deadline: Setagaya processes it in about 2 business days, and the new city can’t take your moving-in notice until then. Other cities may set different windows, so check your city’s page. You still go in person to the new city office for the moving-in notice. Foreign residents bring the residence cards of everyone moving.
National Health Insurance (国民健康保険). If you move to another city, your NHI ends in the old city and you join in the new one. Kobe asks you to report within 14 days, and warns that late notice can mean back premiums or benefits you can’t claim. Yokohama says coverage starts from the day you moved in, not the day you file. Bring your NHI certificate or notice. The new 資格確認書 or 資格情報のお知らせ is mailed to the head of household, and Kobe says the post office won’t forward it. More in our National Health Insurance guide.
Pension. If you pay National Pension yourself (Category I) and your My Number is linked to your basic pension number, you usually don’t need to report the move, according to Koto City. You can check the link on ねんきんネット. Keep using your old payment slips. If you are an employee (or an employee’s dependent spouse), your employer may need to file the change, so tell them. See Japan pension for foreigners.
Child allowance (児童手当). You must apply again at the new city within 15 days from the day after your planned move-out date, Bunkyo City says. Miss it and some months can go unpaid. The old city usually needs no separate notice. Details in our child allowance guide.
Yes. The Road Traffic Act (道路交通法, Art. 94) says you must report an address change promptly (速やかに), which is separate from the city office. This is called a change of license details (記載事項変更). In Tokyo it is free at any police station, license renewal center or license center. Foreign residents bring the license and the residence card showing the new address.
If you hold only a My Number license (マイナ免許証), have given the police your signature certificate and have linked it through Mynaportal, the city office change is enough in Tokyo. See our license renewal guide.
Your city office doesn’t tell banks, card companies or your phone company. Update each one yourself, ideally after your residence card shows the new address.
At Japan Post Bank (ゆうちょ銀行), you can change the address at a counter, in the ゆうちょダイレクト or passbook app, or in the ゆうちょ手続きアプリ. That last app works in English, takes about 5 to 10 minutes, and accepts your residence card as ID. The address has to be changed for every account type you hold there.
Banks generally ask for ID that shows your current address, so update your residence card first (see bank accounts for foreigners).
File a change-of-address notice (転居届) with Japan Post (日本郵便). It forwards mail sent to your old address for 1 year, free. The year runs from the day you file, not the day forwarding starts, and you can file again to extend it.
It takes 3 to 7 business days to start, so file a week or so before you move.
| When | Task |
|---|---|
| Up to 14 days before | Moving-out notice (or online via Mynaportal); Japan Post forwarding |
| Within 14 days after | Moving-in or change-of-address notice with all residence cards and My Number cards |
| Same visit | NHI, child allowance (within 15 days), school |
| Soon after | Driver’s license, bank, cards, phone, employer |
Leaving Japan instead? The rules differ: see the leaving Japan checklist. For hiring movers, see moving companies in Japan.
More guides: My Number card · certificate of residence (住民票) · utilities setup · leaving Japan checklist
No. Bring your residence card when you file the moving-in or change-of-address notice at the city office. The law treats that as your notice to the Immigration Services Agency.
Not notifying is punishable by a fine of up to ¥200,000 under the Immigration Control Act. If you still haven't reported a new address 90 days after leaving the old one, without a good reason, your status of residence can be revoked.
Yes, through Mynaportal, if you have a My Number card with valid electronic certificates and you are moving within Japan. You still visit the new city office in person to file the moving-in notice.
For 1 year from the day you file the change-of-address notice, free of charge. It takes 3 to 7 business days to start, so file early.
Usually not, if you pay National Pension yourself and your My Number is linked to your pension number. If you are an employee, your employer may need to file the change, so tell them.
Spotted something out of date or wrong? Email [email protected] and we will check it against the source. See our corrections policy.
Photo: 掬茶 / CC BY-SA 4.0
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