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Procedure · 在留申請オンラインシステム

Online residence applications in Japan

You can extend your visa or change your status without queuing at the immigration bureau, through the online residence application system of the Immigration Services Agency (ISA). Who can use it, which applications it accepts, how much the fee is online and how you receive your new residence card.

How to apply online

All procedures

Checked against the Immigration Services Agency of Japan on 28 September 2026 · Extension · Change of status · Fees

Open24/7, except maintenance

Apply yourself from age15

Files per application20 files, 25 MB in total

PaymentStore or bank

Who can apply

You yourself — or someone who files for you

The ISA online system (在留申請オンラインシステム) has seven types of users, each with its own conditions.

Yourself

A resident with a residence card

  • You are 15 or older and a mid- to long-term resident (中長期在留者) with a residence card. Temporary Visitors, diplomats and people with a period of stay of 3 months or less cannot use it.
  • You need a My Number card with both electronic certificates — for signing (署名用) and for log-in (利用者証明用).
  • You need a smartphone with the マイナポータル app to verify your identity; the application itself is easier on a computer.
  • You cannot file the Certificate of Eligibility (CoE) for yourself online — your host in Japan (school, employer or a relative in Japan) or an administrative scrivener (行政書士) files it.

For you

Employer, school, scrivener, family

  • A staff member of your company or school who is authorized to file for you (申請等取次) and approved for online use.
  • An administrative scrivener (行政書士) or attorney (弁護士) registered with immigration.
  • Staff of a registered support organization for Specified Skilled Workers (登録支援機関) or of a public-interest corporation (公益法人), at the employer’s request.
  • Your legal representative.
  • Your spouse, child or parent — for your own applications only if you are under 16 or ill. Relatives in Japan can also file a family member’s CoE online for family statuses.

Which applications

What you can file online, and what only at the bureau

Based on the ISA list of 5 January 2026. Temporary Visitor (短期滞在), Diplomat (外交) and the Designated Activities status for preparing to leave Japan are not accepted online; of the other Designated Activities types, only those ISA lists.

Application You yourself, online More
Extension of period of stay (在留期間更新) Yes Extension
Change of status of residence (在留資格変更) Yes Change of status
Acquisition of status of residence – child born in Japan (在留資格取得) Yes within 30 days of birth
Certificate of Authorized Employment (就労資格証明書) Yes can be filed on its own
Certificate of Eligibility (在留資格認定証明書) No — your host in Japan files it Certificate of Eligibility
Re-entry permit (再入国許可) Only together with an extension, change or acquisition Re-entry permit
Part-time work permission (資格外活動許可) Only together with an extension, change or acquisition Part-time work
Permanent residence (永住許可) No — at the bureau only Permanent residency
Residence card: new details, renewal, lost card No — at the bureau only Notifications
Residence card with the My Number function (特定在留カード) No — at the bureau, or at the city office with your address registration —

The table is for applications you file yourself. Employers, schools, relatives in Japan and administrative scriveners (行政書士) can also file the CoE.

Notifications of a new employer or school, or of a divorce, go through the ISA electronic notification system (電子届出システム) — not the application system. See notifications to immigration.

Step by step

How to apply online

For a resident who files for themselves. Employers and administrative scriveners (行政書士) register separately.

1. Register

Enter your e-mail address and you get a registration link (valid 24 hours), then your user ID (利用者ID). Allow mail from @rasens-immi.moj.go.jp.

2. Request access (利用申出)

Confirm your identity with your My Number card through マイナポータル. Access usually opens within minutes.

3. Form and files

Enter your details exactly as on your residence card. Photo as .jpg or .jpeg, documents as PDF: up to 20 files and 25 MB in total. Workers, students and dependents add the part filled in by the employer, school or supporting family member.

4. Receipt e-mails

First an e-mail confirming receipt (申請受付完了), then a temporary number, and the next day the application number. The filing date is the day you applied online.

5. Decision and payment

After the e-mail saying the review is finished, you pay the fee by the link from ISA’s payment provider (below).

6. New residence card

By post or at the bureau, as you chose when you applied. Your new period starts when you receive the card.

Log in: ISA online residence application system. The forms and documents are the same as at the bureau: change of status, extension.

Fees and payment

How much an extension or change costs online

You pay after approval. The amount depends on the period granted and on the date your application was received.

Period granted At the counter Online + payment fee
Up to 3 months ¥10,000 ¥10,000 + ¥330
More than 3, up to 6 months ¥18,000 ¥15,000 + ¥330
More than 6 months, less than 1 year ¥25,000 ¥21,000 + ¥330
1 year ¥33,000 ¥27,000 + ¥330
More than 1 year, less than 3 years ¥48,000 ¥42,000 + ¥330
3 years, less than 5 years ¥64,000 ¥56,000 + ¥550
5 years or more ¥75,000 ¥65,000 + ¥550

For applications received from 1 October 2026. Applications received by 30 September 2026 pay the old fee: ¥5,500 online (¥6,000 at the counter), even if approved later. The receipt date is the one in the receipt e-mail (申請受付).

From 1 October 2026

How to pay online

  • After the review, a link to pay comes by e-mail from @service-dgft.com; the payment choice and completion e-mails come from @veritrans.jp. ISA warns that payment requests from any other address are fraud.
  • Pay at a convenience store or through Pay-easy at a bank ATM or by internet banking (not at a bank counter). Credit cards and QR-code payments are not accepted.
  • If a specified residence card (特定在留カード, residence card with the My Number function) is issued with the permission, the fee can be higher.
  • Revenue stamps cannot be used for these applications. At the counter you still pay with stamps, sold for cash only.
  • A fee reduction for financial hardship cannot be requested online — such applications are filed at the bureau.

Other fees

Re-entry and the work certificate

  • Re-entry permit online: ¥3,500 single, ¥6,500 multiple (at the counter ¥4,000 and ¥7,000). Certificate of Authorized Employment online: ¥1,600 (at the counter ¥2,000).
  • These amounts did not change on 1 October 2026, but online a ¥220 payment fee is added.
  • Part-time work permission and a status for a newborn are free.

All rates and examples: immigration fees.

Receiving the result

How you get your new card, the CoE or the certificate

By post

The card comes to your home

  • You choose the method when you apply. Within 14 days of the e-mail saying the review is finished, send by registered mail (簡易書留) or レターパック to the Odaiba branch of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau: a stamped return envelope and, for an extension or change, your current card and your designation sheet (指定書) if you have one. Do not send your passport or My Number card.
  • Your new period of stay starts when you receive the card.
  • ISA warns that delivery by post currently takes longer. If you need the card soon, choose the bureau.

When post is not possible

At the bureau only

  • You also applied for a re-entry permit, or you were granted 3 months or less — the permission goes into your passport.
  • You want your name in kanji on the card, or the card’s own validity is being renewed at the same time.
  • The CoE is sent by e-mail or post; the work certificate by post or at the bureau.

You can change the method while the application shows 申請完了 or 審査中.

Why an online application may not go through

  • The last day of your period of stay — online applications are not accepted on that day; go to the bureau.
  • You moved today. On the day you register a new address at the city office you cannot apply online — wait until the next day.
  • My Number card expired. If your period of stay ended, the decision is pending and your My Number card was not renewed, you cannot send further documents online.
  • Details do not match your card. Name in capital Latin letters as on the card; address as on the back of the card.
  • E-mails do not arrive. Allow mail from @rasens-immi.moj.go.jp. ISA notes that free webmail services often miss these e-mails.
  • The Back button logs you out, and the system does not read password-protected PDFs.

Help with the system: 050-3786-3053, weekdays 9:00–17:00 (except holidays and 29 December – 3 January), in Japanese or English; mjf.support.cw@hitachi-systems.com. Questions about the application itself go to the regional bureau handling it.

FAQ

Questions about online applications

Can’t find your question? Write to us — a real person replies.

Ask us a question

Can I extend my visa online myself?

Yes, if you have a residence card, are 15 or older and have a My Number card with both electronic certificates. You also need a computer and a smartphone with the マイナポータル app. Workers, students and dependents attach the part of the form that the employer, the school or the supporting family member fills in.

From 1 October 2026 it depends on the period granted: online from ¥10,000 (up to 3 months) to ¥65,000 (5 years), plus a payment fee of ¥330 or ¥550. You pay at a convenience store, or through Pay-easy at a bank ATM or by internet banking, using the link in an e-mail from @service-dgft.com. Applications received by 30 September 2026 paid ¥5,500 online (¥6,000 at the counter), even if approved in October.

No. The online system does not accept applications for permanent residence (永住許可申請) or residence card procedures — changing the card’s details, renewing the card, replacing a lost card. These are filed at a regional immigration services bureau.

By post or at the bureau — you choose when you apply. For the post option, after the e-mail saying the review is finished, send a stamped return envelope and your current card to the Odaiba branch of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau. ISA warns that delivery by post currently takes longer: if you need the card sooner, choose the bureau. You can change the method while the application shows 申請完了 or 審査中.

Your residence card and the e-mail confirming receipt with the application number: with online applications the card does not get the application stamp. If you sent the card by post to be replaced, carry a color copy of it with the application number written on the back, and your passport.

Yes, with a re-entry permit, but you must come back and receive the permission no later than 2 months after your previous period of stay ends. You cannot file an online application from abroad. And if your card has been sent by post, you cannot leave on the special re-entry permit (みなし再入国) — it requires the card in hand.

Sources

Where this information comes from

Facts were checked against the website of the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA) on 28 September 2026.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Immigration decides each application and may ask for more documents. Where a rule is known only from practice, we say so.

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