Full-Time Job Documents in Japan: A Guide for New Graduates, Job Changers, and Overseas Hires

Introduction

You got the offer, and everyone congratulated you, but nobody hands you a clear answer for what actually has to happen between now and your start date, and that gap is enough to make people anxious.

Full-time job onboarding in Japan moves paperwork in three directions: procedures with immigration (your status of residence), documents you receive from a previous employer or school, and documents you submit to your new employer. How much of each you need depends entirely on where you’re starting from.

This guide sorts out what to do, and when, across three paths: new graduates changing from a student visa, people changing jobs within Japan, and people moving from overseas to start a job.

Three Paths to a Full-Time Start Date

“Starting a full-time job” covers very different situations depending on where you’re coming from. Check which one applies to you first.

Whichever path you’re on, the documents you submit to your new employer before your start date are mostly the same. After reading the section for your path, skip ahead to “Documents Your Employer Needs Before Your Start Date” later in this guide.

New Graduates From a Student Visa: The Biggest Hurdle Is the Status of Residence Change

On a student visa, you can’t legally work full-time, so you need to change to a working status of residence. This is the path with the most steps, and the strictest timing. Here’s what matters:

• Applications open every year on December 1. Immigration asks anyone aiming to start work in April to file by the end of January. You can apply before graduating if you have a certificate of expected graduation (confirming you’re on track to graduate) (Source: Immigration Services Agency, "For Those Planning to Change Their Status of Residence From ‘Student’ to a Working Status")
• Review takes about one to three months as a practical rule of thumb. Applications pile up from February onward and reviews stretch out, so whether you can file within the year makes a real difference
• The paperwork splits between what you provide and what your employer provides. A certificate of corporate registration and similar documents aren’t ones you can request as an individual, so it’s worth confirming early whether your employer has handled this before
• The job needs to connect to what you studied. A weak connection here is a common reason for denial. If you’re not sure where you stand, check your case against What Is the Gijinkoku Visa? Requirements, Eligible Jobs, and 2026 Rule Changes Explained

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A month-by-month schedule, the certificates your school issues, the full list of application documents, the document cuts that started in December 2025, fees, and your options if your start date falls later than April or there’s a gap after graduation — all of this is covered in detail here.

Changing Jobs Within Japan: Documents Move in Three Directions

If you already hold a working status of residence, changing jobs generally doesn’t require a status of residence change. Instead, paperwork moves in three directions: your previous employer, immigration, and your new employer. Handle each one at a time and it’s manageable.

Documents From Your Previous Employer

Some documents you receive when you leave, others get mailed to you afterward. Forgetting to collect one can hold up procedures at your new job, so confirm what you’ll get and when before your last day.

You can still request documents you forgot even after leaving, but contacting a company you’ve already left tends to feel awkward, so it’s safer to sort everything out before your last day.

Notify Immigration Within 14 Days (Twice: Leaving and Joining)

The Notification Regarding the Contracting Organization, which tells immigration your employer has changed, is your legal responsibility. You’re required to file it within 14 days of leaving your old job, and again within 14 days of joining the new one. It can be filed online. Miss it, and it can come up unfavorably when you renew your period of stay.

(Source: Immigration Services Agency, "Notification Regarding the Contracting Organization" — Japanese)

If your new role is a significant change from your old one, whether it still fits within your current status of residence becomes a real question. Getting a Certificate of Authorized Employment (which asks immigration to confirm upfront whether your new job fits your current visa) means you won’t be scrambling at your next renewal. The 90-day rule and the new rules that started in 2026 around immigration procedures are covered in detail here.

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Documents for Your New Employer

These largely overlap with the five items almost everyone needs, covered later in this guide. For job changers, documents related to your previous employer get added on top.

• *Withholding tax statement (gensen choshuhyo)*: if you were paid by your previous employer in the same year
• *Employment insurance certificate (koyo hoken hihokensha-sho)*: to carry over your employment insurance number
• Something showing your Basic Pension Number: for the employee pension procedure

Your residence card stays valid as-is. Your employer will just confirm your period of stay and whether your current status of residence covers the new role at the time you join.

If There’s a Gap Before Your Next Job: Insurance, Pension, and Resident Tax

If even a single day passes between the day after you leave and your next start date, you’re responsible for handling insurance and pension yourself during that gap. Leave it, and you end up with an unpaid period, which can also come up during a status of residence review later.

Health insurance: choose from three options

Voluntary continuation lets you stay on your former employer’s health insurance for up to two years (Source: Japan Health Insurance Association, "Loss of Eligibility" — Japanese). Most people compare the premium against National Health Insurance and pick whichever is cheaper.

(Source: Osaka City, "National Health Insurance Procedures for Employment and Resignation" — Japanese; Japan Health Insurance Association, "Conditions for Voluntary Continuation" — Japanese. For National Health Insurance specifics, check with your local city or ward office)

Pension: switching to National Pension is also within 14 days

Your employee pension coverage ends the day after you leave, so you switch to National Pension at your city or ward office. This is also within 14 days of the day after you leave. If you can’t afford the premium because you have no income, you can apply for an exemption or a payment deferral. Leaving it unpaid is the worst option.

(Source: Japan Pension Service, "Procedures for Enrolling in the National Pension" — Japanese)

Resident tax: automatic withholding stops, and you pay it yourself

Resident tax is based on last year’s income, so the bill keeps coming even after you leave and lose your income. While employed, it’s withheld from your salary; during a gap, you pay it yourself using a payment slip mailed from your city or ward office. Once you join your new employer, you can switch back to automatic withholding by filing the paperwork.

Moving to Japan From Overseas to Start a Job

The order flips compared to doing this domestically. Your employer applies for a Certificate of Eligibility at an immigration office in Japan first, and once it’s issued, you use it to apply for a visa at a Japanese embassy or consulate in your home country. Your employer takes the lead on gathering documents at this stage, so you’ll mostly be submitting your own paperwork as instructed.

The hard part comes after you arrive. You’ll be setting up the basics of life — registering your address, getting your My Number, opening a bank account, getting a Japanese phone number — while also gathering the documents your employer needs, covered next. Procedures pile up right after you join, so check with your contact at the company in advance about what’s needed and by when.

Documents Your Employer Needs Before Your Start Date (All Paths)

Once your residence status procedures are sorted, next comes the paperwork for your employer. This is mostly the same across all three paths, and overlaps heavily with what a part-time hire is asked for.

Five items almost everyone needs

• Your residence card (confirming a status that allows you to work; new graduates use their newly updated card). You may also be asked to show your passport
• Your My Number (Individual Number), the 12-digit number assigned to everyone registered as a resident of Japan. Without a My Number Card, bring a residence certificate showing your My Number plus your residence card
• Bank account details for your salary
• A Japanese phone number (many employers can’t register an overseas number)
• An emergency contact

Employers are required to both confirm your My Number and confirm your identity, so if you don’t have a My Number Card, you’ll need two separate documents. The Individual Number Notification, which replaced the discontinued Notification Card in 2020, cannot be used for this. Our other guide covers the full breakdown of which combination of documents you need.

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If you don’t have a Japanese phone number yet, keep in mind that your employer may only be able to reach you at a Japanese number, so it’s worth checking out a service like YOLO MOBILE, the SIM card for international residents, which you can sign up for using just your residence card. If you still need a bank account for your salary, start here.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Open a Bank Account in Japan (2026)

Documents that depend on your employer

• Withholding tax statement (gensen choshuhyo). You get this from your previous employer. If you worked elsewhere in the same year
• Employment insurance certificate (koyo hoken hihokensha-sho). *The separation notice (rishokuhyo) from your previous employer works too.* If you’ve worked before
• Basic Pension Number Notification, showing your pension management number. Since April 2022, this notification has replaced the pension handbook for anyone newly enrolling (if you already have a handbook, it’s still valid). If you don’t have yours, the pension office or your city office can look it up (Source: Japan Pension Service, "About the Basic Pension Number, the Basic Pension Number Notification, and the Pension Handbook")
• Health check certificate. Issued by a hospital or clinic after you have the check-up
• Residence certificate. Available at your city office or, with a My Number Card, at a convenience store
• Certificate of graduation. Issued by your school’s administrative office

Unlike part-time work, full-time employment involves longer weekly hours, which makes a pre-employment health check a legal requirement. Employers often cover the cost and arrange it for you, though some will ask you to get it done yourself before your start date.

If it becomes clear you won’t have all your documents in time, saying nothing is the worst option. Documents you have to get from a previous employer, like a withholding tax statement or an employment insurance certificate, can often be submitted after you’ve started, so tell your contact at the company as soon as you know. Your city office or the pension office can also tell you how to get a document reissued, or what can be used instead.

Documents your employer gives you

• Notice of working conditions (rodo joken tsuchisho), spelling out your salary, hours, and other terms in writing
• Employment contract
• Agreement to your employer’s work rules (shugyo kisoku), the document defining company policy
• Confidentiality agreement, if applicable

Since April 2024, employers have also been required to state how far your workplace or job duties could change in the future.

(Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, "Rules for Notifying Working Conditions Are Changing From April 2024")

For full-time roles, this is where any possibility of relocation or department transfers gets spelled out. Because your status of residence is tied to the type of work you do, whether you could be moved to an entirely different role after joining is directly relevant to your visa. If there’s a probation period (shiyo kikan, a stretch at the start where the company assesses whether you’re a fit), check how long it runs and whether your pay or benefits differ from what you’ll get once you’re through it. Before you sign, go through at least these four points.

• Pay: the amount and the payment date, and whether commuting costs and allowances come on top
• Hours and overtime: start and finish times, breaks, and how overtime is calculated (watch for fixed overtime built into the salary)
• Days off and paid leave: your weekly days off and how many paid leave days you get
• Probation period and scope of reassignment: how long probation runs, and how far your work location and duties could change in future

If something isn’t clear, ask on the spot. You’re also free to take the contract home, check it, and sign later. A company that pressures you to sign immediately is itself a reason to slow down.

Japan Employment Contracts & Labor Laws: Know Your Rights Before You Sign (2026)

Five Common Mistakes

1. Forgetting to collect documents from your previous employer (job changers)

A withholding tax statement or employment insurance certificate gets harder to request once you’ve already left. Confirm what you’ll get and when before your last day.

2. Missing the notification to immigration (job changers)

The notification within 14 days of leaving and again within 14 days of joining is your legal responsibility. Miss it, and it can come up unfavorably when you renew your period of stay.

3. Filing in February and missing your start date (new graduates)

Immigration asks you to file between December 1 and the end of January, but most people still file in February. That backs up the review, and some people end up without a new residence card by April 1. File within the year if you possibly can.

4. Leaving your insurance and pension switch during a gap unattended (job changers)

Both National Health Insurance and National Pension need to be switched within 14 days of the day after you leave. An unpaid period can come up during a status of residence review later. If paying is difficult, that’s exactly when to apply for an exemption or deferral.

5. Signing your notice of working conditions without checking it (all paths)

Pay, hours, days off, and the probation period — check all four before signing, whichever path brought you here. Finding out later that the terms don’t match what you were told leaves you with fewer options.

FAQ

Q: Should I wait until I have a new job lined up before resigning?

A: From a procedural standpoint, yes, that’s safer. With no gap between jobs, switching insurance and pension gets handled employer-to-employer, and you don’t have to worry about the 90-day rule if a gap drags on.

Q: My previous employer is slow to issue my withholding tax statement. What should I do?

A: Start by following up with the department in charge. If it still doesn’t come through, you can consult your local tax office. Let your new employer know what’s happening so they’re aware the submission will be delayed.

Q: Do I need to do anything with my residence card when I change jobs?

A: If only your employer has changed, your residence card itself stays valid as-is. What you need is the notification to immigration (within 14 days), not a replacement card. If your job change comes with a move, you’ll need a separate address change procedure at your city or ward office.

Q: Can I become a full-time employee at the same company where I worked part-time?

A: Even if the company wants to hire you, you can’t work full-time on a student visa. You’ll need to change to a working status of residence, and the job needs to connect to what you studied. For the procedure, check Student Visa to Work Visa Change Guide: Your Timeline From Offer to Start Date.

Q: Should I get a Certificate of Authorized Employment?

A: If you’re changing jobs, it’s worth getting one for peace of mind. It isn’t mandatory, but it lets you confirm in advance that your new job fits within your current status of residence, which lowers the risk of a snag at your next renewal.

Q: Can I get the employment contract in English?

A: There’s no legal requirement for companies to provide an English version, so some issue the contract in Japanese only. Companies used to hiring international employees often do have an English or native-language version. Ask whether one exists before you accept the offer. If it’s Japanese only, your school’s teachers or career center can go through it with you. At minimum, check the pay, working hours, days off, and probation period before you sign.

Summary: Checklist by Path

New graduates from a student visa

• Applications open December 1. Whether you can file within the year changes the difficulty
• In the fall, confirm certificate timing with your school and required documents with your employer
• Full schedule: Student Visa to Work Visa Change Guide: Your Timeline From Offer to Start Date

Changing jobs within Japan

• Before your last day: secure your withholding tax statement, employment insurance certificate, and (if there’s a gap) your health insurance disqualification certificate
• Within 14 days of leaving: notification to immigration, switching to National Health Insurance and National Pension
• Within 14 days of joining: notification to immigration (again)

Moving to Japan from overseas

• Your employer leads the Certificate of Eligibility application. Submit your own paperwork as instructed
• After arriving, set up the basics in order: address registration → My Number → bank account → phone number

All paths

• Five items: residence card, My Number, bank account, Japanese phone number, emergency contact
• Check pay, hours, days off, and probation period on your notice of working conditions before signing

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Once you can see the whole path to your start date, all that’s left is taking action. If you’re still weighing offers, or want to take another look, start with job listings from companies that actively support the residence status process.

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