VisaResidents in Japan can choose an integrated residence and My Number card
Check the filing occasion, documents and current fee category before replacing two cards with one.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Decide whether combining the cards is useful for this resident
Mid- to long-term residents recorded in Japan’s resident register can consider the specified residence card, which combines residence-card and My Number functions. Integration is optional. Inagi City’s October guidance says residents may continue holding the two cards separately. This is an existing system introduced in June 2026, not a new November requirement for every foreign visitor or resident.
Inagi explains a practical benefit: after an integrated card is issued following an immigration renewal, the corresponding My Number update generally no longer needs a separate municipal visit. It also cautions that expiry of the My Number functions does not by itself prevent using the document as a residence card. Check which function and expiry are involved rather than assuming a single physical card removes every separate administrative requirement.
Choose the right counter and bring the application documents
ISA requires the appropriate integrated-card form, PIN-setting request and recent photograph. Immigration and municipal forms differ. An accompanying procedure’s photo need not be duplicated; someone expected to be under one year old at issuance does not need it.
Representatives must not see the applicant’s chosen PIN; ISA requires sealing or equivalent protection. Its FAQ currently excludes integrated-card applications alongside online residence applications. Establish the counter route before relying on an online service.
For an address-linked application, check the municipality’s actual route
Inagi’s separate application page allows filing alongside a residence-address notification or change. Other occasions generally go to the regional immigration office. It specifically directs someone returning after an overseas move to the same address to immigration, rather than treating that case as a fresh municipal address-change application. Inagi applications use its Citizen Affairs counter, not the My Number Card Center or branch offices.
Its adult checklist includes the photograph, residence document, passport and existing My Number Card where held. Child or representative cases require additional identity and relationship or authority evidence. Documents supporting a relationship may need translation where the resident register cannot establish it. These are Inagi’s receiving instructions; another municipality’s counter arrangements require its own check. The page distinguishes normal collection at City Hall from direct delivery for specified categories, so postal delivery should not be assumed for every applicant.
Compare fee guidance by procedure and date
Takamatsu’s June guidance illustrates the difference between ordinary counter collection and qualifying direct delivery where charges apply: it lists JPY1,900 for the residence component at collection, or JPY2,600 for direct delivery, plus JPY800 for My Number functions with electronic certificates. Its page says some first procedures are free but later exchanges can be charged. Those examples are not a universal bill for every integration request.
ISA’s current table has a specific exemption. Holders of ordinary residence cards issued on or after 14 June 2026 pay neither the immigration nor My Number issuance fee when requesting integration alongside an address-change notification from 1 October 2026. That category required both fees for applications made by 30 September. Other exchanges are not automatically free. Ask the receiving office to confirm the card’s issue date and filing occasion.
Keep the personal number private and distinguish older card descriptions
JETRO explains that My Number is a twelve-digit identifier used for legally specified social-security, tax and disaster-response administration. It advises holders not to disclose the number without good reason. Combining identification functions does not make that number ordinary information to share with every business asking to inspect residence status. Establish which information the receiving organisation actually requires.
JETRO’s general residence-card page still includes a seven-year validity table for older adult permanent-resident cards, while Inagi’s updated description identifies the changed format introduced in June. Read those descriptions in their dated context rather than calculating a replacement card’s expiry from an older table. Use the issued document and current ISA instructions. Individual eligibility, local collection availability and the applicable fee exemption were not confirmed for any applicant in this review.
