Lost your residence card (在留カード) in Japan? How to get it reissued

Quick answer

Losing your residence card will not get you deported, but there is one deadline you cannot miss: within 14 days of the day you become aware that the card is gone, you must apply for a reissue at the regional immigration office that covers the place where you live (出入国在留管理庁 Immigration Services Agency, checked 22 August 2026). Before you go, stop at a 交番 (koban, police box) or a police station to file a 遺失届 (lost property report) or 盗難届 (theft report) and get the 受理番号 (juri bango, receipt number) — that number has to go into your application.

The good news: a reissue because the card was lost is free of charge, and according to the Agency's page the rule is that the new card is issued the same day (即日交付). If your documents are in order, this costs you one morning, not one month.

The big picture: three things to do, in this order

All three have to be done within 14 days. If you discover the loss while you are outside Japan, the 14-day clock starts from the day you next enter Japan, not from the day the card went missing — details in the special situations section below.

Step 1 — File a police report and get the receipt number

Why you cannot skip this step

The Immigration Services Agency does not take your word for it. The document list for the 紛失等による在留カードの再交付申請 procedure (reissue due to loss) includes a separate line for material proving the loss, theft or destruction of the card, and the most common such material is the receipt number issued by the police. Without that number, the clerk at the counter can easily send you home to start again.

遺失届 vs 盗難届

These two reports sound similar but mean different things, and you should file the right one:

• 遺失届 (ishitsu-todoke) — you dropped it or left it behind: your wallet fell out on the train, you forgot it at a konbini, it disappeared during a move.

• 盗難届 (tounan-todoke) — it was stolen: pickpocketed, taken during a break-in, your bag was snatched.

Do not report a theft "just to be safe" when you really just dropped the card. A theft report opens a criminal case; if you then find the card in your coat pocket, the situation gets awkward fast.

Where to go and what to say

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police explain that you can file a 遺失届 at any 交番 or 警察署 in their area — it does not have to be the one nearest to where you lost the item (警視庁 Tokyo Metropolitan Police, checked 22 August 2026). Be ready to answer three things:

1. What you lost — say clearly that it is your 在留カード, and give the nationality and the name printed on it.

2. Where you lost it — the more specific the better: station name, shop name, train line, stretch of road.

3. When you lost it — the date and roughly what time.

The Tokyo police also allow the report to be filed through the 警視庁行政手続オンライン online system, as long as the case does not involve one million yen or more in lost cash. That is convenient if you work shifts, but if you are in a hurry the 交番 is still faster, because you walk out with the receipt number in hand.

Filing the report costs nothing. Photograph or type the 受理番号 into your phone right there at the counter — you will have to write it out again on the statement you submit to immigration.

If the card burned, flooded, or was lost in a disaster

If the card was destroyed by fire or washed away, the appropriate proof is a り災証明書 (disaster damage certificate) issued by the fire department or your local government, not a police report. This is rare, but it is real for people living in typhoon and flood-prone areas, and the Agency covers it under "and other reasons".

Step 2 — Get your documents ready

The document checklist

This list comes from the Agency's official procedure page (出入国在留管理庁, checked 22 August 2026). Depending on your circumstances the clerk may ask for extra material — for example proof of your relationship if someone else applies on your behalf.

Photos: where most applications get sent back

The Agency has a dedicated page on photo specifications and applies it strictly (提出写真の規格 photo specifications, checked 22 August 2026). The points people trip over:

• Exactly 4 cm tall × 3 cm wide. The passport-size photo from your home country — 4 × 6 cm, for instance — will not do.

• Taken within 6 months of the day you apply. That photo left over from last year's job hunt does not qualify.

• Bare head, facing forward, plain background, no shadows. No hats, no headwear covering your face.

• No editing. The Agency says it outright: no enlarging the eyes, no skin whitening, no removing blemishes, and no flipping the image horizontally. This one catches a lot of younger applicants, since beauty filters are built into photo booths.

• Write your name on the back of the photo, unless it is already glued into the correct box on the form.

The 証明写真機 (photo booths) at train stations all have a "在留カード・ビザ用 4×3" mode, usually a few hundred to just over a thousand yen. Choosing that mode is the safest option.

Photo exemption: according to the procedure page, someone under 1 year old on the date the card is issued does not have to submit a photo — and this rule applies only to cards issued from 14 June 2026 onwards. For cards issued up to 13 June 2026, the exemption was much broader: everyone under 16. From 14 June 2026, everyone aged 1 and over must submit a photo (出入国在留管理庁, checked 22 August 2026).

How to write the 陳述書

The written statement does not need elegant prose. It only has to answer: what was lost, when, where, what you did to look for it, and which police station you reported it to with which receipt number. Simple Japanese is enough; if you are not confident, ask the person in charge at your company, language school or supervising organisation (組合) to help. What matters is that the statement matches what you told the police. Telling the police you lost it on the Yamanote line and then writing in the 陳述書 that you lost it at home will get your application questioned.

Step 3 — Apply at the Immigration Services Agency

Where to apply and when

You apply at the 地方出入国在留管理官署 (regional immigration office) that covers your registered address — that is, where your 住民票 (resident record) is registered, not where you work. According to the Agency's page, reception is on weekdays, 9:00–12:00 and 13:00–16:00 (some offices differ).

In practice the offices in Tokyo (Shinagawa), Nagoya and Osaka are packed at the start of the week, the start of the month, and just before long holidays. If you want to be done before lunch, get there before the doors open.

Fees and how long the new card takes

These three fee levels come from three separate procedure pages of the Agency, cross-checked against the fee revision that took effect on 1 April 2025 (在留手続等に関する手数料の改定 fee revision, checked 28 August 2026). This is where a lot of online guides get it wrong: if the card was lost, you pay nothing. The 1,900 yen figure only applies when you voluntarily ask for a replacement — because you dislike the old photo, say.

On timing, all three procedures state the rule of 即日交付 — issued the same day. But "as a rule" is not "guaranteed": if a document is missing, if the system goes down, or if the office is overwhelmed, you may have to come back another day. Plan on giving up a whole day.

Who can apply on your behalf

You do not always have to go in person. According to the procedure page, besides the cardholder the following people can apply on your behalf:

• A family member living in the same household, aged 16 or over (spouse, child, parent).

• A lawyer (弁護士) or an administrative scrivener (行政書士) registered with the Agency as a 取次者 (authorised agent).

• A staff member of the accepting organisation — your company, school or supervising organisation — where they qualify as a 取次者.

For anyone under 16, a parent or guardian applies on their behalf.

Can you apply online?

The Agency runs the 在留申請オンラインシステム (online residence application system), and foreign nationals aged 15 and over holding mid- to long-term resident status, legal representatives, relatives (spouse, child, parent), staff of accepting organisations, lawyers and administrative scriveners can all register an account (在留申請のオンライン手続 online applications, checked 22 August 2026). However, the list of procedures that can actually be filed online sits in a separate PDF and changes over time, and for the 特定在留カード procedure the page states plainly that online filing is not supported.

The practical conclusion for a lost card: assume you will have to go in person. Having to present your original passport and collect a physical plastic card at the counter makes this procedure hard to complete entirely remotely. If you want certainty, call the multilingual information line first (see the end of this article).

Five special situations you may run into

You lost the card while overseas

This is the messiest case, because the residence card is exactly what lets you return to Japan under みなし再入国許可 (special re-entry permission). The Agency's page is explicit: a mid- to long-term resident who wants to use this system must carry the residence card and tick the box on the 再入国出国記録 (embarkation card for re-entry) when leaving Japan; the permission is valid for 1 year from the day you leave Japan, and 2 years for special permanent residents (みなし再入国許可 special re-entry permission, checked 22 August 2026).

If you lose the card while you are home for the holidays:

1. Report it to the local police where it was lost, for the record — even though a foreign police report cannot replace a Japanese 受理番号.

2. Contact the Japanese Embassy or Consulate-General in the country you are in and ask about obtaining a certificate showing that your re-entry period is still valid (再入国許可期限証明書). This usually has to be obtained by someone in Japan at your regional immigration office and then sent to you.

3. If you lost your passport too, replace the passport first at your own country's diplomatic mission, then deal with the Japanese side.

4. Once you are back in Japan, the 14-day clock starts from the day you enter. Go to a 交番 for the 受理番号 and file the reissue application as normal.

Do not put off step 2. If more than 1 year passes from the day you left Japan without you returning, your status of residence can lapse and you will have to apply for a visa from scratch — far worse than losing a piece of plastic.

If you know in advance that you will be abroad for a long time, the ordinary 再入国許可 (re-entry permit, applied for before leaving Japan) costs 4,000 yen for a single entry and 7,000 yen for multiple entries, or 3,500 / 6,500 yen when applied for online (再入国許可申請 re-entry permit application, checked 22 August 2026).

You are a Special Permanent Resident (特別永住者)

Special permanent residents do not hold a 在留カード but a 特別永住者証明書 (special permanent resident certificate), and the procedure is completely different: you apply at the residents' affairs section of your city or ward office, not at the Immigration Services Agency. The deadline is still 14 days from when you learn of the loss, and you need a valid passport, a 4 cm × 3 cm photo if you are 16 or over, and a document showing the police receipt number for the loss or theft report. One notable difference: the new certificate is not issued the same day — Shinjuku Ward advises that it usually takes about 2 to 3 weeks, after which you collect it with the notification you receive (新宿区 Shinjuku City, checked 22 August 2026). The exact process varies slightly between municipalities, so call your own ward office.

The card is not lost, just damaged

If you still have the card but it is snapped in half, water-damaged and illegible, the chip will not read, or the surface is peeling, that is the 汚損等による再交付 procedure (reissue due to damage), not a loss. You do not need a police report; just bring the damaged card itself, the application form, a photo and your passport. This procedure is also free, and the same-day rule applies (出入国在留管理庁, checked 22 August 2026).

The line between "damaged" and "lost" is sometimes blurry. If the washing machine shredded the card but you can still collect the pieces, take all of them with you and explain honestly — that is 汚損. If you cannot find a single piece, it is 紛失 and you need the police first.

You find the old card after applying for a reissue

This happens more often than you would think: the card turns up down the side of the sofa, or the railway lost-property centre calls two weeks later. The rule is that the old card is no longer valid and must be returned to the Agency, and this is not generic advice — it is a situation named explicitly on the Agency's 在留カード等の返納 (return of residence cards) page: when you have been issued a replacement because of a loss and you then find the old card, you must return the old card within 14 days of finding it (出入国在留管理庁, checked 22 August 2026). You can hand it in at an immigration office in person, or send it by post with a note giving the reason for the return, to the address given on that page (東京出入国在留管理局おだいば分室). Do not keep it as a souvenir, and never use the old card for any procedure.

You just arrived in Japan and haven't registered your address

New arrivals receive the card at the airport and then have 14 days to register their address at the city or ward office. If you lose the card before you manage to register, you have no 住民票 yet and it is unclear which immigration office covers you. What to do: go to the police for the 受理番号 first anyway, then call the Agency's information line to be told where to file, and tell your school or employer the same day — they have been through this before and will often go with you.

Living without the card while you wait

Work and school

Losing the card does not remove your status of residence. Your status is a right granted by the Agency; the card is only the proof of it. You can keep working, keep studying, and keep using your health insurance as normal.

In practice, though, tell your company or school on the day you discover the loss, and hold on to:

• A copy or photo of the old card, if you ever took one (the lesson: photograph your card today if you never have).

• The document with the police 受理番号.

• Your 住民票, showing your residence details, obtained from the city or ward office — this is the single most useful substitute document during the wait.

Banks, phone contracts, private services

This part needs saying bluntly: many private services will simply turn you away while you have no card. Banks, mobile carriers, real estate agencies and some part-time employers all verify identity with the residence card, and they are under no obligation to accept a substitute. The pragmatic approach is to postpone anything that is not urgent — opening an account, changing a contract, signing a lease — until the new card is in your hand. For anything that cannot wait, call the company's support line first and ask what documents they will accept.

On travel: domestic flights within Japan generally accept other photo ID, but the rules vary by airline. Call the airline before your travel date rather than finding out at the airport.

Your old card number goes on the invalid list

This is something few guides mention. Every time a card is reissued, the card number changes, and the old number goes into the invalidated-number database that the Agency lets anyone check through its 在留カード等番号失効情報照会 service (Agency support page, checked 22 August 2026).

The good consequence: if someone finds your card and tries to use it for something shady, the employer or landlord who checks the number will see that it has been invalidated. That is exactly why you should apply as early as possible rather than waiting until day thirteen.

The consequence to watch: everywhere that still holds your old card number is now holding wrong data.

After you get the new card: four places to update the number

1. Your employer. Since 1 March 2020, companies have had to enter the residence card number when filing the 外国人雇用状況の届出 (notification of employment of foreign nationals) with Hello Work (厚生労働省 山梨労働局 Yamanashi Labour Bureau, checked 22 August 2026). Send HR a photo of the new card and let them decide how to update Hello Work — that filing is the employer's responsibility, not yours, but they need the data from you.

2. Your school or supervising organisation. Language schools, vocational colleges, universities and 監理団体 (supervising organisations) all keep the card number in their residence management records.

3. Your bank and mobile carrier. Not all of them require an immediate update, but mismatched records will cause friction the next time you need something processed. Get it out of the way.

4. Your local government. If your city or ward office asks to verify the card, take the new one to the 住民課 (residents' section) counter. The address on the new card must match your 住民票.

At the same time, photograph the front and back of the new card and store the images somewhere you can definitely reach. If it ever happens again, the police report will go several times faster because you can read out the card number and expiry date on the spot.

特定在留カード — what's new from 2026

From 14 June 2026, Japan began operating the 特定在留カード, a card that combines the functions of the residence card and the My Number individual number card in a single piece of plastic. Regional immigration offices started accepting applications on 15 June 2026, from mid- to long-term residents recorded in the resident register and from special permanent residents (特定在留カード交付申請について applications for the specified residence card, checked 22 August 2026).

The key point if you hold this type of card: losing a 特定在留カード means doing two things, not one.

1. Suspend the My Number function of the card through the body responsible for the individual number system — this step protects you from the card being misused for administrative and online procedures.

2. Apply for a reissue of the residence card at the immigration office, after reporting to the police — the same three-step process described above.

And here is the detail that is easiest to misunderstand, so let us be direct: what you get back after a reissue due to loss is NOT a 特定在留カード, but an ordinary 在留カード. The Agency's page states that in this case "what is issued first is a 在留カード, not a 特定在留カード". To get the My Number-integrated card back, you have to take a separate step afterwards: file a 交換希望による在留カードの再交付申請 (application for reissue by request for exchange) together with a 特定在留カード交付申請 (application for issuance of a specified residence card) (特定在留カード交付申請について, checked 22 August 2026).

In other words, losing the integrated card costs you more effort than losing a normal one: you go through two procedures, and in between you hold an ordinary residence card with no My Number function. Ask at the counter when you file the reissue how to do the second step and what it costs — the 交換希望による再交付 procedure normally carries a 1,900 yen fee (see the fee table above), and for this specific case the Agency's page does not say whether it is waived.

If you do step 2 and forget step 1, the electronic functions on the card you lost are still live. Do step 1 first, on the same day. Because the scheme is new, the detailed process may still be adjusted — check the official page again before you go.

What happens if you don't? Exactly what the law says

A lot of online articles quote penalty amounts without citing a source, so this needs to be spelled out.

The Agency's official page on the obligation to carry documents (旅券等の携帯, Article 23 of the Immigration Control Act) states that mid- to long-term residents carrying their residence card do not also have to carry their passport, and that anyone who breaches this rule is subject to criminal penalties under Articles 75-2, 75-3 and 76 of the Immigration Control Act (出入国在留管理庁, checked 22 August 2026). That page does not state a specific fine amount — you will see many blogs quoting "up to 200,000 yen", but that figure does not appear on the Agency's guidance page; it comes from the text of the law itself. If you need an exact figure for a real situation, ask the Agency or a lawyer directly rather than relying on a blog.

What to remember at a practical level:

• The obligation to carry the card is continuous, not "only when someone asks for it".

• Applying for a reissue within 14 days is an obligation, not an optional benefit.

• People under 16 are exempt from the continuous carrying obligation. The Agency says so directly in its Q&A on the residence management system: people under 16 do not have to carry their 在留カード at all times (出入国在留管理庁, checked 22 August 2026).

• Your residence record is looked at as a whole when you later apply for an extension or for permanent residence. Losing a card once and replacing it on time is ordinary life, not a black mark. Missing the deadline, lying, or ignoring it is a different matter. Nobody can promise you an outcome — the only safe approach is to do it properly and do it early.

Six common mistakes

• Waiting until day 14. The 14 days is a deadline, not an appointment. The office has closed days, you have shifts, documents can turn out to be missing — go early so you have room to fix things.

• Not getting the 受理番号. Telling your story at the 交番 and walking out empty-handed is a wasted trip. You need the number.

• The wrong photo. Your home country's passport size, an old photo, a filtered photo — these three account for most rejected applications.

• Going to the wrong immigration office. File according to your 住民票 address, not where you work or where you lost the card.

• Confusing 紛失 with 汚損. A damaged card that you still have does not need a police report; finding that out after a trip to the police costs you half a day.

• Letting your company hold your card. The residence card is your personal document and you are the one obliged to carry it. If your company or union is holding it "for safekeeping", ask for it back — and if they refuse, call the multilingual helpline below.

Frequently asked questions

Can I be deported for losing my residence card?

No. Losing the card is an administrative incident, not a breach of your status of residence. Your status is untouched. What is penalised is failing to apply for a reissue within 14 days, not the loss itself.

How much does it cost to replace a residence card?

A reissue because of loss or because the card is damaged is free according to the Agency's procedure pages. Your only costs are the photo and the train fare. The 1,900 yen rate applies only when you voluntarily ask to exchange a card that is still in good condition.

How long until I get the new card?

For a 在留カード, the Agency's rule is same-day issuance. For a 特別永住者証明書 filed at a city or ward office, it usually takes about 2 to 3 weeks.

Will the new card keep the same number?

No. The number changes every time a card is issued, and the old number goes onto the searchable invalidated-number list. Remember to give the new number to your employer, school and bank.

I don't speak Japanese — what do I do?

Two practical options. One, ask the person in charge at your company, school or union to come with you — many of them can be recognised as 取次者 and file on your behalf. Two, call the 外国人在留総合インフォメーションセンター (Immigration Information Centre) on 0570-013904 (from an IP phone or from overseas: 03-5796-7112), open 8:30–17:15 on weekdays, closed Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays and 29 December – 3 January. The centre offers support in several languages, English included (出入国在留管理庁, checked 22 August 2026). There is also FRESC — the support centre for foreign residents in Yotsuya, Tokyo — on 0570-011000.

My relative lost their card but is in hospital. Can I apply for them?

Yes, if you are a family member living in the same household and aged 16 or over. Bring documents proving the relationship and the shared address; the clerk may ask for additional material depending on the situation.

I lost my card right before a trip home. Can I still fly?

You can still leave Japan, because it is your passport that gets you out. The problem is coming back: the みなし再入国許可 system requires you to present your residence card when you depart. Without the card, you cannot use it. The cleanest solution is to push the flight back by a few days, complete the reissue (usually done the same day), and then travel.

In short

Three tasks, fourteen days, no fee: report the loss to the police and get the 受理番号 — prepare the form, a 4×3 photo, your passport and the written statement — file at the immigration office covering where you live. If you hold a 特定在留カード, add one more task: suspend the My Number function on the day you discover the loss.

The information here is based on the official pages of 出入国在留管理庁 (Immigration Services Agency), 警視庁 (Tokyo Metropolitan Police), 厚生労働省 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) and local governments, checked on 22 August 2026. Residence rules can change, and the 特定在留カード scheme is still in its early stages — before you go, open the Agency's page again or call the multilingual helpline to confirm. This article is for general information and does not replace legal advice for your specific case.

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