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My Number card for foreigners: free to get, expires with your period of stay and must be extended at the city office after each visa renewal.
Foreign residents with a resident record can get a My Number card free of charge, as of October 2026. Apply online or by mail and collect it at your city office in person after about one month. For anyone with a set period of stay, the card expires on the same day as your stay. After each visa renewal, extend it at the city office before it expires. Since 14 June 2026 you can also choose a combined residence card and My Number card (特定在留カード).
Yes, a foreigner can get a My Number card (マイナンバーカード): any resident with a resident record can apply, and the first card is free, as of October 2026. The catch is the expiry. If your status has a set period of stay (在留期間), the card expires on the same day as your stay, and a visa renewal doesn’t extend it. You have to go to your city office after each renewal. Since 14 June 2026 you can also choose a combined residence card and My Number card instead.
Card expiry for most foreign residents
Your period-of-stay end date
Or the 10th birthday after issue (5th if under 18), whichever comes first (Meguro City).
Yes. Every person with a resident record in Japan has a My Number (マイナンバー), a single 12-digit number, according to the Digital Agency (デジタル庁). That includes foreign mid- to long-term residents recorded in the resident register (住民基本台帳).
The number and the card are different things. Everyone with a resident record has the number. The plastic card with your photo and an IC chip is optional, and you only get it if you apply.
For a foreign resident, the card works as photo ID and as your health insurance card (see My Number health insurance card).
The Digital Agency FAQ lists these routes. The first card is free “for the time being”, and reissues are generally charged.
You must collect the card in person, because the city checks your identity. A representative can receive it only if you can’t visit because of illness or disability.
For a Japanese adult, the card runs to the 10th birthday after it was issued. For you, it’s usually much shorter. Meguro City sets the expiry for foreign residents with a period of stay as the earlier of your period-of-stay end date or the 10th birthday after issue (5th if you were under 18 when it was issued). Sendai City says the same and adds that renewing your stay does not change the card’s expiry automatically.
If you hold permanent residency (永住者) or Highly Skilled Professional (ii) status, you have no period of stay. Your card follows the normal birthday rule.
You extend the card at your city or ward office. The city pages we checked describe only a counter procedure, not an online one. Go after you receive your new residence card and before the My Number card expires.
Someone else can go for you. A member of your household can do it with your card and PIN. Anyone else needs a power of attorney (委任状) in Meguro, and in Sendai a non-household agent has to use a separate reply-form procedure.
At the counter, you can say マイナンバーカードの有効期限を延長したいです (I’d like to extend my My Number card’s expiry) and show both cards.
If immigration hasn’t decided by the time your card expires, the city office can extend the My Number card by 2 months from its current expiry, once only.
You need proof that your renewal is pending:
Sendai doesn’t accept a 行政書士’s receipt or a letter from your employer. After you get your new residence card, go back again to match the card to your new period of stay.
Since 14 June 2026, the Immigration Services Agency (出入国在留管理庁) issues a specific residence card (特定在留カード): a residence card with My Number card functions in one card. Regional immigration bureaus began accepting applications on 15 June 2026.
| Combined card (特定在留カード) | Separate cards | |
|---|---|---|
| Required? | No, it’s optional | Default |
| Where to apply | Immigration bureau with a visa procedure, or city office with a moving-in notice | Residence card: immigration. My Number card: city office |
| Update after a visa renewal | Done by immigration when you get the card there | Separate trip to the city office |
| Online visa application | Not possible: apply and collect at the counter | Possible |
| Processing | At least about 2 weeks, about 10 days longer than a normal card | Normal |
Who can get it: mid- to long-term residents in the resident register, and special permanent residents. You must apply in person from age 16.
Fees: generally free when you get it at your first procedure on or after 14 June 2026. Otherwise the immigration fee is ¥1,900 in revenue stamps (収入印紙) plus a J-LIS fee of ¥600, or ¥800 with electronic certificates. Ask at the counter.
What to bring: the application form, the sealed PIN setting form (暗証番号設定依頼書), one photo taken within the last 6 months, your passport, your current residence card and the documents for your visa procedure.
What’s on it: your period-of-stay end date is still printed on the front. The length of your stay, the type and date of permission, and the card’s issue date are stored only on the IC chip. Your My Number is printed on the back. These format changes apply to all residence cards issued from 14 June 2026, including ordinary ones.
How banks handle new-format cards is covered in bank accounts for foreigners.
If you lose a combined card, it is also your residence card. Report it to the police, then apply quickly at the immigration bureau. You get an ordinary residence card first and can exchange it for a combined card later. Details are in lost residence card in Japan.
You hand it in. Foreign nationals return the card when they file the moving-out notification (転出届) at the city office, according to the Digital Agency and Funabashi City. Only Japanese nationals can keep using it abroad. See the leaving Japan checklist.
If you file a moving-out notification, leave on a re-entry permit and come back while the permit is still valid, a combined card can lose its My Number function. ISA replaces it free of charge. For your own situation, ask your city office or the immigration bureau.
More guides: moving within Japan · visa renewal · leaving Japan checklist · My Number health insurance card
Yes. Every person with a resident record in Japan has a 12-digit My Number, and the card is issued to residents who apply. It is optional and, for the first card, free.
The city offices we checked describe only an in-person procedure. For a foreign resident, extending the card after a visa renewal is done at your city or ward office, with your My Number card, your new residence card and your 4-digit PIN. A same-household member or a proxy with a power of attorney can do it for you.
Your city office can extend the card by 2 months from its current expiry, once, if you show proof of the pending application: the stamp on the back of your residence card or the online system's receipt email. Go back after you get your new residence card.
No. The specific residence card (特定在留カード) is optional, and residence cards issued before 14 June 2026 stay valid until they expire.
Return it at the city office when you file your moving-out notification. Only Japanese nationals can keep using the card abroad.
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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.
Family
Baby born in Japan to foreigner parents? Register the birth in 14 days, apply for the baby's residence status in 30 days, and get a passport from your embassy.
