Japan's Specified Residence Card: My Number Integration and App Limits
Japan's Specified Residence Card: My Number Integration and App Limits
Official sources and provider examples checked September 14, 2026
- Japan began operating the Specified Residence Card (
特定在留カード) system on June 14, 2026.- The card combines Residence Card and My Number Card functions, but getting one is optional. You can keep the two cards separate.
- A Residence Card issued by June 13, 2026 remains valid until its own expiry. The new system did not create an early replacement deadline.
- Not every Residence Card issued from June 14 is combined. Japan also issues a new-format ordinary Residence Card.
- A valid national card may still be unsupported by one bank, carrier, or other provider's current app or application channel.
“Combined card” is a plain-language description, not another official document. The official English name is Specified Residence Card. It remains a Residence Card while also providing My Number Card functions.
This page is for mid-to-long-term residents. It is general administrative information, not legal, immigration, identity-security, healthcare, banking, telecom, or financial advice. The current Immigration Services Agency application table, the office handling your procedure, and the provider handling your service control what you can do.
Which Residence Card Do You Have?
Compare the layout and reverse side privately with official examples; do not rely on color, a cropped image, or an unofficial diagram. The ISA's Residence Card overview provides specimens and a bilingual leaflet. On new cards, the issuance date itself is stored in the chip.
| Card state | What it means | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Residence Card issued by June 13, 2026 | Older format. It remains valid until its own expiry; the launch did not require an early exchange. | Follow the usual update, renewal, or reissuance rules. Your My Number Card, if you have one, remains separate. |
| New-format ordinary Residence Card issued from June 14, 2026 | New face and IC-chip layout, but it does not add My Number Card functions. Unlike the Specified Residence Card, it does not show a My Number on the reverse. | Check the exact provider and channel before an app-based identity check. Some apps have not added support for this format. |
| Specified Residence Card | New-format Residence Card with My Number Card functions. The My Number appears on the reverse. | Treat it as both systems in one document: check Residence Card procedures, My Number functions and certificates, and provider-channel support separately. |
Do not upload a real card merely to identify its format. The reverse of a Specified Residence Card contains the My Number, and both sides contain personal information. Compare it privately with the official specimens or ask the responsible counter.
Period of stay is not the same as its expiry date
On both new formats, the period-of-stay expiry date remains on the face. That is the calendar date used for ordinary deadline planning.
The period of stay—the length granted—moved to the IC chip with the permission type, permission date, and card issuance date. A redesigned area does not mean the information is missing. Use current ISA verification guidance when one of those fields is needed.
What Integration Changes—and What It Does Not
| Topic | Practical meaning |
|---|---|
| One physical card | It performs the official functions of a Residence Card and a My Number Card. |
| Some later updates | With a qualifying immigration procedure, some My Number Card update work can be handled without a separate municipal visit. Not every update becomes automatic. |
| Carrying the card | The Residence Card carrying requirement still applies where it applies to you. |
| Separate validity concepts | Residence Card validity, My Number Card-function validity, and electronic-certificate validity are not interchangeable. |
| Private services | Providers still decide which identity documents and channels they support. National validity does not guarantee that every app can read the card. |
The benefit is one card and, for certain procedures, a joined-up update path—not universal simplicity or acceptance.
Before You Choose One Card or Two
There is no useful universal recommendation. Before requesting integration, check:
- whether you are eligible, which procedure qualifies, and which office handles it;
- whether you need to file the underlying residence procedure online;
- whether you can plan around non-immediate delivery;
- whether an electronic-certificate interruption could affect a time-sensitive Mynaportal, tax, health-insurance, banking, telecom, or other task;
- whether a near-term provider supports your exact card and intended channel;
- what official alternative that provider offers; and
- whether carrying one combined document or two separate documents better fits your own loss and backup plan.
Focus on the procedures and deadlines in your next few weeks. An urgent online residence filing or certificate-dependent deadline can change the practical tradeoff.
Where and When You Can Request a Specified Residence Card
The request must accompany a procedure in the ISA's current application table (Japanese):
| Situation | Starting point |
|---|---|
| A listed residence-status, non-address card-change, renewal, or reissuance procedure | The regional immigration office for that procedure. |
| A listed residence-address notification | The municipality handling it. City hall is limited to the address procedures in the ISA table. |
| You only want to exchange an ordinary Residence Card for a combined card | Check the ISA's listed exchange route and the regional immigration office before going. |
| You are receiving a Residence Card at initial airport landing | The airport issues an ordinary Residence Card, not a Specified Residence Card. A later qualifying address procedure may provide a request opportunity. |
Confirm the office, applicant or representative rules, documents, collection, and fees. The fee matrix varies by card, procedure, and electronic-certificate choice, so there is no single price.
The combined-card request is not currently online
A residence procedure may be available online, but the ISA says the Specified Residence Card request itself is not. To request it with a qualifying immigration procedure, use the relevant counter route.
That is a limitation of this request, not every immigration application or online service.
Do not plan on same-day issuance
The ISA describes at least roughly two weeks and about ten days longer than an ordinary Residence Card. This is not a guaranteed date. Follow your office's collection instructions; do not arrange a deadline around a guess.
Plan for the Electronic-Certificate Transition
The ISA warns that the electronic certificate on your current My Number Card or Specified Residence Card may expire around one week before the replacement is delivered, affecting certificate-dependent services.
Before requesting the card, identify time-sensitive uses such as Mynaportal, electronic tax filing, My Number health-insurance use, or online bank checks. If access matters, check the issuing office, municipality, Digital Agency validity guidance, and relevant insurer or provider.
Do not assume a general certificate grace rule covers this gap—or that temporary unavailability cancels insurance enrollment or all medical access. The Digital Agency describes other eligibility-confirmation routes; ask your insurer which applies.
When an App Rejects the Card
A scan failure is a symptom, not a diagnosis. Use this order:
- Identify the card. Is it an older Residence Card, new-format ordinary Residence Card, or Specified Residence Card?
- Check the facts. Make sure the name, birth date, address, expiry, and requested fields match the document.
- Name the route. Check the product and its app, website, ATM, mail, shop, branch, or other channel.
- Separate the error types. “Card not supported in this route” is different from ineligibility, an identity mismatch, an expired card, an unreadable image or chip, an unsupported phone, or a service outage.
- Use a published alternative. Try another document or channel only when the provider lists it for you.
- Use verified support. If the page is unclear, keep the dated answer or reference number.
- Do not force a match. Never alter identity facts, hide a field against instructions, borrow a document, or send a card image through an unofficial support account.
Two current examples of channel limits
Rechecked September 14, 2026; these are examples, not rankings or a compatibility directory.
- ahamo: Its identity-document page says the described online route accepts neither post-June 14 format and points affected applicants toward named participating retail routes. That does not guarantee retail acceptance or show that the card is invalid.
- Japan Post Bank: Its August 27 notice says the Yucho procedure app added the new ordinary card but not the Specified Residence Card; it directs affected users to a bank or post-office savings counter and says a passport may be requested. Document-based eKYC in its passbook and authentication apps still excludes both post-June 14 formats.
Support changes by product and channel, so check again when applying. For task-specific rules, use the phone and SIM guide or bank account guide.
How New-Format Card Information Is Verified
The ISA updated its Residence Card Reader Application on August 19, 2026. For both new formats, it can display the period of stay, permission type, and permission date. The issuance date was not among the fields added.
That official reader update does not automatically change a provider's separate eKYC flow.
Allow card reading only for a legitimate task with a trusted party. Never send a My Number, PIN, password, full or reverse-side image, or chip data through an unverified channel. An ordinary identity check does not automatically require copying the My Number; follow the legitimate process's instructions.
Renewal, Pending Applications, Moving, and Loss
Renewal or a pending residence application
Lawful residence, Residence Card validity, My Number functions, and electronic-certificate validity can follow different rules.
The ISA's pending-application notice says continuing My Number Card functions during the statutory pending period requires a municipal update before the original period-of-stay expiry date. Ask the municipality about My Number functions and the ISA about residence status; do not infer permission to stay, work, travel, re-enter, or use a service from this page.
Moving
Follow your municipality's address procedure. Integration does not remove the duty to report a move or update every record automatically.
Loss or theft
A lost Specified Residence Card affects both functions. Use both official responses promptly:
- Request temporary suspension of the My Number Card functions through the official My Number contact route.
- Report the loss or theft to police and keep the receipt or report number.
- Follow the ISA's Residence Card reissuance process without delay.
The ISA says an ordinary Residence Card is issued first after loss. If you still want integration, you can later use the listed exchange route. One call does not complete both systems' responses.
Special Permanent Residents Use a Separate Process
This page's application map is for mid-to-long-term residents with Residence Cards. Special permanent residents use the separate Specified Special Permanent Resident Certificate process through the municipality. Start with the ISA's official application page and the municipality where you are registered rather than applying the Residence Card instructions above.
Quick Check Before You Apply or Retry a Service
- Identify the exact card and protect its reverse side and chip data.
- Open the ISA application table and the handling office's current instructions.
- Confirm the qualifying procedure, office, channel, documents, timing, collection, and fees.
- Check electronic-certificate deadlines before scheduling the request.
- For a private service, name the provider, product, and exact application channel.
- Use only an alternative document or route that the provider currently publishes for you.
- Keep a backup plan for identification and time-sensitive services.
For the wider arrival sequence, use the first-month in Japan checklist. Use the phone and bank guides above for provider-specific eligibility, payment, device, six-month, and application-channel decisions.
Official Sources
Primary government sources checked September 14, 2026:
- Immigration Services Agency, Specified Residence Card application page (Japanese; current procedure table and operational cautions)
- Immigration Services Agency, Residence Card and My Number Card integration Q&A (Japanese)
- Immigration Services Agency, Residence Card overview, official specimens, and bilingual leaflet (Japanese)
- Immigration Services Agency, August 19 reader update and reader support (Japanese)
- Immigration Services Agency, online residence application notice and pending-application notice (Japanese)
- Digital Agency, My Number Card overview, validity guidance, and loss/security guidance
- Inagi City, English overview of the three card states (accessible municipal explanation; ISA rules still control nationally)
Recheck this page when the ISA changes eligible procedures, online support, issuance timing, fees, card-reader behavior, electronic-certificate handling, loss procedures, or the new card format. Provider examples should be rechecked more often because one app can change without the provider's other channels changing.