So, I have recently received a whole bunch of pension bills (in two separate mails in fact).
(I have been in japan for about 1.5 years now)
These bills include: bill for the previous year (from my understanding this one is optional to pay), for several years ahead (year-by-year bills), as well as for current year in a lump sum and in monthly parts. Complete mess of like 20 individual papers…
So, I have a few questions:
1) What is the deadline for each? As sadly there isn’t anything on each bill. When are you normally supposed to pay them?
2) If I am late with any of them – will it affect my visa renewal?
3) Do I have to pay the bill for the first year I was here? From my understanding it is completely optional, but I could be wrong.
4) In what order would be better to pay them? As I don’t have the money to pay them all at once.
7 comments
Not sure why you think the first year would be optional – were you unemployed, a student or earning an extremely low wage during that time?
Those are not year-by-year bills, they’re probably monthly payments.
You can do lump sum (e.g. July – March, and then April-June next year when they send those), rest of the year (July-December), or by each month. The deadline is on the slip.
You have until 8/1 to do lump sum, or 10/31 to pay through the year. The monthly ones are valid for payment through the end of the next month (e.g. July slip paid by August 31st). If you pay later than that, you just need to reissue the slips or pay at the office.
For past ones technically you have to pay them as soon as possible. But you can work out something like if they call tell them you will pay two months. That may affect your immigration applications, not sure. Either way whatever you do, don’t ignore their phone calls.
You should see one slip that has a lump sum. For the pension, you can get a slight discount if you pay this way. There will also be monthly slips which don’t have any discount. There may even be a quarterly method of paying or biyearly, I forgot, that may give a slight discount but not as much as the lump sum.
If you look carefully at the slips, there will be a due date on them, but it will be in the Japanese system. For example September 30 this year will be written as 4/9/30, (not 22/9/30) where 4 is the 4th year of Reiwa.
The same goes for health insurance premiums and city tax payments, but they don’t give any discount for paying in a lump sum unlike the pension.
If you live alone, and not married go to your city hall get a form to request pension payment reduction, they can cut from your bills 1/5, 1/4 1/2 or everything. Maybe you got that form to your mail?
But I think you missed the date…
Try anyway
Good luck
I got an astronomical bill one day. I went down to the pension off and explained my situation. They couldn’t have been more helpful! They said if I couldn’t pay it, I should apply for a 免除(menjyo) and they may be able to waive the payments for the missed years. They helped me fill out the forms and send them off.
A few weeks later, the payments were waived and all was fine! Forever grateful to the gentleman in the pension office.
The end!
There is definitely a date on the bills that you have to pay by.