So I've been here a couple of years now, paying my taxes, contributing to my health insurance and so on. However, the recent hubub about pension has made me dig in and realise that I have totally missed that one.
It seems at no point in my bureaucratic journey in Japan was it brought up and now apparently I'm behind on paying it. Perhaps because I arrived on a WHV they didn't add it on to the list of Zairyo, NHI card and Mynumber, but since I've only ever had freelance jobs it's never been set up by an employer either.
Anyway the why is irrelevant, I am trying to sort this out. I can see I need to go to a pension office and try and explain the situation to them.
A few questions I have:
- Do I need my MyNumber card? I'm waiting for a new one at the moment.
- I see they will be asking for the full time I've been here, although I was unemployed for most of the first year, how does that get dealt with?
- Anything else I'll need to bring?
- Also, anyone know why on earth is the pension contribution thing not made obvious when you first arrive and get your Zairyo? Where I come from pension and national health insurance are the same bill.
Update after town hall visit, in case anyone is looking into this problem in future:
Solved, just went to the pension desk, explained when I arrived and what happened. I was able to secure an exemption for the first few months because unemployed and unmarried. After getting an income and wifing-up there's no way I would qualify.
No drama really, I just have to pay the back-dated monthly contributions when I get my slips through. Hopefully I can spread it out as far as I like because like most people I don't exactly have 350,000 lying about.
Didn't need Mynumber, just residence card.
by Turbulent-Acadia9676
4 comments
You sign up for national pension at the city hall / ward office, not the pension office. You can consult with them about any periods you were unemployed. However, since you’ve been a sole proprietor, you’ve technically never been unemployed. Anyway, if you talk with them, they’ll work through it with you.
You don’t need a MyNumber card, but it would be helpful if you knew the number itself.
You don’t have debt. They start charging you when you register in the Japanese pension system, if you are not registered, then you have no debt.
I have been living in Japan for 5 years. 2 years with working holiday, 2 with student visa, 1 year with work visa. Just this week I received a letter to register.
> Do I need my MyNumber card?
No, but knowing your number will help.
> I was unemployed for most of the first year, how does that get dealt with?
You could have applied for an exemption, but you may not be able to retroactively.
> Also, anyone know why on earth is the pension contribution thing not made obvious when you first arrive and get your Zairyo?
It is, right there on the leaflet you get at the airport.
It’s unbelievable how your city office didn’t enroll you into the pension system the first time you went there ( since you went there and got enrolled into the national health insurance system )! The heath insurance counters and pension counters are almost always side by side! You’ll need to visit your local city office ( not the pension office ) to get this rectified but I have a strong feeling that they will ask you to backdate and pay everything from the time you registered to live in the city. One of my friend who was dodging the pension system for the last 5 years ( he entered in 2019 and always laughed at me when I told him I was paying into the pension system as it was the law ) was told to pay up all arrears. Now that the government has passed the bill about it, the authorities will be going after all the dodgers! Every foreigner entering Japan for long term stay of more than 3 months should be aware that the pension system thing is mandatory!Â