Hello. This is Hong from IMS. In this post, I would like to talk a little about visas (status of residence) and social insurance (pension and health insurance).
Actually, around the end of last year, I saw an article titled "Social Insurance Premiums Overdue, Residency Not Allowed". In other words, the policy is based on the future increase in the number of foreign nationals and the large number of people who are in arrears of insurance premiums.
In Japan, basically, employees working for a company are covered by Social Insurance, while those who are self-employed or freelance workers are covered by National Health Insurance and National Pension. Foreigners are also eligible for enrollment if they are at least 20 years old and registered as a resident of Japan. Moreover, since enrollment is compulsory and a payment slip will be sent to you without your knowledge, it is often a surprise to first-time visitors to Japan.
By the way, it is still unclear when the above policy will start and whether it will cover all working visa holders, but it is very interesting for foreign residents in Japan. If you are an employee of a company and are covered by social insurance, the premiums are basically deducted from your salary, so unless the company is malicious, you will not be in arrears. However, there are many foreigners who are not enrolled in social insurance but are enrolled in National Health Insurance and National Pension Insurance due to the circumstances of their small companies or companies, and who either do not pay their premiums or are in arrears. These people need to be careful from now on.
Until now, they have been evaluated as a rather negative factor depending on whether or not they are fulfilling their official obligations, but from now on, it is likely to have a direct impact on renewal permission, period of stay, and permanent residence applications.
And as some of you may know, if you are long overdue on your insurance premiums, you will receive a demand letter, and if you still do not pay, your bank account will be seized and the premiums will be deducted from that account. This is a privilege of the Japanese government. I heard from a Japanese who used to be a bank employee that if there is a long-term delinquent student, the ward office will send a letter of inquiry to the bank in question to see if the delinquent student has an account with the bank.
In fact, my sister-in-law once received a notice from the ward office that her account at Japan Post Bank had been seized when she had failed to pay her health insurance premiums as an international student. It is a scary thing. Of course, it is the fault of those who have been in arrears for a long period of time, but I wonder how it would be like to be forced to join the program regardless of whether or not one has the intention to join. However, there must be times when you suddenly rush to the hospital and only have to pay 30% of the cost, and you are glad that you have insurance after all ^_^.
Recently, the payment status of such insurance premiums is becoming a subject of examination when applying for permanent residence. Those who are covered by social insurance may not have to worry too much, but those who have a history of non-payment of National Health Insurance premiums or are not covered by the National Pension Plan need to be careful. Many people have told us that they were asked by the Immigration Bureau to submit documents showing their payment status during the permanent residence examination. Since there are so many applicants for permanent residence nowadays, it is easy to be rejected if there is even the slightest flaw in your residence status.
As the saying goes, "when in Rome, do as the Romans do, and when in Rome, do as the Romans do." I believe that there is no better way to fulfill one's obligations than to obey the laws of the country in which one resides. As the number of foreigners increases, it is only natural that regulations will become stricter, and it is also essential to protect the interests of one's own countrymen, so let's do our best to understand this and be a good impressionable foreigners!
