Skip to main content

Employer-Change Notification to ISA

Japan employer change notification immigration duty binds work-status holders who change jobs: within 14 days of the change, you must tell ISA about the move through the affiliated-organization notification.12 It is separate from the address notification, uses different filing routes, and answers a different question, so job changers must handle both duties in parallel.

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Immigration Services Agency affiliated-organization notification guidance. This article is general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed gyoseishoshi for a status-fit read on the new role, or an immigration lawyer where duties may leave the current status.

Last verified: 2026-09.

Overview​

The duty is the 所属機関等に関する届出 (shozoku kikan tō ni kansuru todokede, "notification concerning affiliated organization") under Article 19-16 of the Immigration Control Act.12 It binds mid- to long-term residents whose status rests on an employment or organizational relationship. Contract-organization workers, including Engineer/Humanities/International Services holders, fall under item 2 of that article, which tracks the 契約機関 (keiyaku kikan, "contracting organization").1

This article is the ISA and statute companion to the legal-bureaucracy article of the same filename, which owns the counter mechanics: that article walks the filing interface, while this one covers the legal basis, the 14-day window, the status-fit question, and the renewal-consequence angle.

The 14-day rule and the three filing routes​

The window runs 14 days from the change, and item-2 events include a change of the contracting organization's name or location, its extinction, the end of your contract, and the signing of a new contract.1 A job change can therefore trigger the duty at both ends: leaving and joining each count.1

Three routes accept the filing: the electronic notification system, in-person submission at a regional bureau counter, or mailed submission to the Tokyo bureau.1 Electronic filing requires advance user registration in the system.1 No ISA fee attaches to the notification.1
Register for the electronic system before you need it

User registration precedes first use, and job-change weeks are busy. Completing registration while still employed keeps the 14-day window comfortable.1

Does the new job fit the current status​

The notification records the move; it does not authorize duties outside your current status.1 An Engineer moving from one software firm to another stays in scope and files the notice. An Engineer moving to a sales-only role with no specialist duties may need a change of status instead, because the new duties leave the current status behind.1

This fit test is duty-based, not title-based. When the duties are ambiguous, have a gyoseishoshi read the new role against the current status before choosing between a notification and a full status change.3

Missing the notice and renewals​

Unreported changes surface at renewal, where the bureau reconstructs the continuity of the qualifying relationship from the notification record.3 Gaps read as instability, and extended non-engagement in the authorized activity, in the documented 3-month pattern, can support revocation exposure and renewal refusal under the Act.23

Unreported gaps compound at renewal time

A single missed notice is a correctable breach, but a file showing unreported moves plus months outside authorized activity gives the bureau multiple independent reasons to refuse. File each notice on time and keep the activity continuous.23

Good to know​

This notice and the address notice are separate duties​

Different articles create them, different destinations receive them, and different clocks run them. A job change that also moves house triggers both the Article 19-16 filing and the Article 19-9 municipal filing.12

Leaving and joining can each need attention​

Item 2 lists contract end and new contract as distinct events. File for the departure leg even when the arrival leg feels like the important one.1

A same-status move can still fail the fit test​

Staying on the same status while taking out-of-scope duties is the classic trap. The notification never cures a scope problem; only a change of status does.1

Keep proof of every filing​

Renewal reconstructs your employment history from these records. Retain submission receipts and confirmation screens so a missing bureau record does not become your problem.3

See also​

References​

Footnotes​

  1. 出入国在留管理庁. 「所属機関に関する届出（入管法第19条の16第1号及び第2号）について」. https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001398559.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14

  2. e-Gov法令検索. 「出入国管理及び難民認定法」. https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/326CO0000000319 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. 出入国在留管理庁. 「在留期間更新許可申請」および「在留資格変更許可申請」手続案内. https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5