The Japanese Government has a system where foreigners leaving Japan, who have been paying into the pension system, can receive back a portion of these payments. This is known as a “National Pension Payment Rebate”, or a “Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment”. After all those hard years slugging it out working in the far east, you deserve to get back as much of that money as you possible can (it’s not like you are going to retire here right?). We have provided a “Dummies Guide” to getting as many of those hard earned yen that you have paid into this country’s convoluted pension scheme put back into your pocket where they belong, this is a must read for all foreigners thinking of leaving Japan soon, or have recently left Japan.
To set the ground rules, this is only applicable to foreigners actually leaving Japan “permanently”, and is a generous loophole. It is mandatory in Japan for all those employed to make monthly pension payments, and for full-time employees of companies it is automatically deducted from monthly salaries (as opposed to contractors who are required to make the payments themselves). However, how many of us will actually be in Japan long enough to receive a pension? (Yeah.. I thought so.)
Many people have heard that this rebate may exist, but due to the difficulties of understanding the Japanese bureaucratic system, as well as language difficulties, coupled with the fact that this is not widely publicized, we at stippy.com believe that the number of people exploiting this payback system is extremely low (which is exactly how the government wants to keep it mind you).
The Main Point:
Foreigners who have made monthly pension payments can receive back a portion of these payments once they have lost the right to receive such payments, and left Japan. The application for pay-back must be made within 2 years of leaving Japan.
* Note: There are two types of pension systems- the National Pension System （国民年金） and the Employee’s (or Corporate) Pension System （厚生年金）. You can receive rebates from either of these systems, however this article will focus just on the National Pension System. Also, this rebate system does not apply to mandatory health insurance, or other social security payments.
The Conditions for Application:
- You must not be a Japanese citizen (You probably wouldn’t be reading this if you were, but anyway..)
- You must have been enrolled in and have been making pension payments for more than 6 months
- Must not have an address in Japan (“Having an address” in Japan is often important for companies and Government agencies to do business with you – See comments below)
- Must have not already received any pension payments (including disability allowance)
Payment Amounts:
If your last pension payment was made before March 2007, your rebate amount will be according to the following table (click table to see a bigger version):
However, if your last payment was April 2007 or later, things get slightly tricky and the calculation is as follows (click image to see a bigger version):
* The reason for the two different calculations is that until March 2005, mandatory National Pension payments were fixed at 13,300 yen. However from April 2005 the rates were increased, and are planned to be increased each April for the foreseeable future. The current payment amount as of October 2006 is 13,860 yen per month.
The Process and the Tricky Parts (YOU MUST KNOW THIS BEFORE LEAVING JAPAN):
- You must apply from overseas. The application form is available only at your local city/ward office (市役所, shiyakusho or 区役所, kuyakusho), or online here. It can only be filled in by the applicant. You need to submit your pension booklet (showing pension payments, or the equivalent proof of pension payment issued by your company), a copy of your passport, and bank account details with the application form.
- The National Pension payment rebate is exempt of the 20% income withholding tax which applies to the Corporate Pension systems.
- Payment is made into the bank account of your choice. This account can be in Japan, or overseas, and will be made at the exchange rate of the day of payment for overseas accounts.
Further Notes:
Having an Address: Most companies and Government agencies will not do business with you unless you have a registered address. However, this is a loose concept and can work both for and against you.
For example, Japanese securities companies won’t give you a trading account unless you have an address in Japan. If you then leave Japan, all you need then is a friend who is happy to receive mail for you.
To receive your pension rebate, as long as you don’t own property here and don’t put forward any other address, you should be fine.
Aggregated Pension Schemes: Many countries have an Aggregated Pension Scheme Agreement with Japan. This means that applications may receive two countries pensions by summing the enrollment period in each country’s National Pension Systems. Such countries currently include the US and Germany. (France, Canada and Australia are in negotiation to start up similar agreements).
However if you receive a “National Pension System payment rebate”, then you will not be eligible for this. Receiving this payment effectively nullifies your enrollment in the system.
For further details, contact your local Ward Office. And good luck!
Hi again,
For your reference, last week I received a letter from the Social Insurance Operation Center that the money was transferred to my Australian account. A few days later I got a letter from my bank that the money had been received.
So it took 4-5 months from application to receiving back the payments.
They withheld 20% in income tax. My next step is to try to get that back too..
Hi
I worked in Japan for 2 years – 1 year on JET and 1 year in Tokyo for an IT company.
My question is – if I paid into the government pension in year 1 and and different pension in year 2 do I get 2 full years rebate or will I only qualify for one of them?
Thanks
Appreciate the info!
Here’s my question:
When I left Japan in this March, I didn’t know whether I’d be returning or not, so I didn’t hand in my alien card or get my visa canceled at the airport. I know now that I won’t be returning, and I’d like to know how to take care of these procedures. Simple, right?
Can someone advise me?
As far as I know and have read, you can exit the country every 3 years, stay in your home country for a few months while you apply for a new visa to come back. This would allow you to get all your payments. When you enter again, you just start off fresh again.
I returned during June 2006, I wanted not to claim National Insurance ( More than 2 years )
Pl let me know can I get the lumpsum refund after applying
Thankx Vjsan
Just wondering if anyone has had success in phoning the S.I.A. telephone line? I gave it a try tonight and had no luck. I also though don’t speak fluent Japanese.
It has 4 months now since I sent my forms in and I’m getting a little restless.
I submitted my application back in December and still haven’t heard back yet. I getting worried that I won’t get my money back.
jennifer,
They’ve changed all their offices and phone numbers:( They’re toll free numbers and just like all bureaucracies, YOU CAN”T CALL THE NUMBER FROM OVERSEAS! Isn’t that hilarious!
But you’ll be getting it in a few days (The Good News:) as 41/2 months seems to be the norm. I sent my stuff at the beginning of April and yes, I’m so antsy right now I’m spraying myself with insect killer. I was told by the local pension office that 5-6 months was the time frame, but the reality is better. 4 months and a week or so is the average report comin off this blog:) But the pension office also told me I should get 900,000 yen whereas the chart here says 244,000 or so:(
The waiting is certainly the hardest part.
Mike
Dave……….your money aint comin.
Also, one slip-up I’ve noted on this blog: You must apply within 2 years of leaving the last company you paid pension contributions to. NOT WITHIN 2 YEARS OF LEAVING JAPAN.
A very big difference.
Mike
Thank you Mike,
I hope that you’re right. And yes, waiting is the worst part.
mike why would you say my money isn’t coming? i’ve got a friend in japan who speaks japanese who has called in and apparently they’re looking into it. will find out next week of the status. i’d be surprised if they didn’t pay the lump sum back.
Because July 2009 minus December 2008 equals 7+ months. Your friend will really need to look into it in detail.
Dies, or anyone out there.. I’m still confuse on the process. I have been working in Japan since May 2006. I will be leaving Japan by end of Aug 2009. So would really like to know what I should do before I leave Japan so that I can get my money back. From the instruction in this website, I must do the following. Pls correct me if my understanding is wrong.
1) Nominate a tax agent to the local ward office while I’m still in Japan
2) Send my application once I leave Japan.
3) Wait for my Pension refund
4) Apply for 20% tax refund after i got my pension refund
Questions:
1) For my pension refund I must fill in the bank account detail of my home country or bank in Japan?
2) Must I cancel my alien registration in the local ward before I leave Japan or simply just hand in the card at the immigration when I leave in Aug?
3) Must I cancel my visa at the immigration when I leave? If yes where in the airport should I do this?
4) Where can I get the blue book (Pension Handbook)? When I request from my company they only give me a few piece of paper indication my annual salary and the tax paid. Is this the blue book?
5) Where can I find my Employee’s Pension Insurance registration number?
Really need some help….
Thanks
You’ve certainly made this mor complicated than it is with those lists;)
If you don’t have the blue book, they’re ok with that.
Yes, you hand in your gaijin card when you exit the airport in Japan (your visa will be terminated by the immigration officer you give the gaijin card to).
Once back home, all you need on the application is the pension number (the blue book is extra stuff that the bureau-heads like to get back, but don’t require). You can use a Japanese bank account or one back home. IF you use one back home, you’ll need the teller to stamp it with a bank rubber stamp of some kind (I don’t think the Japanese government will get too picky as to what stamp, as long as the bank stamps with something official-looking – usually a round stamp resembling a notary stamp). Don’t change your address or your bank branch’s address before u get the money.
Hello.
I have recently applied for my refund, but am curious, is one eligible for a refund from both the Employee’s and the National Pension plans if one contributed to both over the course of their stay in Japan?
Thank you,
Julie
No. And if you go to your LOCAL pension office, they won’t know that.
You can only get the national. 244,000yen minus 20% (for 3-year or more workers).
After I quit the company sent me the blue book (yes, it’s actually blue). I sent it in with my application, and they sent it back after I received the money.
Even though I received my money back in March this year, my tax agent apparently cannot fill in the tax form yet to get the 20% back. Was told to wait until the end of the current financial year.
Ah, about leaving Japan (not directly related to pension), the ward sent me a letter after I left Japan that I am still supposed to pay jyuuminzei. Apparently everybody is paying that over the previous year, so your first year in Japan you did not pay, but after you leave you are still supposed to pay until the end of the year. It was quite a significant amount (more than 450.000 JPY!). I paid as I don’t want to get in trouble if I ever go back to Japan, but I imagine many people don’t know about this.
dies.. where can i get my blue book?
Jonathan, have you asked your company’s HR department?
I don’t know what your chances are without it (as long as you can find your registration number(s) elsewhere), but Mike seems to think they’re okay without it and all his other answers were correct.
Jonathan, have you asked your company’s HR department?
I don’t know what your chances are without it (as long as you can find your registration number(s) elsewhere), but Mike seems to think they\’re okay without it and all his other answers were correct.
Mike and Dies,
Thanks a lot for your information.
Are you guys on the National Pension Scheme or the Corporate Pension Scheme?
I think I was on the corporate scheme.
konnichiwa,ileft japan last march 31,2009,after that i filed the lumpsum withdrawal payments and forwraded the blue book indicating my basic pension number in view to this i would like to know when i can claim my refund i sent the following documents last april 14,2009
You should be getting it late this month or early September:)
A friend once told me that you can also claim a rebate of up to Y1mil from the national health insurance scheme as well but I can’t seem to find anything about that
i have already received confirmation that my lumpsum is approved but the question is when and how i have already send them all the documents they needed and also i spending mo0ney just to call them (national pension Japan).i already gave them my back acount number here in the philippines,,please help me regarding this and my contact number is 639266808236,,tnx and more power.
how can i claim the lumpsum withdrawal entitlement,untill now i havent receive it yet.i send my documents last april 24 2009
You’re almost there, Recy:) Just a few more weeks. Don’t change your personal info with your bank until you get your money (your address, your bank branch address). I’d guess your money will arrive in 2 to 3 weeks.
By the way. You can go to Japan anytime you like before you get your pension, as long as you don’t get a gaijin card there;)
tnx mike you give me hope,tnx for the time effort,,god speed
Hello,
I’m trying to fill out the form to get my pension refund, and I cannot figure out the difference between these 4 numbers. I’m guessing I don’t need the Seaman’s Insurance one, but are all the other numbers the same? Can I just fill out the “Basic Pension number” and assume they will be able to figure out the rest?
Basic Pension number
基礎年金番号
―
Employees’ Pension Insurance registration number
厚生年金保険の記号番号
―
Employees’ Pension Insurance （Seamen’s Insurance）registration number
厚生年金保険（船員保険）の記号番号
―
National Pension registration number
国民年金の記号番号
Yeah. If it’s the lump sum payment that you want, you just put that Basic Pension Number down:)
Another trivia question (that I don’t know the answer to): If you come back to Japan as a tourist, you’re fine. I know that. But what if, as a tourist, I go register an address (hotel, friend’s house, whatever) and get a gaijin card. That’s as a tourist. No working visas, marriages or business of any kind involved).
You couldn’t get a foreign registration card on a tourist visa. Not if they are doing their job properly at the city hall or ward office that handles the registration. All they have to do is look in your passport and see what visa you have.
>>Hello,
I’m trying to fill out the form to get my pension refund, and I cannot figure out the difference between these 4 numbers. I’m guessing I don’t need the Seaman’s Insurance one, but are all the other numbers the same? Can I just fill out the “Basic Pension number” and assume they will be able to figure out the rest?<<
Kosei and Kokumin are separate. Some people, like myself, have paid into both.
Perhaps the first number refers to a unified account. This would be useful for people like myself who have paid into more than one scheme.
Actually, you can. Ive gotten one from Shibuya Kuyakusho before on a tourist visa. I told just told them that by work visa was about to start being processed and Im going to be here for a while and would rather be registered. (Which was basically true.) It was easy. And the reason, if I remember rightly, why I wanted it, was so I could get a phone…
Gaijin cards are issued to tourists, BUT would that negate your lump sum pension claim?
I’m thinking my question would confuse the bureaucrats at the pension fund central “nerve center”.
Do you even NEED to register if you’re applying for a work visa in Japan? Surely not.
I would bet they are more strict now. Here in Fukui I am sure they would have wanted proof your work visa was applied for.
Elsewhere I have read that even foreigners on tourist visas have applied for and got the alien registration card–all they needed was an address. However, this card and process is really meant for resident aliens who are going to be here longer than 90 days. So it seems that there is a difference in interpretations at the local level–not surprising.
I forgot to surrender my alien card before, will it disqualify me for applying for the refund?
Not turning your alien card in at immigration upon leaving the country means you had a re-entry visa , and immigration assumed you never gave up your visa. If your visa has expired since you left, then you’re actually breaking the law, and getting your pension is a no-brainer as far as that goes. You’re required by law to turn that card in if you’re not returning.
Not turning your alien card in at immigration upon leaving the country means you had a re-entry visa , and immigration assumed you never gave up your visa. If your visa has expired since you left, then you\’re actually breaking the law, and getting your pension is a no-brainer as far as that goes. You\’re required by law to turn that card in if you\’re not returning.
So, do you have an idea where I can send my alien card? I have no plans of going back to Japan anymore. I left Japan October last year and now I am in the US already. I just want to file for the lumpsum, I have worked very hard before.
If your visa expired, it’s too late.
You seem to use Japanese English. Maybe call Immigration for the friend you’re enquiring for as that’s an odd situation (not turning in their alien registration card).
Yeah it’s kinda odd. I was even planning of sending the alien card together with my application, maybe they will accept it and if not then there’s nothing more that I can do. Thank you for the past reply.
Don’t send the alien registration with your application! 2 different bureaucracies. The alien registration belongs to immigration. If your visa is still active, send the alien card to Otemachi (Immigration) with a letter of apology or something. Your pension application obviously goes to the pension office.
Ah ok. I found Japan Immigration Website awhile ago, I will call them on monday.