For dads in Japan
Your newborn's residence status and passport
All English guides for dadsPaperwork: the first two weeks
Checked: ・ Written by: Hiroshi editorial team ・ No health content (numbers checked against official sources) ・ Editorial policy (JA)
Your baby can stay up to 60 days from birth without a status of residence※. If you will stay longer (most families), apply for a status of residence within 30 days of the birth※.
Apply at the regional immigration office for your address※. The passport is issued by your home country※, usually through its embassy in Tokyo.
Birth registration and child allowance both have a hard deadline in the first two weeks; foreign nationals also apply for the baby's status of residence within 30 days.
Three deadlines from the birthday
| Day | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Day 14 | Birth registration (details) | Ward office |
| Day 30 | Apply for status of residence | Regional immigration office |
| Day 60 | Last day to stay without a status (if you did not apply) | - |
Order that works
- Birth registration at the ward office. Within 14 days※. Ask for a certificate of acceptance (juri shōmeisho) and a resident record (jūminhyō).
- Passport at your embassy (check its own document list first). Ward guides in English point you to the embassy for this step※.
- Status of residence at immigration, within 30 days. This applies to foreign children born in Japan who stay beyond 60 days※.
Money and leave come next: child allowance, birth money, paternity leave.
In 2 minutes
See the first-two-weeks orderOnce a week, by email
Every week, in the app
Join the beta (TestFlight, free)Sources and check dates
- A foreign child born in Japan may stay up to 60 days from birth without a status of residence (art. 22-2(1)).
出入国管理及び難民認定法 第22条の2 - A child born in Japan who will stay beyond 60 days must apply for a status of residence within 30 days of birth (Immigration Control Act art. 22-2).
出入国管理及び難民認定法 第22条の2 - A baby born in Japan who will stay beyond 60 days must apply for acquisition of status of residence within 30 days of birth (Immigration Control Act Art. 22-2 para. 2).
Immigration Services Agency, 在留資格取得許可申請 (and e-Gov 入管法) - Apply at the regional immigration office with jurisdiction over where you live.
Immigration Services Agency, 在留資格取得許可申請 - If both parents are foreign nationals the child does not get Japanese nationality; report the birth to the home country and get the child's passport from that country's embassy.
Immigration Services Agency, 在留資格取得許可申請 - Ward English page lists applying for the child's passport at the home-country embassy as a follow-up to birth registration.
Chuo City, Family Registration (English) - Birth registration (shussei todoke) is due within 14 days of the birth (3 months if born abroad).
戸籍法 第49条