Changed Employers in Japan? The 14-Day Immigration Checklist

2026年8月17日

A foreign resident checks employment and immigration documents after changing jobs in Japan.

Changed Employers in Japan? The 14-Day Immigration Checklist

Short answer: if your status of residence is tied to a company, school, or other affiliated organization, changing jobs may require you to notify the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA) within 14 days. In many cases, you must report both the end of your old employment contract and the start of your new one.

This notification is separate from changing your status of residence. It also does not confirm that the new job is permitted under your current status. Check both questions before starting work.

Quick checklist

Read the exact status printed on your residence card.
Confirm whether you need an activity-organization or contracting-organization notification.
Report the relevant event within 14 days after it actually occurs.
Check whether the new duties fit your current status of residence.
Keep the online receipt, mailed copy, or other proof of submission.

This guide is for mid-to-long-term foreign residents changing employers in Japan. It is based on ISA information available as of August 1, 2026.

TOC

The main rule: report the change within 14 days

The deadline normally runs from the date each reportable event occurs—not from the day you receive your first salary.

A typical job change can create two events:

Your contract with the former employer ends.
You conclude a contract with, or join, the new organization.

If those dates are different, treat them separately. For example, if your old contract ends on September 30 and your new employment begins on October 15, each event has its own 14-day period.

ISA does not accept a notification using a future date. Submit it after the event has happened. If you already missed the deadline, ISA’s official Q&A says you should still notify it promptly rather than deciding that it is too late.

ここがポイント: Telling your employer, ward office, tax office, or Hello Work does not automatically complete your personal immigration notification. When the rule applies, the resident must notify ISA.

First check the status on your residence card

Your notification duty depends on your status of residence, not simply on whether you call yourself an employee.

ISA separates the relevant statuses into two main groups. The event names and forms differ, although both systems use a 14-day deadline.

Contracting-organization notification

This group includes mid-to-long-term residents holding:

Highly Skilled Professional (i)(a) or (i)(b)
Highly Skilled Professional (ii), when conducting activities under (a) or (b)
Researcher
Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services
Nursing Care
Entertainer, when the activity is based on a contract with a Japanese organization
Skilled Labor
Specified Skilled Worker

You generally report:

the end of a contract with an organization;
the conclusion of a new contract;
a change to the organization’s name or address; or
the organization’s disappearance, such as closure.

For an ordinary move from one employer to another, this often means reporting both the old contract’s termination and the new contract’s conclusion.

Activity-organization notification

This group includes mid-to-long-term residents holding:

Professor
Highly Skilled Professional (i)(c)
Highly Skilled Professional (ii), when conducting activities under (c)
Business Manager
Legal/Accounting Services
Medical Services
Instructor
Intra-company Transferee
Technical Intern Training
Student
Trainee

You generally report:

leaving the former activity organization;
transferring to a new activity organization;
a change to the organization’s name or address; or
the organization’s disappearance.

The group covers more than conventional employment. A student leaving one school for another, for example, may also have an activity-organization notification duty.

Statuses not shown in these lists

Permanent Resident, Spouse or Child of Japanese National, Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident, and Long-Term Resident are not included in ISA’s two affiliation-notification lists above. Their right to work is generally not tied to a particular employer in the same way.

That does not remove other procedures. A resident may still need to deal with health insurance, pension, tax, unemployment insurance, address registration, or a separate spouse-related immigration notification.

“Designated Activities” is especially case-specific. The permitted activity is defined by the designation attached to the status, so check that document and ask ISA whether changing jobs requires a notification or a new immigration application.

A notification and a status change are different procedures

Submitting the 14-day notice only updates ISA’s record; it does not expand the work your status permits.

The new position must still fall within the activities authorized by your current status of residence. This is important when the job title sounds similar but the actual duties are different.

For example, a person holding Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services should examine the real duties, their academic or professional background, the employer’s business, and the employment arrangement. Filing a contracting-organization notice does not itself establish that an unrelated manual or service job is permitted.

When the same status may continue

ISA’s Q&A states that a resident can continue under the existing status when the activities at the new job fall within that status. A job change does not always require an application to change status.

However, a resident who renews their period of stay around the same time must still submit the affiliation notification. A period-of-stay extension and an affiliation notification serve different purposes.

When a status change may be necessary

A status change may be needed before performing duties that fall under a different status. This commonly matters when someone moves:

from study into full-time professional work;
from an authorized professional field into a different category of work;
from dependent status with limited work permission into full-time employment; or
into a role governed by a status with employer-specific conditions.

If ISA grants a change of status covering the job change, its Q&A says a separate affiliation notification for that same change is not required. Confirm the treatment of your own timeline if the old contract ended before the status-change decision.

A special warning for Highly Skilled Professional (i)

A person holding Highly Skilled Professional (i) has a designated affiliated organization. ISA’s Q&A explains that changing that organization requires an application to change status of residence.

This is a major exception to the idea that a resident can simply file a 14-day notice and continue working. Check the required permission before beginning the new role.

How to submit the notification

Online submission is usually the easiest method because it is available at any time and provides a record of the filing.

ISA offers three routes:

the electronic notification system;
submission at a regional immigration office; or
postal submission to the designated section of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau.

There is no government filing fee for this notification.

Option 1: Submit online

Use ISA’s Electronic Notification System, which is different from the Online Residence Application System used for applications such as extensions and status changes.

A first-time user must register before filing. Prepare the following information:

your residence card;
the exact name and address of the former organization;
the date the former contract ended or you left;
the exact name and address of the new organization;
the date the new contract was concluded or you joined; and
a reliable email address for account and submission messages.

Enter your identity details exactly as shown on your residence card. After submission, save the confirmation and check the system’s processing status.

Option 2: Submit at an immigration office

You may take the appropriate notification form to a regional immigration office. Bring your residence card and check the office’s current hours and local reception arrangements before traveling.

This route may be useful if you are unsure which notification category applies, but general guidance at a counter is not the same as a formal decision that your new duties fit your status.

Option 3: Submit by post

Use the appropriate ISA form and send it to the address specified on the official procedure page. ISA’s current pages list the notification desk at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau in Yotsuya, Tokyo.

For postal filing:

include a copy of your residence card as instructed;
do not send the original residence card;
use the current form and destination shown by ISA; and
keep a copy of the completed form and proof of mailing.

Postal destinations and forms can change. Confirm them on the official page immediately before sending anything.

What documents are required?

The affiliation notification itself is lighter than a status-change application.

ISA’s official Q&A says supporting documents such as an employment contract are not required for the notification. Postal submissions require a copy of the residence card.

You should nevertheless keep documents that support the dates and details you entered:

resignation acceptance or separation notice;
old employment contract;
new employment contract or offer documents;
job description;
employer’s registered name and address;
online submission receipt or a copy of the posted form; and
postal tracking or mailing receipt.

These records can help if ISA later asks about your employment history during an extension, status change, or other examination.

Situations that commonly cause confusion

The safest approach is to separate the immigration event from related workplace and municipal procedures.

Your employer says it already reported the hire

Employers have their own reporting duties, including procedures concerning foreign employment in some cases. Those filings do not necessarily replace the resident’s notification under Article 19-16 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act.

Ask what the employer submitted, but complete your own notification when your status requires it.

You stayed in the same corporate group

A transfer within a group can still matter if the legal entity that employs or contracts with you changes. Check the organization name on the old and new contracts, not only the brand displayed at the workplace.

ISA’s Q&A also indicates that a secondment can require notification when a new employment-contract relationship arises with the host organization.

Your duties changed but the employer did not

ISA’s affiliation Q&A says a change in contract terms alone does not require this notification when the contracting or activity organization remains the same.

A substantial change in duties can still raise a different question: whether the work remains within your authorized activities. Do not treat “no affiliation notice required” as confirmation that every new duty is permitted.

You have two jobs

A second contract may itself be a reportable new contract for a status in the contracting-organization group. It must also fit the activities allowed by your status. Additional paid work outside those activities may require permission to engage in an activity other than that permitted.

You changed jobs while renewing your period of stay

An extension does not normally replace the job-change notification. ISA expressly distinguishes the two procedures.

By contrast, if you received permission to change your status of residence in connection with the move, ISA’s Q&A says a separate notification for that job change is unnecessary. Keep the approval record and confirm any earlier event in a multi-stage transition.

You left a job but have not found another one

Report the end of the former affiliation within 14 days if your status is covered. Do not wait until you find a new employer.

A prolonged period without carrying out the activity connected to your status can create separate immigration concerns, especially when there is no justifiable reason. The result depends on the status and circumstances, so contact ISA or a qualified immigration professional early rather than relying on a general grace-period assumption.

Common mistakes to avoid

Most preventable problems come from using the wrong event date or assuming another procedure covers the notice.

Avoid these errors:

Waiting 14 days after the new job starts before filing, instead of filing within that period.
Reporting only the new employer and forgetting the end of the former contract.
Trying to report a future resignation or start date.
Using the Online Residence Application System instead of the Electronic Notification System.
Assuming an employer’s filing completes the resident’s duty.
Believing that notification proves the new duties are authorized.
Sending an outdated form or mailing it to an old address.
Failing to save evidence of an online or postal submission.
Ignoring a missed deadline because more than 14 days have passed.

If a notification is late, submit it promptly with accurate information. Do not alter dates to make the filing appear timely.

Do you need a Certificate of Authorized Employment?

The certificate can provide useful confirmation, but it is not the same as the mandatory affiliation notification.

A Certificate of Authorized Employment states the employment activities a foreign resident is authorized to perform. Someone moving to a new employer may consider applying when there is genuine uncertainty about whether the new duties fit the current status.

It is not automatically required for every job change. It also does not replace a status-change application when the new activity belongs under another status.

The practical order is:

Compare the new duties with the activities permitted by your current status.
File the affiliation notification within its deadline when required.
If the fit is unclear, consult ISA and consider the certificate or a status-change application.
Do not begin unauthorized work while waiting for clarity.

Other procedures after changing employers

Immigration is only one part of the transition.

Depending on the gap between jobs and the benefits offered by each employer, you may also need to check:

health insurance enrollment or withdrawal;
employees’ pension or National Pension procedures;
unemployment insurance documents;
resident tax payment arrangements;
year-end adjustment and withholding records;
My Number information requested by the new employer; and
municipal procedures if you also move home.

These are handled by employers, pension or insurance bodies, tax authorities, Hello Work, or municipalities—not by the affiliation notification system. Fees and required steps can vary with employment conditions and municipality.

A change of home address is also a separate procedure. Mid-to-long-term residents generally report a move through the municipal office with their residence card; an employer-change notice does not update the registered residential address.

Final action list

Complete the time-sensitive immigration step first, then verify that the new work is actually covered by your status.

Check the exact status and period of stay on your residence card.
Identify the correct notification group.
Record the actual old-contract end date and new-contract or transfer date.
Submit each required event within 14 days.
Save proof of filing.
Compare the new duties with your authorized activities.
Confirm any status-specific exception, especially for Highly Skilled Professional (i), Specified Skilled Worker, Technical Intern Training, or Designated Activities.
Complete the separate insurance, pension, tax, and municipal procedures that apply to you.

The most important unresolved question is often not whether ISA received the notice, but whether the new position fits the status already printed on the residence card. Resolve that point before the first working day whenever the duties, employer structure, or immigration category has changed substantially.

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