Japan’s Pension for Foreign Students

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About Pension System in Japan
National Pension and Welfare Pension
Is the period of eligibility longer for foreigners who are temporarily in Japan?
Example of a foreign student being asked by a company to provide a pension handbook
Requirements for Permanent Residence visa when joining a pension
To avoid being involved in disputes over non-joined pensions
Other Question?

About Pension System in Japan

This time I would like to talk about Japanese pensions.

Firstly, the Japanese pension system is available to both Japanese and foreign nationals.

Even if you have just arrived in Japan and are starting to live in Japan, you will need to legally apply for a “pension”. All Japanese residents over the age of 20, whether Japanese or foreign, are required to join the Japanese pension system.

If you are a foreign student and do not have an income, you can apply for a reduction in payments after joining the pension system.

National Pension and Welfare Pension

There are 2 types of pensions that are relevant to foreigners, the National Pension (Kokumin Nenkin) and the Health and Welfare Pension (Kousei Nenkin).

The National Pension, which can be joined by anyone who has lived in Japan from the age of 20 to the age of 60 or less, is more popular among students in the case of foreigners who join the National Pension.

The pension insurance premium is not a small amount of money and I know that everyone is burdened with the pension insurance premium. However, if you wish to apply for a permanent residence (Japanese Green Card), the Immigration Bureau is now looking for at least 2 years of regular enrolment and payment of pension insurance premiums before you can meet the criteria for permanent residence.

There are three advantages for those who join the National Pension in the event of old age, disability, injury or death.

After the end of the benefit period, you can receive a basic pension at any time up to 65 and have security of life in old age (old age benefit).
In the event of an accident, such as a disability due to injury or traffic accident, a disability pension will be paid (Disability Benefit).
In the event of death, etc., the wife and children of the survivor will receive a benefit (survivor’s benefit).

In order to receive a pension, contributions must be paid after joining the pension. If you have financial difficulties in paying the pension, you can make use of the special system of waiving or post-payment of premiums or student contributions, which may result in no payment or a smaller amount of payment.

In contrast to the National Pension, salaried employees who work for a company are enrolled in the Health and Welfare Pension (Kousei Nenkin). The National Pension is 16,520 yen a month (for the year 2023), but the Health and Welfare Pension is an additional amount because it includes the National Pension.

However, your company and the individual (you) are responsible for half of the cost of the pension, so the individual’s contribution is less. You can check your own salary statement to see how much you will pay.

When you join a company, please check if you are covered by social insurance. One of the social insurance schemes is the Health and Welfare Pension. If you are enrolled in the Health and Welfare Pension, your status will be more stable. This means that you do not need to enter to National Health Insurance and National Pension. The company will automatically deduct the insurance premiums from your salary and there will be no delays or non-payment of premiums. In fact, it is easier to apply for permanent residence if you have been in a regular company, are covered by social security and have more than 2 years of experience.

Is the period of eligibility longer for foreigners who are temporarily in Japan?

This is an area of concern for foreigners. After paying a pension, will it be a waste of money if I leave Japan before receiving the benefits mentioned above?

If you return to Japan after joining the pension but have not yet completed the number of years of contributions, there is a system for temporary withdrawal of refunds according to the length of time and monthly income of the insurance contributions, which you can request within 2 years of losing your pension eligibility, so please don’t forget.

In addition, from 1 August 2017, the period of eligibility for pension benefits was shortened to 10 years or more to receive an old-age pension. Under the previous practice, you had to have paid contributions for at least 25 years to receive it. With this softening of conditions, the pension system can now be better utilised. It is almost a consideration for international students who come to Japan to study in Japan to consider their future employment in Japan, and it is almost a consideration to be in Japan for 10 years is there.

Example of a foreign student being asked by a company to provide a pension handbook

From here on, I will explain some of the problems that arise when foreigners are not enrolled in the National Pension.

As mentioned above, even if you are a foreigner and have no income, you are still obliged to join the National Pension while you are living in Japan.

However, there are instances where you are required to submit a pension handbook, which is a handbook for recording pension information, when you take up a job in a Japanese company.

It does not matter whether you are a Japanese or a foreigner. When you take up a job with a company, you will need to switch from the National Pension to the Health and Welfare Pension, and you will need the Pension Handbook when you go through the procedures.

In order to avoid the hustle and bustle of deciding on a company to work for, renewing your visa and moving house, international students should join the National Pension as soon as possible if they wish to work in Japan after graduation.

Requirements for Permanent Residence visa when joining a pension

When a foreigner has lived in Japan for 10 consecutive years, he or she can apply for permanent residence, which requires confirmation of the status of enrollment in a pension.

One of the most important requirements for permanent residence is that the applicant’s permanent residence is in line with the interests of the Japanese State, one of which is the proper fulfilment of public obligations (taxation, payment of pension and social health insurance premiums, Immigration Act, etc.).

This means that taxes must be paid and failure to join a pension is a failure to comply with this obligation and may result in a permanent residence permit. In the past, there were cases where you were granted a permanent residence visa without joining a pension and without being asked to produce a certificate, but now it is a requirement to join a pension, specifically to have at least 2 years of payment history.

In addition, if you have not paid your pension in one go before applying, you will be deemed to have failed to pay it on time and to have failed to meet your obligations.

This is not only a problem for individuals who have not paid, but also for companies that have not paid into the scheme.

In this case, it is important to have your own National Pension and to have a solid track record of contributions.

To avoid being involved in disputes over non-joined pensions

In summary, it is important for foreigners to be enrolled in a pension when living in Japan, and the possibility of problems arising from not being enrolled in a pension should be clear to you.

However, there are few foreigners who are not enrolled in a health insurance scheme when they go to the hospital when they are ill, but the status quo is that they are not enrolled in a pension simply because they are thinking about their current benefits in the distant future of old age.

However, this is not a distant word, as the time limit for old age benefits has been reduced to 10 years, and the possibility of throwing away insurance benefits when applying for permanent residence is no longer a possibility, which means that it is good to join a pension early.

If you need to join when it’s too late, read this and join a pension now if you haven’t already done so.

Everyone’s situation is different, so if you can’t make a simple judgement, make sure you seek advice from a visa specialist.

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