• Procedures for Changing Your Address (part1)
• Applying for a Copy of Your/Your Family Members’ Resident Record (part2)
• Procedures for Returning to One’s Home Country (part3)

Procedures for Returning to One’s Home Country

This is a list of procedures that are required when you were to return to your home country.
If you have decided to return to your home country, please complete these procedures as soon as possible.

≪Contact information for Ward Offices and General Branches≫

Check list
Procedures for submitting the moving out notification	Procedures for notification of moving out of Japan Seal registration card
Health insurance	National health insurance
Pension	Application for lump-sum withdrawal payments (National Pension/Employees' Pension)
Taxes	Payment of inhabitant tax Payment of fixed asset tax and city planning tax
Children	Child allowance/Child medical expenses subsidy/Medical expenses subsidy for single-parent households Child-rearing allowance Medical expenses subsidy for mentally or physically disabled persons Notification to the child’s school
Elderly people	Senior citizen card
Automobiles and motorcycles	Procedures for disposing of automobiles, motorcycles (automatic two-wheeled bikes, light two-wheeled bikes), or mopeds
Residence	Payment of rent Payment of public utilities

 

Procedures for Notification of Moving out of Japan

Before you leave Japan, please submit a notification of moving out of Japan to the Family and Resident Registration Section at each Ward Offices, the Taxation and Resident Registration Section at the Miyagi General Branch or the Tax and Resident Affairs Section at the Akiu General Branch of where your residence is registered. If you do not plan to return to Japan and you are insured by the national health insurance or is the recipient of an allowance, please complete the other necessary procedures while you are at the service counter as well.

Departments in charge: Family and Resident Registration Section of each Ward Office, Taxation and Resident Registration Section of Miyagi General Branch, or Tax and Resident Affairs Section of Akiu General Branch

Please bring your residence card or certificate of alien registration to the airport, etc. If you do not plan to return to Japan, please return the card when you go through departure screening at the airport, etc.

Departments in charge: Immigration Service Agency of Japan( External link )

Seal Registration Card

Seal registration will be abolished on the day when you leave Japan, unless you have permission for re-entry. There are no particularly required procedures.

National Health Insurance

If you are enrolled in the national health insurance, please follow the guidance provided at the service counter for procedures for notification of moving and liquidate, etc. if necessary. (Please bring your insurance card and your residence card or certificate of alien registration).

Departments in charge: National Health Insurance and Pension Section at each Ward Office and Miyagi General Branch, or Public Health and Welfare Section at Akiu General Branch.

Application for Lump-sum Withdrawal Payments (National Pension/Employees' Pension)

If a person without Japanese nationality loses qualifications of being insured by the National Pension or Employees' Pension Insurance and has left Japan, they can claim the lump-sum withdrawal payments within 2 years starting from the day when they stopped residing in Japan.

*If you were insured by the pension of a country that has concluded a social security (totalization) agreement with Japan and meet certain requirements, it might be possible for the pension enrolment periods to be totaled, which will allow you to receive pension from both Japan and the country that concluded the agreement with Japan. However, if you receive a lump-sum withdrawal payment, you will become unable to use the pension enrolment period prior to requesting the lump-sum withdrawal in the calculation of the totaled pension enrolment period.

For details on the procedure, please refer to: Lump-sum Withdrawal Payments (Japan Pension Service) ( External link )

Payment of Inhabitant Tax

Regardless of nationality, people who live in Japan are required to pay inhabitant tax (refers to the combined prefectural tax and municipal tax) to the municipality in which they resided in as of January 1. The tax will be imposed on income of the previous year (January 1 through December 31), and the tax must be paid even if the person moved or returned to his or her home country during that fiscal year. *If the amount of annual income is less than a certain amount, inhabitant tax will not be imposed.

When you return to your home country, please be sure to either appoint a tax agent who will pay for the inhabitant tax on your behalf, or pay taxes according to the Estimated Tax Prepayment.

 Payment of Inhabitant Tax 

Department in charge: Inhabitant Tax Section, Finance Bureau

1-1 Futsukamachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai

City Hall North Building 5th floor

[Residents of Aoba Ward and Izumi Ward]

TEL: 022-214-8637 FAX: 022-214-8613
[Residents of Miyagino Ward, Wakabayashi Ward and Taihaku Ward]

TEL: 022-214-8638 FAX: 022-214-8613

Child Allowance/Child Medical Expenses Subsidy/Medical Expenses Subsidy for Single-parent Households

Notification is required both when the eligible child will be returning to their home country and when only the guardian who is receiving the allowance will be returning to their home country. Guidance will be provided at the service counter when you submit your notification of moving out of Japan. Please follow the procedures according to the instructions provided.

Departments in charge: Childcare and Benefit Section at each Ward Office, or Public Health and Welfare Section of General Branches

Child-rearing Allowance

Notification is required when either some or all members of a household will be moving out. Please first contact the Ward Office or General Branch departments where you live listed below, then bring your seal and certificate to the service counter and complete the procedure.

Departments in charge: Childcare and Benefit Section at each Ward Office, or Public Health and Welfare Section of General Branches

Medical Expenses Subsidy for Mentally or Physically Disabled Persons

Please return your reception card to the departments in charge at the Ward Office or General Branch of where you live.
Departments in charge: Disabled and Senior Citizens Welfare Section at each Ward Office and Miyagi General Branch, or Public Health and Welfare Section at Akiu General Branch.

Notification to the Child’s School

The guardian of the child should let the teacher at the child’s school know that the child will return to his or her home country, and submit a notification.

Senior Citizen Card (eligible for individuals 65 years old or older)

Please return your senior citizen card to the Ward Office or the General Branch of where you live.
Departments in charge: Disabled and Senior Citizens Welfare Section at each Ward Office and Miyagi General Branch, or Public Health and Welfare Section at Akiu General Branch.

 

Procedures for Disposing of Automobiles, Motorcycles (automatic two-wheeled bikes, light two-wheeled bikes), or Mopeds

Type of vehicle	Where to go
Motorized bicycle (motorcycle, etc. with 125cc or less) Small special automobile	Taxation and Accounting Section at Ward Offices with fixed parking spaces, or Taxation and Resident Registration Section at Miyagi General Branch, or Tax and Resident Affairs Section at Akiu General Branch
Two-wheeled light automobile (between 125 cc and 250 cc, etc.) Two-wheeled small automobile (above 250 cc)	Miyagi Transport Branch Office of Tohoku District Transport Bureau 3-3-15 Ogimachi, Miyagino-ku, Sendai Tel: 050-5540-2011
Three/Four-wheeled light automobile (660cc or less)	Miyagi Light Motor Vehicle Inspection Organization( External link )　 4-1-38 Nakano, Miyagino-ku, Sendai　 Tel: 050-3816-1830

 

 Payment of Rent

If you want to terminate a rental contract due to moving residence, etc., you must notify the landlord or the real estate agent ahead of time (usually 1 month in advance) according to the content of the contract. If you moved out without giving a notice or gave notice immediately before moving out, you may be subject to breach of contract penalties.

Payment of Public Utilities (Water, electricity, gas, telephone fees, and NHK reception fees)

For water, electricity, gas, telephone fees, and NHK reception fees, etc., please contact the relevant organizations before you move to let them know that you will be moving, and follow the procedures required for settlement of accounts, etc.