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Japan Residence Card Pickup and 14-Day Address Registration
Document Checklist
旅券 (Ryoken — Passport)
Passport
Required: Original passport carrying the status-of-residence visa stamp affixed by a Japanese consulate or embassy abroad, or the in-country status-change record where the resident converted from a short-term status.
Cost: Already issued
Carried to both the immigration counter at the port of entry and the municipal counter for address registration. If the residence card was not issued at the airport, the passport must show the notation 在留カードを後日交付する.
在留カード (Zairyū Kādo — Residence Card)
Residence Card
Required: Issued by an immigration inspector at one of the eight designated airports (New Chitose, Narita, Haneda, Chubu, Kansai, Kobe, Hiroshima, Fukuoka). At all other ports, a passport notation is affixed and the card is mailed after municipal address registration.
Cost: No fee disclosed by the Immigration Services Agency for the initial card issued at landing
The address field is left blank at the airport and is stamped on the reverse by the municipal clerk after registration. Article 23 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act requires the card to be carried at all times while in Japan.
住居地届出書 (Jūkyochi Todokede-sho)
Residence-Address Notification Form
Required: Submitted at the 市区町村 (shi-ku-chō-son — city / ward / town / village) office of the new address. Available at the municipal counter and downloadable from the Immigration Services Agency website as PDF or Excel.
Cost: Free
Major Tokyo wards (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Minato), Yokohama, and similar designated cities publish English-language guidance for the form. Smaller towns may provide a Japanese-only form.
在留資格認定証明書 (Zairyū Shikaku Nintei Shōmeisho)
Certificate of Eligibility
Required: Required for most non-tourist statuses of residence. Issued in advance by a regional immigration bureau in Japan, then presented to the Japanese consulate during visa issuance abroad. Surrendered with the visa at the port of entry.
Cost: Already issued
Holders of statuses that do not require this certificate (for example, in-country status changes from a short-term visa) skip this row. The status-of-residence visa stamp in the passport is sufficient at the immigration counter.
戸籍書類 (Koseki Shorui — Family Register Documents)
Family-relation documents (when registering a household)
Required: Marriage certificate, birth certificates of children, and any other family-relationship documents for residents registering a household on a single 住民票. Certified Japanese translations of any non-Japanese documents are required by Minato and several other wards.
Cost: Translation fees vary by translator or agency
If a proxy submits on the principal's behalf, the principal carries a copy of the residence card while the proxy holds the original at the counter.
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