Karinoya Learning Room

Daily Life Lessons · City Office

Registering Your Residence

Goal of this lesson

Be able to register your residence at the city office on your own when you need to.

Explanation

When you start living in Japan as a mid- to long-term resident (for more than 3 months), or when you move, register your residence (moving-in notification: 転入届) at your city, ward, town, or village office within 14 days of the day you decided on your new home. Short-term visitors such as tourists are not eligible for resident registration. Bring the residence cards (在留カード) of all family members. You may also be asked for your passport, so it is safer to bring it too. If you moved from another municipality, you also need the moving-out certificate (転出証明書) you received from the office of your previous address (it may not be needed in some cases, such as when you completed the move-out procedure using your My Number Card). When you submit the moving-in notification with your residence card, this also counts as notifying the immigration authorities (入管) of your address. Registering your residence leads to other procedures such as National Health Insurance and My Number. Some offices have multilingual counters or interpreting tablets. What you need may differ by municipality, so check the office's website or other sources in advance.

Read in Easy Japanese (yasashii nihongo)

日本に 3か月より 長く 住む 人は、市役所・区役所で 住民票（じゅうみんひょう）の 登録を します。 観光などの 短い 滞在の 人は 登録 できません。

持っていくもの： - 在留カード（家族 みんなの 分） - パスポート

住む 場所が 決まった 日から 14日以内に 行きます。 ほかの 市から 引っ越した ときは、前の 市の「転出証明書（てんしゅつしょうめいしょ）」も 持っていきます。

Check quiz

Q1

What is the deadline for resident registration (moving-in notification)?

  1. 3 days
  2. 14 days
  3. 1 month
  4. 1 year
AnswerB. 14 days

Within 14 days of the day you decided on your new home (the day you moved).

Q2

What must you bring?

  1. Residence card and passport
  2. Only a photo
  3. Bank card
  4. Nothing
AnswerA. Residence card and passport

You need the residence cards of all family members. You may also be asked for your passport, so bring it too.

Q3

Where do you do it?

  1. The police
  2. Your city, ward, town, or village office
  3. The immigration office
  4. Your embassy
AnswerB. Your city, ward, town, or village office

At your city, ward, town, or village office.

Q4

What does registration lead to?

  1. Procedures such as health insurance
  2. A driver's license is issued automatically
  3. Tax exemption
  4. Work permission
AnswerA. Procedures such as health insurance

Registering your residence leads to procedures such as National Health Insurance and My Number.

Q5

What if you are worried about your Japanese?

  1. Don't go
  2. Use a multilingual counter or interpreting tablet
  3. Leave it to your family
  4. Do it by email
AnswerB. Use a multilingual counter or interpreting tablet

Some offices have multilingual counters or interpreting tablets.

Frequently asked questions

Q. What if I move to a different city?

A. Submit a moving-out notification (転出届) at the office of your old address and receive a moving-out certificate, then submit a moving-in notification at the office of your new address within 14 days. If you have a My Number Card, you may be able to submit the moving-out notification online through Mynaportal (マイナポータル) (you still need to go to the counter for the moving-in notification). A move within the same municipality requires a change-of-address notification (転居届) instead.

Q. Do I also need to change the address on my residence card?

A. When you submit a moving-in notification (or change-of-address notification) with your residence card, it is treated as your address notification to the immigration authorities, and your new address is written on the back of your residence card.

Q. I cannot go on weekdays.

A. Some municipalities have evening or weekend/holiday counters. In some cases, a representative can submit the notification for you, so check with the office.

Practice: answer the questions on this page

This practice tool asks questions in random order (it works when JavaScript is enabled). You can still read all the questions and explanations above without it.

Systems and procedures may differ depending on the city, ward, town or village where you live and on the time of year. Please check the latest information from your local government or the relevant organizations.
Content checked on: 2026-09-28

This page is a translation of the Japanese original. If the translation and the original differ, the Japanese version takes precedence. View the Japanese original