Five stages of a Japanese move
The sequence shows dependencies and statutory milestones. Evidence preparation, appointments and authority decisions vary; it is not a promised end-to-end processing time.
01Establish the activity and tax starting pointBefore accepting a long-term commitment
Choose the immigration route using actual work and family facts. Determine likely tax-residence start, foreign-company exposure and the treatment of appreciated assets.
Documents & evidence
- Passports and residence history
- Work or business plan
- Asset cost records
- Family documents
- Treating a visa as a tax exemption
- Assuming an arrival-date investment step-up
02Prepare the route-specific applicationBefore travel; preparation and review times vary
Collect education, experience, income, insurance and business evidence as relevant. Use a COE where the route and filing circumstances support it; the digital-nomad consular process can differ.
Documents & evidence
- Application forms
- Sponsor/company records
- Certified relationship evidence
- Translations where required
- Using obsolete Business Manager thresholds
- Booking travel on an assumed approval date
03Land with a workable first addressAt entry and the initial accommodation period
Check the status and period granted. Choose accommodation that supports the relevant registration and household needs; confirm terms before paying nonrefundable sums.
Documents & evidence
- Passport and landing records
- Residence card where issued
- Accommodation contract
- Assuming every temporary stay supports registration
- Confusing Narita and Haneda journeys
04Register and activate the essentialsRegister the address within 14 days after establishing it where required
Complete municipal notification, health/pension enrollment applicable to the household, My Number procedures and employer payroll setup. Bring the updated identity/address evidence to bank onboarding.
Documents & evidence
- Residence card or qualifying passport
- Move-in notification
- Employer insurance records
- Dependants’ documents
- Leaving insurance enrollment until illness
- Opening accounts with inconsistent names/addresses
05Run a first-year and renewal calendarMonthly records; annual tax and route-specific renewal dates
Reconcile overseas income and remittances, track company decision-making, plan next-year inhabitant tax and keep immigration evidence current. Review the exit-tax clock and family plans before a status change.
Documents & evidence
- Income/remittance ledger
- Payslips and tax records
- Social-insurance payment records
- Travel history
- Spending the first-year resident-tax timing benefit
- Assuming offshore retained profits are irrelevant
Document checklist
Track your preparation in this browser. Final requirements depend on the route and filing authority.
Make the irreversible decisions after the analysis
A successful move begins before the flight. Define who will live in Japan, what each adult will do, where the business will operate and what must remain outside Japan. An owner who needs to approve foreign-company contracts every day has a different tax and immigration problem from an employee joining a Japanese group. Identify those facts before selecting a route.
Gather a ten-year residence history and an investment inventory with original costs, acquisition dates, currencies and expected disposals. Record the foreign country’s departure treatment separately. Japan’s limited non-permanent-resident rules, securities acquisition tests and potential foreign exit-tax basis adjustment depend on information that may become harder to recover after accounts change.
Build a cash budget including setup fees, housing deposits and contractual charges, moving costs, insurance, taxes, school costs and company runway. Business Manager capital is not a government application fee, and the JPY30 million requirement should not be presented as the all-in cost of establishing a family and business.
Choose accommodation for registration and daily life
The national living guide distinguishes private rentals, public housing and UR housing, with different application requirements. In a private tenancy, check the deposit, key money if any, brokerage fee, guarantor arrangement, renewal terms, cleaning/restoration obligations and cancellation notice. These are contract-specific; there is no defensible countrywide promise of a particular rent or deposit.
Check whether the lease permits the intended use. A residential home office and the premises required for a Business Manager project are not interchangeable: the revised immigration guidance generally rejects combining the required business premises with the home. Internet installation permission, utilities, waste-sorting rules and building management can also affect the first weeks.
Before choosing a district, test the commute at the time you will use it and the school journey with the children. Confirm stairs, lifts, cooling, heating, humidity and local hazard/evacuation information. A beautiful short-stay apartment is not proof that the same address fits a long-term family or business plan.
Register the address, then align the records
A medium- to long-term resident generally registers the address within 14 days after establishing it, using the residence card or relevant passport documentation. The precise procedure for a card issued later differs. The digital-nomad six-month route does not issue a residence card, so do not copy a long-term resident’s registration checklist to that stay.
My Number, employer payroll, municipal records and bank identity checks are related but different processes. Keep the spelling and order of names consistent, including transliteration, apartment number and any previous names. Retain copies of submissions and evidence of completion; an address update in one system does not necessarily update another.
Where an employer handles social-insurance enrollment, ask for written confirmation of the effective date and dependent treatment. Otherwise investigate the municipal health-insurance and pension obligations promptly. A foreign private policy does not automatically remove statutory enrollment obligations.
Healthcare and school planning belong in the arrival timetable
Japan’s employee health-insurance and municipal National Health Insurance systems have different enrollment and premium mechanisms. Eligibility and dependants must be assessed for the actual status and employment. Identify a suitable clinic, medication continuity, language support and emergency procedure rather than assuming every service will be available in English.
The national guide explains access to public elementary and lower-secondary schools for foreign children who wish to enroll. Contact the municipal education authority about the address, grade placement, Japanese-language support, records and start date. Meals, supplies, activities and other costs are separate from tuition treatment. International schools have their own admissions, fees and recognition issues.
A spouse’s ability to work, a child’s school and the location of healthcare can change the suitability of an otherwise attractive residence route. A family member should not begin remunerated work simply because the principal applicant has a work-authorising status.
Avoid the misleading first-year budget
Local inhabitant tax generally follows a prior-year income cycle and the relevant January residence facts. The cash demand after the first year can therefore be different from the deductions on the first payslip. Compare annual liability and payment timing, and reserve cash for the later assessment rather than calling the timing difference a permanent saving.
For a non-permanent resident, maintain a calendar-year schedule of income source, payment location, remittances and securities transactions. For an owner, also record the location of management and contract activity. Foreign payroll or a foreign company does not remove the need for a Japanese review.
We can put the legal analysis and implementation dependencies into a single plan, then coordinate company, banking and residence steps. The inquiry should identify the intended move date, household, current country, business countries and the decisions already made.
Sources & research notes22 references
Sources supporting this guide. Research draft awaiting editorial review.
- NTA — 2025 income-tax guide, resident categories and remittance
- NTA — Income Tax Basic Circular article 7
- NTA — statutory analysis of qualifying foreign exit-tax basis
- ISA — Business Manager reform effective 16 October 2025
- ISA — 2026 living and working guidebook, English
- JMA — regional climate of Japan
- ISA — designated activities for digital nomads
- Japan Pension Service — employee pension contribution bases
- ISA — permission for dependent part-time work
- ISA — Dependent status
- JETRO — individual tax system and local inhabitant tax
- NTA — salary received from overseas employers
- JETRO — corporate tax, permanent establishments and compliance
- NTA — residence, domicile and corporation head-office test
- ISA — Business Manager status
- ISA — Highly Skilled Professional programme
- MOFA — digital nomad visa documents and family
- Haneda Airport — official access and terminals
- Narita International Airport — official visitor information
- FSA — opening accounts and sending money as a foreign resident
- MOF — controlled foreign company regime
- ISA — permanent residence guidelines revised 1 October 2026