Residence Card: Status, Period, and Work Flags
The 在留カード (zairyū kādo, "residence card") is the physical printout of your immigration grant: it shows who you are, which status you hold, how long it lasts, and whether you may work.1 Reading those fields correctly matters every time a form asks for "status," "period of stay," or "work eligibility."
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Immigration Services Agency site. This article is general information, not legal or immigration advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed gyoseishoshi, or an immigration lawyer for a contested case.
Last verified: 2026-09.
Overview
Japan issues the residence card to 中長期在留者 (chūchōki zairyūsha, "mid- to long-term residents"): foreign nationals staying more than three months under a qualifying status.1 Short-term visitors, diplomats, and officials sit outside the card system.1 Holders aged 16 and over must carry the card at all times under the Act's residence duties.12
This is the visa-category canonical on the card: what it encodes, why ISA issues it, and how it follows your status. The hands-on companion, Residence Card: Japan's Foreign-Resident ID, covers daily mechanics such as the carry rule, address updates, and replacement; this article links it wherever mechanics arise instead of repeating it.
Why ISA issues the card
The card exists so that one document proves the current grant at every counter that needs it. Employers, banks, phone shops, ward offices, and police all read the same face, which is why ISA issues the card itself rather than delegating it to municipalities.1
Issuance happens at status junctures: on landing permission, on period extension, and on permission changes such as a status switch.3 Municipal offices only enter the address line on the back; the card itself is an ISA document, not a city-hall document.14
What the card encodes
The face concentrates the holder's entire residence profile onto one document.1 Each field maps to something forms and counters ask for by name.
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Name, birth date, sex, nationality or region | Identity entries matching the passport |
| Status of residence | The activity category or standing (engineer, student, spouse, permanent resident, and others) |
| Period of stay with expiry date | How long the current permission lasts |
| Work-permission flag | Whether work is restricted and under what terms |
| Address (back side) | Current registered address, entered by the municipality |
| Residence-card number | The identifier printed on the face1 |
The work-permission field reflects both the status and any separately granted activity permission.13 A Student card with a permission grant reads differently from one without, even though the status line is identical.
ISA notes a new Specified Residence Card track operating from June 2026 with changed face entries (as of 2026-09; confirm current format details with the Immigration Services Agency).5 The field list above reflects the established format most holders still carry.
How the card ties to your status
The card follows the status, never the reverse. Extension or change of status produces a new card entry, and card validity runs with the period of stay.3 The card evidences the grant but does not create it: the permission lives in ISA's decision, and the card prints that decision for counters to read.14
This ordering explains the two most common misunderstandings. Renewing the card without renewing the period is impossible, because reissuance happens at extension and change junctures.3 And a valid-looking card with an expired period proves nothing, because the grant underneath has ended.
Employers checking a hire must read the status line together with the work-permission notation, as detailed in Carry-at-All-Times Rule and Police Checks.1 The card face alone never authorizes work outside the listed activity.
Where and when you receive it
New arrivals receive the card through one of two routes. At ten designated airports (New Chitose, Sendai, Narita, Haneda, Chubu, Kansai, Kobe, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Naha), officers hand over the card during landing inspection.4 Through any other port, the passport is marked and ISA mails the card after the municipal address filing.34
The full port-by-port treatment, including what to carry while waiting for a mailed card, lives in the companion Residence Card: Japan's Foreign-Resident ID. First-time arrivals should read that guide alongside this one.
Good to know
The card expires with your period, not on its own schedule
Reissuance is tied to extension and change junctures, so the renewal that matters is the period renewal at the regional bureau, filed before expiry.3 Treat the printed expiry date as a deadline for the ISA filing, not for a card-swap errand.
Losing the card does not cancel your status
Status is ISA's grant and the card is its evidence, so a lost card leaves the permission intact while creating a reissuance duty.1 The replacement steps, including the police report and the bureau filing, are covered in Lost Residence Card: Replacement Procedure.
Presenting the card is not the same as proving work permission
Counters read the status line plus the permission notation, and off-activity work still needs its own grant.1 Holders who picked up part-time work should confirm the notation matches reality before an employer check or a renewal examination makes the question official.
See also
- Residence Card: Japan's Foreign-Resident ID
- Lost Residence Card: Replacement Procedure
- Lost or Stolen Residence Card
- Extension of Period of Stay
- Carry-at-All-Times Rule and Police Checks
- Address Change on the Residence Card