Japan’s government is eyeing tougher measures against foreign residents who fall behind on public health insurance or pension contributions. Those who fail to comply with payment requests will not, in principle, be allowed to change or renew their residency status.
The welfare ministry and the Immigration Services Agency plan to start using payment records as part of the screening process for residency applications. The change will likely start in June 2027.
Foreign nationals who live in Japan for three months or more are required to join the national pension and health insurance programs.
But the ministry says the combined pension contributions of foreign residents in the fiscal year through March 2025 were 49.7 percent of what was due.
A survey among 150 local governments also found that foreign residents had on average paid 63 percent of their health insurance premiums, as of the end of last year.
There are also cases where people have left Japan with their health insurance payments in arrears, despite using medical services.
The ministry also plans to give local authorities the option of allowing people who move to Japan from abroad to pay health insurance up front in a lump sum, starting next April.