Residence Card: What it is and what to do when you accidentally lose it

What to do when you lose your Japanese residence card? 

• When you lose it in Japan: 

In this case, you should first report to the nearest police station. There, you will be asked several questions, such as when, where, and how did you lose your residence card.

Then, the police will confirm the information and issue you a certificate of temporary loss. During this period, you will need to bring your passport and said certificate to replace your lost residence card when going out. 

• When you lose it outside of Japan:

In case you lose your residence card while traveling abroad, you should report it to a police station in the country where you are at.

This is to prevent bad people who picked up the card from using it to perform illegal acts affecting you. There could also be cases where the police station has your card, which they would return to you. 

Afterward, you will also be issued a certificate of temporary loss. If the said certificate is in the local language, you will have to get it officially translated into Japanese. 

When you return to Japan, remember to bring the certificate of temporary loss along with the translated version for exit procedures. You can still return to Japan normally according to your schedule. However, as soon as you return to Japan, you will need to go to the Immigration Bureau immediately to notify your loss and apply for a re-issuance. 

In case you are a trainee losing their residence card while abroad  

• Only losing the residence card (still has the passport) 

If you only lost your residence card but still have the passport, you can return to Japan normally. 

All you have to do is tick the box 「一時的出国であり再入国する予定です」(I am only temporarily leaving the country and intend to return to Japan) on the immigration form before exiting Japan. 

As the form includes your passport, even when losing your residence card, you can still enter Japan if you still have the form and your passport. 

Within 14 days after you return to Japan, you will have to go to the Immigration Bureau and follow procedures similar to that of the case when you lose your residence card in Japan. 

• Losing both the residence card and passport

If you lost both of these important documents, you should first make a new passport. In case you are in your home country, you can go to your local Immigration Bureau to renew your passport as usual. If not, you will have to go to your country’s Embassy or consulate in that country to apply for a new passport.  

However, it is of note that you will not be able to re-enter Japan immediately with that new passport since your old passport is what has your re-entry permit attached to the immigration form. Thus, you will need to go through the procedure of applying for the 再入国許可期限証明書. For this paper, you need to ask your relatives or representatives living in Japan to go through the procedures on your behalf at the Immigration Bureau. 

After having submitted all of the aforementioned documents to the Immigration Bureau, you can get back the 再入国許可期限証明書 within the same day. Then you can enter Japan normally.

What to prepare to apply for re-issuance of a residence card 

• 在留カード再交付申請書 (Application form for re-issuance of a residence card)

• 写真 (Unedited picture taken within 3 months, white background)
• 遺失届出証明書等，盗難届出証明書 (Certificate of having lost your residence card). Provided by the police, the certificate must have included the reason why you lost the card. If it is in another language other than Japanese, then it must be officially translated into Japanese. 
• 委任状 (Certificate of Appointment). In case you cannot come to the Immigration Bureau in person, you have to provide this certificate to appoint another person to go there on your behalf. 
• パスポート（Passport). In case you lost your passport, an explanation as to the reason why is required. 

In addition to the above 4 documents, depending on the situation, you will also be required to provide additional documents. Thus, you should contact the Immigration Bureau in advance to confirm the necessary documents before submission. 

The period of time to apply for a residence card re-issuance 

• You must report to the Immigration Bureau and apply for a residence card re-issuance within 14 days of losing it. 
• If you fail to report and apply for a re-issuance within said 14 days, you might get a fine of roughly 200,000 yen, which can be avoided if you can prove that it was because of a legitimate reason, such as a natural disaster, fire, accident, etc.  

Above is the article on what to do when losing your Japanese residence card and what to prepare to apply for a re-issuance. 

GoEMON hopes that the article was useful to you, and feel free to comment down below if you have any questions!