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Visa & Residence Card

What is a Residence Card?

A Residence Card is an official document that proves a foreign national’s legal resident status in Japan.

If you are arriving at either Narita, Haneda, Chubu, Kansai, New Chitose, Hiroshima, or Fukuoka Airport, your Resident Card will be issued on site after you have been granted a landing permission as a mid- or long-term resident. If you are arriving at an airport other than the above, your Residence Card will not be issued on the spot. Instead, a seal of landing permission will be stamped in your passport with the note “the Residence Card will be issued at a later date.” In this case, your Residence Card will be mailed to your place of residence by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan after you have filed a notification of address with your local municipal office.

International students are required to carry their Residence Cards at all times. Those who have not yet obtained a Residence Card must apply for one immediately.

Inquiry on Immigration and Visa (Immigration Services Agency of Japan)

The Immigration Services Agency of Japan has established the “Foreign Residents Information Center” to inform and advice foreign nationals. These centers are located at Regional Immigration bureaus and District Offices of Sendai, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka.

Information concerning procedures for entry and stay for foreign nationals is given over the phone or by direct visit in various languages including English, Korean, Chinese and Spanish.

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