Japan Pension for Foreigners (2026): Pay, Exempt, or Totalize — The ¥537,600 Decision Most Guides Skip

Information current as of April 2026 based on the Japan Pension Service "Japan's Pension System for Foreigners" 2025 edition, JPS premium schedule, JPS exemption system, JPS social security agreement benefits chart (December 2025), JPS lump-sum withdrawal guidance, and the MHLW 2025 pension reform law summary.

Most guides for foreigners either tell you "just pay" or "quit and get your money back" — as if those are the only two choices. They are not. The Japan Pension Service recognizes a graduated system of exemptions that most expats never apply for, and 24 countries have social security agreements that let their nationals skip Japanese premiums altogether. The 2025 pension reform added new twists, and Immigration is preparing to tighten the screws on non-payers starting June 2027. This guide is the decision tree nobody shows you.

Step 1: Are you required to enroll?

Japan does not ask. Enrollment is automatic from the day your city office registers your juminhyo, if you are aged 20–59 and do not already fall into another category. Here is where you will land:

Your situation	Category	Premium
Company employee at an applicable workplace (most companies with 5+ employees)	Category 2 — 厚生年金	18.3% of monthly remuneration, split 50/50 with your employer. Your half is ~9.15%.
Freelance, self-employed, unemployed, or employed at a non-applicable workplace	Category 1 — 国民年金	¥17,510/month (FY2025). Flat rate regardless of income.
Spouse of a Category 2 with annual income under ¥1.3 million and a juminhyo in Japan	Category 3 — 被扶養配偶者	¥0 — your working spouse's pension covers you
On a 特定活動 (Designated Activities) visa for medical stay or long-stay tourism	Excluded	Not subject to 国民年金
On a 社会保障協定 Certificate of Coverage from a home-country scheme	Temporarily exempt	Up to 5 years for most agreement countries — see Option 3

Nationality does not matter. Visa type does not matter (except the two 特定活動 subtypes noted). What matters is whether you have a juminhyo and what your employment status is.

Step 2: Which of the three options fits you?

Before picking, answer these in order:

1. Are you from one of the 24 agreement countries AND on a short-term assignment (≤5 years) from a home-country employer? → Option 3 (social security agreement).
2. Is your previous-year income below the exemption threshold? → Option 2 (exemption / deferral). See income table below.
3. Are you a Category 2 employee? → You cannot choose — your employer enrolls you automatically, and your premium comes out of your paycheck. Skip to the section on the 2025 reform.
4. Otherwise? → Option 1 (pay in full).

Option 1: Pay the premium in full

For Category 1 (国民年金), the premium is a flat monthly amount regardless of income:

Fiscal year	Monthly premium
FY2025 (April 2025 – March 2026)	¥17,510
FY2026 (April 2026 – March 2027)	¥17,920 (¥4,920 rise already announced)

You can save money by paying in advance. At FY2026 bank auto-debit rates, prepaying one year saves roughly ¥4,500; prepaying two years saves roughly ¥17,000. Premium payments are also fully deductible on your kakutei shinkoku — if you freelance, see our freelance tax guide for how to deduct them.

What you get in return after 10+ years of premiums (the minimum for 老齢基礎年金 eligibility): approximately ¥69,000/month at age 65 if you paid for the full 40 years, prorated down for shorter periods. This is modest — less than most foreigners expect.

Option 2: Apply for exemption or deferral

If your previous year's income was below certain thresholds, you can apply for reduced or zero premiums. The discount never erases your eligibility for the 10-year vesting requirement — it only reduces the pension amount you will eventually receive.

Tier	Approximate single-person income ceiling (previous year)	Monthly premium	Pension credit
全額免除 (full exemption)	¥670,000 or lower	¥0	1/2 of the period counts for pension amount
4分の3免除	~¥880,000	¥4,480	5/8 of the period counts
半額免除	~¥1,280,000	¥8,960	6/8 of the period counts
4分の1免除	~¥1,680,000	¥13,440	7/8 of the period counts
納付猶予 (age 20–49 deferral)	~¥670,000	¥0	Counts for eligibility only, not amount
学生納付特例 (students)	¥1,280,000 + adjustments	¥0	Counts for eligibility only, not amount

The ceilings above are the single-person base. Add roughly ¥350,000 per dependent plus social insurance premium deductions. File the 国民年金保険料免除・納付猶予申請書 at your city/ward office with your pension notification and ID. Applications are accepted retroactively up to 2 years and 1 month, so if you were unemployed or in school for any stretch, you can still clean up old unpaid months.

Special case — job loss: If you lost your job, bring your rishokuhyo (離職票) and apply under the 特例免除. The system uses only the unemployed person's income (ignoring the household), making approval much more likely.

The 追納 option: You can pay back exempted months within 10 years to restore full pension credit. Months older than 3 years carry a small interest surcharge. This is useful if your income recovers.

Option 3: Use a social security agreement

If you are from one of the 24 countries with an agreement in force, you may be exempt from Japanese premiums entirely — or at minimum avoid paying into two systems at once.

The two kinds of agreement

Not all agreements are equal. Some only prevent double premiums; others also allow period totalization, where your Japanese and home-country coverage stack for eligibility. The difference matters if you plan to spend less than 10 years in Japan.

Agreement type	Countries
Full (double-payment prevention + period totalization)	Germany, USA, Belgium, France, Canada, Australia*, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, Brazil, Switzerland, Hungary*, Luxembourg, Philippines, India, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Austria (Dec 2025)
Limited (double-payment prevention only — no totalization)	UK, South Korea, China, Italy

*Partial exceptions apply to survivor/disability benefits. For the definitive list and effective dates, see the JPS benefits chart.

How the exemption mechanism works

If you are sent to Japan by a home-country employer for up to 5 years, request a Certificate of Coverage from your home-country social security administration (e.g., SSA for the US, DRV for Germany). You give a copy to your Japanese employer and keep one for your records. While the certificate is valid, you pay only into your home-country system. No enrollment in Japanese 厚生年金.

Once the assignment exceeds 5 years — or if you were hired locally in Japan — the exemption ends and you enroll in 厚生年金 normally. The certificate cannot be renewed indefinitely.

The totalization benefit

For citizens of the 20 full-agreement countries, even if you do not qualify for Japan's 10-year minimum, your Japanese coverage period can be added to your home-country record to qualify there. Example: A US citizen with 6 years of Japanese 厚生年金 plus 30 years of US Social Security gets US benefits based on the combined 36-year coverage, not just 30. Japan pays its share (based on the 6 years), the US pays its share.

If you take 脱退一時金 instead, those months are deleted from the Japanese record — you cannot use them for totalization later. This is the biggest unforced error foreign residents make on departure.

The exit door: 脱退一時金 (Lump-Sum Withdrawal)

If you leave Japan without qualifying for a pension and agreement totalization does not help (or you choose not to use it), you can request a one-time refund of a portion of your premiums.

Eligibility, all required

• Non-Japanese national
• No juminhyo in Japan at the time of application
• ≥6 months of premium-paid (or partially-exempt) coverage
• Not yet eligible for an old-age pension (<10 years of total coverage)
• Apply within 2 years of your juminhyo being deleted

The payout

For 国民年金, the refund scales with paid months up to a maximum of 60 months (the cap was raised from 36 months in April 2021). For 60+ months at the FY2026 rate, the refund is approximately ¥537,600. For 厚生年金, it depends on your average monthly remuneration and uses a multiplier based on your service months.

The 20.42% trap

厚生年金 lump-sum refunds are classified as 退職所得 (retirement income) and 20.42% is withheld at source. You can reclaim most of this by designating a 納税管理人 (tax representative) before you leave Japan and filing a 退職所得の選択課税による還付申告書 after receiving the lump sum. This recovery is often ¥200,000 or more. Details in our pension refund recovery guide. The 国民年金 lump sum is not subject to this withholding.

The totalization trade-off (critical for agreement-country citizens)

Taking the lump sum wipes out those contribution months for totalization purposes. If you are from one of the 20 full-agreement countries and expect to work enough at home to potentially qualify, do not take the lump sum without running the math first. The Japanese benefits preserved through totalization are usually worth far more over retirement than a one-time refund.

For citizens of UK, South Korea, China, or Italy (limited-agreement countries), totalization is not available — you can take the lump sum without losing an option that does not exist.

Carry-forward periods: カラ期間

Foreigners who later become Japanese permanent residents or citizens can count their pre-acquisition overseas periods (age 20–59) as 合算対象期間 or "empty period" — time that counts toward the 10-year eligibility threshold, though it adds nothing to the pension amount.

This only helps after you become a PR or citizen. For foreigners who leave Japan as foreigners, overseas time does not count as カラ期間 — the 社会保障協定 is your only protection, or the 脱退一時金 your only recovery.

What the 2025 pension reform actually changed

The 年金制度改正法 was enacted on June 13, 2025. Here is what affects foreign residents:

Expansion of 社会保険 (Category 2) coverage

The old rules required a workplace to have ≥51 employees before enrolling short-hours workers in 厚生年金. That size requirement is being phased out starting October 2027, meaning more part-time and hourly foreign workers will be moved from Category 1 to Category 2 — with their employers picking up half the premium. If you work ≥20 hours per week at a small company, you may be shifting categories soon.

The ¥1.3 million "wall" for Category 3 — indirect pressure, not abolition

The ¥1.3 million annual-income threshold that keeps a dependent spouse in Category 3 was not directly abolished by the June 2025 reform — it remains on the books and is the subject of a follow-on review. What changed is the Category 2 side: the company-size requirement (currently 51+ employees) and the ¥88,000/month wage requirement are being phased out. In practice, many spouses working part-time at smaller companies will now be enrolled in 厚生年金 as Category 2 before ever reaching the ¥1.3 million ceiling. If you are on a spouse visa and do any part-time work, watch your payslips for 厚生年金保険料 deductions starting to appear.

在職老齢年金 threshold raised

Employees receiving pension while still working will have less benefit suspension under the revised threshold — relevant for older foreign workers approaching 65.

遺族厚生年金 restructure

Survivor pension rules are gradually being equalized regardless of gender — this is a multi-year transition that matters if your Japanese spouse dies before you.

The 脱退一時金 60-month cap was reviewed at the MHLW council in November 2024 but was not extended in the June 2025 reform. As of April 2026, the 60-month cap remains the rule.

The visa renewal angle (the June 2027 problem)

Immigration historically did not check pension payment at visa renewal. That is changing. Starting June 2027, renewal and change-of-status applications will include a pension-payment confirmation step, and unpaid amounts can trigger a denial or a "Designated Activities" downgrade that requires catch-up before the next renewal. Permanent residence applications already factor in pension compliance and are even stricter.

If you have unpaid months, do not wait for the letter. Pay what you can. If income is low, apply for retroactive exemption (up to 2 years + 1 month back). Document everything. For full background on the enforcement shift, see our unpaid nenkin visa panic guide and PR revocation for non-payment.

Practical checklist by scenario

Arriving in Japan (any visa)

• Register juminhyo at city office — pension enrollment is automatic
• If company-employed: your employer files you as Category 2. Confirm your first payslip shows 厚生年金保険料.
• If on a short-term assignment from a home-country employer: ask HR to obtain a Certificate of Coverage before your juminhyo is registered
• If freelance or unemployed on arrival: you are Category 1. Premium invoices start within 1–2 months.

Struggling with payments

• Do not ignore letters
• File 免除申請 at the city office with your pension notification, ID, and (if applicable) rishokuhyo
• Applications can be made retroactive up to 2 years + 1 month
• Once exempted, consider 追納 later when your income recovers

Leaving Japan permanently

• File 転出届 at city office (deletes juminhyo and your pension category)
• Before leaving: file 納税管理人の届出書 at your last 税務署 — this is the key step for the 20.42% refund
• After arrival abroad: mail the 脱退一時金請求書 to the Japan Pension Service with your 基礎年金番号通知書 and bank details
• Wait ~4 months for the lump sum
• Once received, your 納税管理人 files the 退職所得の選択課税 to recover most of the 20.42%
• Agreement-country citizens: run the totalization math first. You may be better off preserving coverage than taking cash.

Staying long-term and aiming for a Japanese pension

• Track your coverage months — 10 years (120 months) is the eligibility floor
• Use 追納 to fill exempted months you want to count for pension amount
• If you leave before 10 years and your country has a totalization agreement, do not take the lump sum — request a 被保険者期間の通算 at home instead

When to pay for expert help

For most people, the pension office can walk you through enrollment and exemption for free. But if any of the following apply, pay for a shakai hokenromushi (社会保険労務士, certified labor and social insurance attorney) or a pension-specialist gyoseishoshi:

• You have pension coverage in multiple countries and need to model totalization scenarios
• You are leaving Japan near the 10-year mark and must decide between lump sum vs preservation
• You received a 強制徴収 (forced collection) warning letter
• You are applying for permanent residence and need a clean pension record

Fees typically range from ¥30,000 for a consultation to ¥150,000 for full case handling.

The bottom line

Japan's pension system is unavoidable for residents — but it is not a single bill. It is a three-path decision: pay, exempt, or totalize. Most foreigners default to paying without knowing exemptions exist, or they skip entirely and inherit a problem that blocks visa renewals starting June 2027. Pick your path, file the paperwork, and keep receipts.

For the full financial picture for foreign residents, start with our Japan Money & Tax Guide for Foreigners (2026). If you are already planning to leave and want to recover the 20.42%, read the pension refund recovery guide. Freelancers — don't forget your premium payments are fully tax-deductible; details in the freelance tax guide.