Changing Jobs on a Work Visa in Japan: The 14-Day Notification

Quick answer (30 seconds): If you change employers on a work visa in Japan — especially the common Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services status — your visa does not automatically transfer or break, but you must file a notification of the contracting/affiliated organization (keiyaku kikan ni kansuru todokede) with the Immigration Services Agency within 14 days of leaving the old job and again within 14 days of starting the new one. Before or right after you switch, it's strongly recommended to get a Certificate of Authorized Employment (shuro shikaku shomeisho) so immigration confirms the new role fits your status. Separately, sort out your pension, health insurance, and residence tax with both employers so nothing lapses.

Disclaimer: This is general information for foreign residents, not legal or tax advice. Immigration rules, fees, and tax handling change and depend on your exact status and city. Confirm your case with the Immigration Services Agency (ISA), the Japan Pension Service, and your local municipal office before acting.

What actually happens to your visa when you change jobs

A work visa in Japan is tied to a category of activity, not to one specific company. So if you hold Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services (gijutsu / jinbun chishiki / kokusai gyomu) and you move from one IT job to another IT job, your residence status itself doesn't need to be re-issued mid-term. You can usually start the new job and keep working on the same residence card until it expires.

But three things are true at the same time, and people get tripped up by mixing them up:

1. You owe immigration a notification within 14 days — twice (leaving, and joining). This is mandatory and free.
2. The Certificate of Authorized Employment is optional but strongly recommended — it's your safety check that the new role is covered.
3. Your next renewal will be judged on the new employer — and on whether you filed the notifications. Skipping them can come back to bite you.

Let's take each in turn.

The 14-day notification you must file

Under the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, mid-to-long-term residents on most work statuses must notify the Minister of Justice when their contracting or affiliated organization changes. The covered statuses explicitly include Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services, plus Highly Skilled Professional, Researcher, Instructor, Intra-company Transferee, Skilled Labor, Specified Skilled Worker, and others.

You must file within 14 days of the day the event happens. The triggering events are:

• The organization's name or location changes
• The organization dissolves / goes bankrupt
• Your employment contract ends (you leave)
• You start a new employment contract (you join)

In a normal job change this means two notifications: one for leaving the old company and one for joining the new one. They can sometimes be filed together if the timing lines up, but the 14-day clock runs from each event.

How to file (three ways)

Method	What you do	Notes
Online (e-Notification)	Use the Immigration Services Agency Electronic Notification System	Available 24/7; no supporting documents required; easiest for most people
In person	Take it to your nearest Regional Immigration Bureau	Bring your residence card (zairyu card)
By post	Mail to the Residency Management Information Department, Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau	Mark the envelope as containing a notification and enclose a photocopy of your residence card

There is no fee for this notification. The form is the notification concerning the contracting organization (keiyaku kikan ni kansuru todokede); the matching form exists for organizations you're "affiliated" with (shozoku kikan) depending on your status.

Bottom line: missing the 14-day window is a real compliance miss. Reported penalties go up to ¥200,000, and — more importantly for most people — a pattern of missed notifications can shorten your next renewal (e.g. from 3 years to 1 year) and is reviewed when you later apply for permanent residence. Cash fines for a first slip are uncommon, but don't rely on that.

Why the Certificate of Authorized Employment is worth it

The Certificate of Authorized Employment (shuro shikaku shomeisho) is a document issued by Regional Immigration Offices that confirms your current residence status permits the specific work at your new employer. Think of it as a pre-check: immigration looks at the new job and certifies it's within the scope of your status.

It is not legally required to change jobs. But it's strongly recommended in these situations:

• Your duties change meaningfully — e.g. you move from a clearly "engineering" role into one that mixes in sales, translation, or management, and you're unsure it still fits the category.
• You want to avoid surprises at renewal. With the certificate in hand, your next Extension of Period of Stay is much smoother — immigration has already blessed the role.
• Your new employer wants reassurance that hiring you is compliant before they commit.

The certificate is applied for at your Regional Immigration Bureau. It is commonly reported to cost a small revenue-stamp fee and to take roughly 1–2 months to issue (verify the current fee and timeline with the ISA before you rely on them — see the note at the top). You can generally keep working while it's processed; if the application is refused, that's your signal the new role may not fit your status and you should get professional advice quickly.

The practical move: apply for the certificate around the time you change jobs, not years later. It de-risks the gap between "I started a new job" and "immigration formally agrees this job is fine."

What changes for pension, health insurance, and residence tax

Your visa paperwork is only half the job. These three run on separate tracks and can quietly lapse if nobody acts.

Pension (nenkin)

• Job to job with no gap: your new employer enrolls you in Employees' Pension Insurance (kosei nenkin). Hand over your pension details (basic pension number / "blue book" info) to the new HR.
• A gap between jobs, or a new employer outside the scheme: you must switch to the National Pension (kokumin nenkin) as a Category I insured person yourself, at your municipal office, within 14 days of leaving. The National Pension contribution is ¥17,920 per month for April 2026 to March 2027. If money is tight during a gap, ask the municipal office about exemption or postponement — don't simply stop paying.

Health insurance (kenko hoken)

• Job to job, no gap: your new employer enrolls you in Employees' Health Insurance. Give HR your residence card and the usual forms; your coverage continues.
• A gap: your old company's coverage ends on your last day. To avoid being uninsured, either enroll in National Health Insurance (kokumin kenko hoken) at the municipal office, or continue your former employer's plan voluntarily (nin-i keizoku) — there are short deadlines for both, so act in the first days after leaving.

Residence tax (juminzei)

Residence tax is charged on last year's income and is usually deducted from your salary monthly (June through May) — this is special collection (tokubetsu choshu).

• When you leave, HR will ask how to handle the remaining balance. If you leave between January and May, the employer often deducts the whole remaining balance at once from your final pay (lump-sum collection, ikkatsu choshu).
• Otherwise you can either have your new employer continue special collection (the two employers coordinate a transfer notification) or pay the rest yourself via municipal bills (futsu choshu).
• Either way, keep your withholding slip (gensen choshuhyo) from the old job — the new employer needs it, and you'll need it at year-end.

Timing: notification vs. visa renewal

Order of operations that keeps you safe:

1. Decide and sign with the new employer. Confirm the role fits Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services (or your status).
2. File the 14-day notification for leaving — and for joining — through the e-Notification system. This is the non-negotiable step.
3. Apply for the Certificate of Authorized Employment around the same time if the role changed or you want a clean renewal.
4. Settle pension, health insurance, and residence tax with both employers and, if there's a gap, your municipal office.
5. At your next renewal (Extension of Period of Stay), expect to provide more documents about the new employer — company registration, financial statements, your contract and job description — because immigration is assessing a new sponsor. Having filed your notifications and (ideally) holding the certificate makes this step far smoother.

You do not need to renew your visa just because you changed jobs — only when your current period of stay is near expiry. But everything you do (or skip) now is what the renewal will be judged on.

A clean job-change checklist

• New contract signed; role confirmed to fit your status
• Notification of contracting organization filed within 14 days of leaving
• Notification filed within 14 days of joining
• Certificate of Authorized Employment applied for (recommended)
• Pension: enrolled by new employer, or switched to National Pension within 14 days
• Health insurance: continuous coverage arranged (no uninsured gap)
• Residence tax: special collection transferred or self-payment set up
• Withholding slip (gensen choshuhyo) collected from old employer

If your new role is genuinely different from your old one, or you have any gap in employment, it's worth a short consultation with an immigration lawyer (gyoseishoshi) — the cost is small next to a renewal refusal.

For more on settling in, banking, and day-to-day life as a worker in Japan, see our work & study guides and essentials.

Looking for your next role? A bilingual recruitment agency can match you to roles that clearly fit your visa category and handle the paperwork-heavy side. (Recommended agency: TODO_AFFILIATE_VERIFY)

Sources / last updated

Last updated 2026-06-25. Primary sources: Immigration Services Agency (ISA) / Ministry of Justice — notification of the contracting/affiliated organization procedure page and Electronic Notification System manual; Japan Pension Service (nenkin.go.jp) — National Pension Category I enrollment and the ¥17,920/month contribution for April 2026–March 2027. Certificate of Authorized Employment details (issuing office and purpose) confirmed via ISA-adjacent government/community sources; fee and processing time are widely reported but should be re-confirmed against the current ISA fee schedule. Penalty figure (up to ¥200,000) reflects the statutory maximum under the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act as reported by immigration practitioners. Always confirm your specific case with the ISA, the Japan Pension Service, and your municipal office.