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!
Hello!
My name is Anil.I’m from India.
I worked for mitsubhishi electric from Oct 2007 till Dec 2008 ( approximately 14 months).
My gross salary is 300,000 yen.
How much employer insurance amount of money I’ll get .
I have submitted the relevant documents by post from india.
How many months it will take to get money into my indian account.
kindly send me the required information.
Regards
Anil
anildba9@yahoo.com
Hi Concern
My name is Vijaysan
I left Japan during June 2006
I thought of taking opportunity after sometimes to come back to japn and continue,
But I fell Sick and my priority went to my health ,
Later I could not think of returning back to Japan because of Bad Recession in IT Globally,
Now it is more than 2 Years, I really wanted Japan Govt to consider my case of special because of global recession to help me our for allowing to Claim the lumpsum refund.
Kindly assist me how to initiate , I have all the blue book and app form,
If I do not claim the refund let me know how I will get back the hard earned money refunded,
In case after 2 or 3 Years if I come and work again will that amount be continued after making contributions
Kindly help
Regards
Vijaysan
Hi Concern
My name is Vijaysan
I left Japan during June 2006
I thought of taking opportunity after sometimes to come back to japn and continue,
But I fell Sick and my priority went to my health ,
Later I could not think of returning back to Japan because of Bad Recession in IT Globally,
Now it is more than 2 Years, I really wanted Japan Govt to consider my case of special because of global recession to help me our for allowing to Claim the lumpsum refund.
Kindly assist me how to initiate , I have all the blue book and app form,
If I do not claim the refund let me know how I will get back the hard earned money refunded,
In case after 2 or 3 Years if I come and work again will that amount be continued after making contributions
Kindly help
Regards
Vijaysan
I have not surrendered my alien card when I left Japan. That page of my passport with my last departure in Japan enough for filling the refund?
Yeah, you messed up big time. Gotta get that card back to the Immigration guys or yer still residing in Japan.
Should I include my alien card when applying for the refund will help? Is there other way to solve this?
My question relates to leaving Japan and wanting a pension refund but still owning a house here. I’ve been here in Japan for 6 years and paid pension payments for most of that time. I’ve also bought a house here and had hoped to stay here forever, but my application for permanent residency has just been denied (most likely because I have changed jobs and do not work for a Japanese company). Given that I have better job prospects outside of Japan, and now doubt that I will ever be able to get permanent residency, I feel there is no reason to continue my residency without a break, I’m going to leave Japan and just use the house as a vacation home. I may come back on a 3-yearwork visa in the future (?). Anyway, since I really am leaving Japan (for a year at least) and exiting from “the system” why would it be that I cannot get the 3-year pension refund just because I still own the house? Owning the house does not seem to have any bearing on whether I am a resident, and that should be what matters, right?
I called the Pension Office last night. It has been seven months to the day that they received in my paperwork. They said there is nothing wrong with the paperwork and apologized and asked that I wait a bit longer.
I am wondering, how long between receiving the notification of payment and actual wire has everyone experienced? Also, what day of the month have you noticed the wires to be? I am guessing that it is on a monthly payment schedule, and these benchmarks may alleve some of the worry we all seem to share.
Thank you,
Julie
“confused” san. If you read on the gaijin card, you’ll notice that it belongs to the Justice Ministry, not the Social Welfare & Insurance bureaucrats. I think you’ve messed up royally, as everyone has to give their card back when leaving Japan permanently. You need to get that card to Immigration. Immigration Immigration.
Shelley,
if you’ve reported and paid taxes on the land, obviously you’re still tied to Japan. OWNING LAND does tend to bind a tie to you and the country it’s in;)
But, thanks to the bureaucratic bafoonery of a system Japan has, you may be ok. Don’t draw attention to it and you may just get pension money back. Keep in mind, the pension can roll into your home country’s social security plan, BUT APPLY WITHIN 2 YEARS OF YOUR LAST PAYMENT INTO THE PENSION SYSTEM OR NO MONEY COMES TO YOU.
Julie,
The answer to your question lies in countless posts above. Some people get it in 4 or so months, but most get it between 5 and 10 months. Mine was 9, I think. Hold your water;) And think about how you’ll spend it:)
Mike,
Hi. I have read the posts, I was just trying to see if there was a pattern as to the day of the month that the money is wired from Japan so I (and perhaps others) can just chill and look at their accounts on that time of the month. 🙂
Julie
2 Questions:
1) how will applying for/receiving a lump sum payment affect my ability to get a work/spouse visa to enter japan in the future? I am just completing my second 5+year stay in working in Japan first 93-98, this time 2005-2010. but this is the first time I plan to apply for the lumpsum… and it is from the 3rd system for government employees, as I worked this time a faculty of a national university (the first stay I was not a regular contributor). Right now I have no specific plans to return, but may like to at some future date (maybe 3-10 years later)
as I still have many personal and business relationships here.
2) although I just finished my employment here as a professor, my visa status as professor is shown as valid until January. I have taken a new position in the US with a university that has a branch in Japan. I am wondering whether I should keep my gaijin card and visa open upon leaving, as there is a chance I may be able to do some work with this Japan branch.
btw… I have found this thread to be the most useful and informative place on the web for this topic…
After you’ve received your money, you can do whatever you want visa-wise. You just can’t receive national pension benefits again.
I finally got my return. It took 7 months. I was very worried.
Now I am waiting for my tax return, having sent in the Entitlement part.
is having japan bank account(s) with address (basically my current registered address / my friends home) in Japan considered having Japan address for lumpsum purposes, if I discontinue my status of residence and turn in my gaijin card? should I change this to overseas address?
No one I know had problems. I had 4 bank accounts in Japan. Got my money.
Mike,
Thanks for the quick, clear replies
Hi there,
Thanks for the info on the site. I left Japan in December 2009 and am about to go back there for a holiday and will hand in my gaijin card and cancel my visa when I leave. BUT..I haven’t paid the last of my town tax. Obviously I don’t want to pay for it when I’m not in the country but will this effect my pension refund? Will they be able to follow it up?
Thanks
Every person I know who didn’t pay the town tax STILL got there pension money.
I have filed my national pension form before 20 days.
In general, in how many days does a person receives his pension amount?
I was in Japan for 2.5 years and did the lump sum withdrawl of my pension. Again I came back to Japan with same last time Visa for the same company and contributing to pesion.
Will I be able to do the lumpsum withdrawal again after I exit Japan as I did already once and came with same Visa?
Your help is verymuch appreciated.
Thanks
Mallik
no
Hi Mike,
Thank you very much for answering. Is my old visa making me not eligible or pension is supposed to be withdrawn only once? I am worried 🙁 , a big amount is going towards that pension. Is there anyway to get the eligibility?
Please clarify.
Thanks
Mallik
You get the lumpsum one time only.
I have a quick question. I’ve got all my information good and ready, but I was wondering if my application for refund might be processed faster if I fill out my forms mostly in Japanese? What do you think?
Hi,
I applied my pension is going to complete around 7 months,
but didn’t get any reply from there.
is there any way to know my status?
please help me………
Thanks
Rajeshwar
Star, anytime anything can be filled out in Japanese it is better, but you’re dealing with a gargantuan bureaucracy. The only part that can really be filled out in Japanese is your last employer and resident information. Did that. 10 months for me now.
Rajeshwar, you need to call them every month, not that that will speed things along, but it helps. I have called every month since two months after my documentation was received by the pension office. Everything was fine, in order, no problem, just taking them awhile to determine the amount. Then, a month ago, low and behold my passport copy showing my date of departure turned up missing. They said they sent a letter, but I did not receive that. I am now writing a letter to them including not only that one page of my passport, but the information page.
They have actually called me twice after calling them. I have found that their initial response on the phone is garnered after a peak at a computer screen perhaps, and then they do the real investigative work into your case after you have hung up and will actually call you back with more information.
If you speak Japanese, some of them have a really hard time believing you are the applicant, but for the most part, they are as polite and apologetic as pie!
Julie
HI
My Name is Anil, I’m from India.
I worked in Japan from Oct 2007 to Jan 2009.
After coming to India in Jan 2009, I applied PF in the month of April 2010.
It is Almost 4 and half months, I didn’t receive any communication as on date.
If anybody having information , kindly update
Regards
Anil
Hi,
I worked in Japan 96-98 and 06-08, I think I just missed the 2 year deadline by 4 months, although my gaijin card was only cancelled this May when I innocently visited (had 3 year visa). Maybe worth trying anyway?
I had assumed I could get some slivers of pension payments when I reach retirement age regardless of where I reside. Is that not true?
Thanks
Hannes
Like you said, you went past the deadline by 4 months. An unfortunate reality called reality. No, you are no longer eligible.
Also, just working in Japan doesn’t make you eligible. You have to be enrolled in the national pension fund. Very rare for a company to put you in that scheme.
OK thanks for advice. Apparently I did unwittingly apply for a refund thanks to my wife-to-be for the first stint 10 years ago. Funny that it is roughly the same amount as 10 years later on four times the salary. Anyway this wouldn’t be funding an early retirement.
I had been assuming that when I turn 65 I would show up at the pension office with pension book and bank account details and they would start paying me some pocket money, is that not the case? I have contributed to pension plans in several countries and if they just swallowed up my money that wouldn’t seem fair..
im crissanlyn i have a question? i worked in japan for almost 3yrs nov2006 til august2009 but then this is my prblem about my lumpsum .my documents that to insurance was void so they returned to me the documents after 6 months they back to me my documents told me my documents are incomplete,then i passed it again now almost 6 months now, my question is its possible to get my lumpsum how long can i wait
thank you i hope u can help me!!!!!
Restfecfully yours,
Crissanlyn Fernandez Po
Hi Concern
I could not apply for refund of lumpsum withdrawl, due to health reason and ……….
kindly let me know how to get the refund
Japan govt should now take new ammendment that they can withdraw any time since it is hard earned contrubuted or deducted amount
Pl take this to PM or President of Japan who should honestly refund irrespective of lapse years
Pl help
Regards]
Vijay
hie guys.
i hope someone here can help me out.
i have been working in japan from aug 06 and will go back to the uk in aug 11 after 5 years. i have been paying into the national pension all 5 years.
when i leave japan in august i am planning to stay in the uk for a month or so (to make use of my free flight home and see family etc) and then come back to japan to work again on the same visa, so i wont give my gaijin card in at immigration but i wont be living in the same town when i come back.
my concern is that i dont think my new employer will enroll me in the national pension scheme so if i work for them for 2 years or more does this mean i lose my entitlement to the lump sum?
if so, is there some way for me to pay into the national pension privately? i really dont want to lose the lump sum so if this means cancelling my gaijin card and staying in the uk longer and then coming back to japan on a different visa i might be willing to do that too.
any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thank you
You’ve got to forfeit that gaijin card and get a new visa before those 2 years are up.
Hello. Thanks for this post and all the comments, it’s very helpful.
I have a couple questions (getting ready to send off my form, want to make sure everything’s right seeing how vague it is >.<)
First, at the very beginning, should I write my name in Katakana, since it's in katakana in the pension book, or does it matter?
Second, I was in Japan for 3 years as a JET, the whole time in the same place, but my town merged with a city this April (I was there till August). Now the former town hall is still a branch office of the city, and I'm pretty sure all my pre-merger records are in cold storage there. So the question is do I write the address of the old town, or the new city?
And last question, for work period should I write month/year, or exact dates?
Thanks
Hey folks,
I saw on here that someone else received the “Inadequacies in the Claim for Lump-Sum Withdrawal Payment” form that I did, and I had a question about it.
I received the “Inadequacies” form back in April, after having sent my original claim back in August of last year. The problem with my original form had to do with the fact that I didn’t have a proper bank stamp, because my bank isn’t local and doesn’t HAVE a stamp. I gathered together a bunch of documents and sent the whole thing back to Tokyo in May (four months ago), and am hoping the bank documents were adequate this time.
I still haven’t gotten my money, but I have this vague memory of there being a number on some part of the “Inadequacies” form that was for English-speakers. Has anybody else gotten this form, or know of the number, or have any advice for me on whether I will ever get my money?
Thanks very much.
Just a follow-up on my “Inadequacies” form situation…
I ended up just sending the passport page I was missing the first time along with all the documents they sent me. I mailed this 2-24-10.
Happy to report that on 8-13-10, I got my refund! YAY!
If anyone else ever gets the dreaded Inadequacies in the Claim for Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment mailing, here are some things to keep in mind:
1. It doesn’t matter if your response to the “Inadequacies” form would put you past your deadline for applying for the lump sum. All that matters is that your initial application met the deadline. For example, my deadline for applying was August 7, 2009, because I left Japan August 7, 2007. I was worried that the Social Insurance Office would disqualify my application because I had to send them additional documents after that deadline. It didn’t matter, as it turns out.
2. Ignore the strange wording of the letter that makes it sound like you have to resubmit an entirely new application. Just give them the missing/clarifying documents and return it with everything they sent you. They kept your pension book and bank documents.
3. Be patient and have faith. My timeline went like this:
7-14-09: Sent application
2-18-10: Got “Inadequacies in the Claim for Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment” letter
2-24-10: Resubmitted missing part of original application
8-13-10: Got lump-sum payment
4. My bank did not have a stamp. I just had someone at my branch type up something on letterhead with the information the pension agency requested. I taped a voided check to the bottom of the letter. My check had an old address on it, and this being Japan I was dealing with, figured that would screw things up, so I just blacked the address out with a marker. There were no problems with my bank information, surprisingly.
Hope this helps someone in the future.
Hello everybody,
I just received and mailed back a “Request for Lump Sum withdrawal payment (Inquiry)” from the Public Relations Group Japan Pension Service.
Does anyone know if this is normal? I sent it back in but I thought it was so weird.
Just wondering if I am being set up to get rejected or if this will delay my claim even more. I sent my claim in in July 2010 and just got this new form this month (Oct 2010).
Thank you,
Chuckles
I guess consider yourself lucky? I just got the same thing in the mail last Thursday, and yesterday was my ONE YEAR anniversary of them having received all of my paperwork. It has been a (typical) red tape nightmare with the Japanese pension machine.
@Julie Ueno – Thanks for that comment. I guess it is easy to forget the paperwork nightmares of living in Japan. I hope the process goes smoothly for you. At least now I know that they do have my money and they probably just want to collect as much interest as possible before giving it back to me.
@chuckles — what is this new form you sent back to Japan Pension Service? I worry about my claim. I already sent all the documents needed for this lumpsum refund. And if there is new form, i think it will take time again to received the money. I sent my claim last July 2010 also but not received any notification as of the moment.
Thanks.
@Mitchell – Any additional form will probably add extra time to your claim. Just be on the look out for any mail from Japan.
The form is literally called “Request for Lump Sum withdrawal payment (Inquiry)”. The pension service wanted to make sure that I “really” wanted my money. If anyone gets this form you should just remember to circle option 2, sign the form, date it and mail it back ASAP.
Hi,
I applied my pension is going to complete around 9 months,
but didn’t get any reply from there.
is there any way to know my status?
could you please provide me email id.
please help me………
Thanks,
Rajeshwar
Good day guys,i had a problem with my lump sum payment.I already received the notice for lump-sum payment last Sept. 15, but until now i don`t have the money yet.The problem is the account that i submitted was already closed because the bank transffered to another place.Then my account was transffered to another branch and they altered my privious account with new one.Can you give me some advice how to fix it,I`m trying to call their office but i can`t connect.I`m here in the Philippines.Hope you can give some advice.
@charzkie – Sorry to hear about your trouble. This sounds like a very difficult situation to fix on your own. I can’t really think of any advice to give you except to contact a rep in Japan and to find one if you do not have one. I am sure someone on this board can point you to someone reputable.
The only problem I see is that you would have to pay for this service. I assume you will need to do quite a bit of paper work to solve a problem like this.
Please keep us posted.
@chuckles-thanks for the answer,you`re right I really need to contact some people in Japan but I don`t know who. I also tried to asked the bank but they can`t give me a concrete answer.I`m already confused.