Switching jobs with multiple month gap before contract starts

Hello everyone! Long time lurker looking for some advice or direction from people who’ve maybe dealt with something like this before.

Long story short, I quit my current job at a company in Tokyo for certain reasons. I’ve got a job offer from another company in a different part of the country but they would be able to hire me only starting April of 2023.

I was planning to leave the country for a few months and come back before April but I don’t want to have to pay for 5 months of rent here (a flight back home and back would cost much less not even including the amount id spend on daily expenses). Would it be possible for me to cancel my housing contract, go back home for 4 months and come back here in mid-march or so with my current visa? I still have over 2 years left on my visa but I assume a japanese address is needed while I’m not here (probably for residence taxes and what not)

Another option would be to have the new company go through the visa process all over again but that might be a little もったいない from their perspective.

Thanks in advance!

2 comments
  1. Yes. Just fill out the re-entry visa form at the airport and you’re set to come back any time before your visa expires.

  2. A similar kind of question came up here yesterday: https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/yi156v/permanent_residence_question/

    To be honest though, you should speak to immigration directly about this. Because you will need to notify immigration within 14 days after your final day with your current employer follow this process:

    https://www.isa.go.jp/en/applications/procedures/nyuukokukanri10_00014.html

    https://www.isa.go.jp/en/applications/procedures/nyuukokukanri10_00015.html

    Pick the correct link for your current visa.

    You then have 3 months before immigration *can* start the process to revoke your visa.

    Now you mentioned you have a job offer starting April 2023, which is great…. But immigration won’t know that. Which is why I think it’s best you explain that to them.

    Then because you intend to leave for <1 year, you’re not really supposed to be able to file your moving out of Japan paper work. So you can remain a resident of Japan (which means paying national pension, NHI, and taxes to Japan) and get a 1 year special re-entry permit at the airport. Essentially you would be on a 4-6 month holiday outside of Japan… but still a resident of Japan and domiciled tied to Japan (for taxes etc).

    The difficult thing is that you’re required to have an address. Residents of Japan can’t have >14 days without a registered address… hence again another reason why to speak to immigration. Also I’d recommend speaking to your municipality/ward office too, to see what they can advise, and you’d have to speak to them anyway to enroll in national health insurance and national pension.

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