The Atarashift Blog
Insights for working in Japan
Guides, interviews, and honest advice for international talent building a career in Japan.
The Atarashift Blog
Guides, interviews, and honest advice for international talent building a career in Japan.
Losing your job does not cancel your visa. Your status runs to its expiry date. What matters is a 14-day notification, the three-month rule, and your next renewal.
Losing your job does not cancel your visa. Your status of residence stays valid until its printed expiry date, and nobody is going to put you on a plane next week.
Three things do matter, in this order. You must notify Immigration within 14 days. You should not go three months without working in your field. And at your next renewal, Immigration will want to see that you are employed again.
There is also a question worth settling before anything else: were you dismissed, or were you asked to resign? The answer changes your legal position and how much unemployment benefit you get.
No. A status of residence is permission to stay in Japan until a specific date, and it does not evaporate when your employment ends. If your residence card says your Engineer/Specialist in Humanities status runs to March 2028, it runs to March 2028.
So what actually changes? The basis on which that permission was granted. Your status exists because you were doing a particular kind of work. Immigration cares about whether you go back to doing it, and how quickly.
So the honest framing is not "my visa is cancelled." It is "I have a window, and I need to use it."
File a notification of the contracting organisation (所属機関等に関する届出). This is required under Article 19-16 of the Immigration Act, within 14 days of leaving the organisation.
A few things people get wrong about it:
File the same notification again when you start your new job. Our guide on transferring your work visa when you change jobs covers what happens next.
The rule that matters is in Article 22-4, paragraph 1, item 6 of the Immigration Act. If you stop conducting the activity your status covers for three months or more, your status becomes revocable.
Two qualifications make this much less alarming than it sounds.
It says revocable, not revoked. Immigration has discretion, and revocation is a process, not an automatic switch.
There is an exception for a justifiable reason (正当な理由). Genuinely looking for work in your field is normally accepted as one. Keep a record as you go. Jobs applied for, interviews attended, agencies you signed up with, Hello Work visits.
Some Highly Skilled Professional holders get six months rather than three. If you hold that status, check your own designation rather than assuming.
The practical read: three months is not a countdown to deportation. It is the point where you want a documented explanation. Six months of nothing is a genuine problem.
This is the most valuable distinction in this article, and it is easy to get wrong in the moment.
Dismissal (解雇) is the employer ending the contract. Japanese law makes this hard. Under Article 16 of the Labour Contract Act, a dismissal is void unless it has sound reasons and is socially acceptable. Employers must also give 30 days' notice or pay an allowance in lieu, under Article 20 of the Labour Standards Act.
Encouraged resignation (退職勧奨) is the employer asking you to quit. It is not a dismissal. It has no legal force. You can say no.
Because dismissal is legally hard, many exits in Japan are dressed up as the second thing while feeling like the first. You may be offered a settlement and a resignation letter in the same meeting.
Signing changes two things:
That second point is concrete, and it is the next section.
Do not sign anything in the meeting. Ask for the proposal in writing, and take a day. If you think the pressure is improper, a labour standards inspection office (労働基準監督署) or a labour union will talk to you for free.
Yes, if you were enrolled in employment insurance (雇用保険). Foreign residents are covered on the same terms as Japanese workers. Check your payslip for the deduction.
How you left determines two things. The Ministry publishes the two eligibility tracks in separate places, so we have put them side by side here.
| Voluntary resignation | Dismissal, bankruptcy, downsizing | |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage needed | 12 months in the prior 2 years | 6 months in the prior 1 year |
| Waiting period | 7 days plus a 1-month restriction | 7 days only |
That is why the resignation letter matters. An involuntary leaver qualifies on half the coverage and starts receiving money roughly a month sooner.
The one-month restriction applies to separations on or after 1 April 2025. We checked this against the Ministry's own reform documents. We found the wait is now half of what most English-language guides still quote. It was two months before that change.
For example, take someone who had been at their company for two years when the team was cut. As an involuntary leaver they clear the six-month bar easily, and they start receiving benefit about a week after registering at Hello Work. Had they signed a resignation letter in that final meeting, they would still qualify on two years of coverage. They would just wait an extra month for the first payment.
There is also a newer route worth knowing. Take an approved training course while you are out of work and the restriction can be lifted entirely. That holds even if you resigned.
How long benefit lasts depends on your age, how long you were insured, and why you left. Hello Work works this out when you register. Bring your residence card, your separation notice (離職票), your bank details and your My Number.
When your employment ends, you leave your company's Shakai Hoken. You have two options, and a deadline.
Voluntary continuation (任意継続) keeps you on your former employer's health insurance for up to two years. You must apply within 20 days of losing coverage. You pay both halves of the premium, so it costs roughly double what came off your payslip.
National Health Insurance (国民健康保険) at your city office is the alternative. Premiums are income-based, so if your income drops this year it can work out cheaper.
So which is better? It depends on your last year's income and your dependants. Ask your city office to quote the National Health Insurance premium before the 20-day window closes.
For pension, you move to National Pension (国民年金). If paying is hard while unemployed, apply for an exemption rather than simply not paying. Unpaid months count against you later when you apply for permanent residency. Approved exemptions do not. Our explainer on Shakai Hoken covers how the deductions work.
If you sponsor dependants, their Dependent status exists because of yours. It does not survive independently if your status is revoked.
In practice this does not bite immediately, for the same reason yours does not. Their cards remain valid, and nothing needs filing on their side while you look for work. But a long unemployed gap is a risk to the whole household, not just to you.
If your spouse holds work permission, their 28-hour weekly cap still applies. It does not expand because you are out of work. Our guide to the Dependent visa covers the rules.
That is a legitimate answer, and sometimes the right one.
If you go, claim your pension contributions back. The Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment returns up to five years of contributions, and you have two years from departure to apply. There are traps, including one that makes claiming the wrong move for some nationalities. Our guide to the Japanese pension refund covers them.
Sort your tax representative before you fly, and remember residence tax is billed a year in arrears, so you may still owe it after leaving.
No. Your status of residence remains valid until its expiry date. You must notify Immigration within 14 days, and you should find work before three months pass, but there is no requirement to leave.
Your status becomes revocable after three months of not conducting the activity it covers, under Article 22-4 of the Immigration Act. Active job hunting is normally accepted as a justifiable reason. Some Highly Skilled Professional holders have six months instead.
Yes. File a notification of the contracting organisation within 14 days of leaving. It is free and involves no examination, and skipping it carries a fine of up to ¥200,000.
Not in the meeting. Encouraged resignation is a request, not a dismissal, and you can refuse. Signing gives up dismissal protections. It also makes you a voluntary leaver for unemployment benefit, which means twelve months of coverage instead of six, plus a one-month wait.
Yes, on the same terms as Japanese workers, provided you were enrolled in employment insurance. Register at Hello Work with your residence card, separation notice, bank details and My Number.
Nothing immediately. Dependent status is tied to yours, so their cards stay valid while you look for work. A prolonged gap that puts your own status at risk puts theirs at risk too.
The 14-day notification, the ¥200,000 penalty and the three-month revocation ground sit in the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act. The relevant provisions are Article 19-16 and Article 22-4 paragraph 1 item 6. The Immigration Services Agency publishes procedure pages for the notification of the contracting organisation and for revocation of status of residence.
Unemployment insurance rules come from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's material on the 2024 employment insurance reform and Hello Work's page on the basic allowance. Those cover the six-month requirement for involuntary leavers and the one-month restriction from 1 April 2025.
Dismissal protections are in Article 16 of the Labour Contract Act and Article 20 of the Labour Standards Act. Voluntary continuation of health insurance runs for up to two years with a 20-day application window.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Dismissal disputes and status revocation are fact-specific. A labour standards inspection office, a union, or a certified administrative scrivener can advise on your own case at little or no cost. Data retrieved 14 September 2026.
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