Foreign residents who work or study in Japan may need to notify immigration when they change jobs or schools.
Even if their address stays the same, a change in employer or school itself can require notification.
For the relevant statuses of residence, the change generally must be reported to the Immigration Services Agency within 14 days of the date it occurs.
For example, when changing jobs, a person may need to report that their relationship with the previous employer has ended and that they have started working for a new employer.
The same basic idea applies to students.
If someone with a “Student” status of residence changes schools, they may need to report that they have left the previous school and moved to a new one.
However, the same rule does not apply in exactly the same way to every foreign resident in Japan.
What needs to be reported depends on the person’s status of residence.
For some statuses, the important change is the end or beginning of a contract with an employer. For others, the change concerns the institution itself, such as a school.
That is why, after changing jobs or schools, it is important to check the Immigration Services Agency’s guidance for the specific status of residence involved.
There is also another important point.
This notification is not the same as getting permission to work for a new employer.
If the new job still falls within the activities allowed under the person’s current status of residence, they may be able to continue working under that same status after reporting the change in employer.
On the other hand, if the new job is substantially different and falls outside the activities allowed under the current status, a change of status of residence may be required.
So after changing jobs or schools, there are two separate questions to consider.
First, does the change in employer or school need to be reported to immigration?
Second, can the new work or study activity continue under the current status of residence?
These are separate issues.
For people whose status of residence is covered by the notification rules, the key point to remember is that the change generally needs to be reported within 14 days.
Then check whether the new job or school activity can continue under the current status of residence.
References
- Immigration Services Agency of Japan, “Q&A on Notifications Concerning Affiliated Organizations”
- Immigration Services Agency of Japan, “Notification Concerning the Contracting Organization”
- Immigration Services Agency of Japan, “Notification Concerning the Affiliated Activity Organization”
- Immigration Services Agency of Japan, “Change of Status of Residence”
