How to Claim Your Pension Refund When Leaving Japan — Lump-Sum Withdrawal Payment Complete Guide

Last updated: February 2026 | Reflects FY2025 premiums, 2025 Pension Reform Act, and 2027 visa compliance rule

One of the first financial questions foreign residents face when planning to leave Japan is: "Can I get back the pension premiums I've been paying?" The short answer is yes — partially — through a system called the lump-sum withdrawal payment (脱退一時金 / dattai ichijikin).

This guide walks you through everything you need to know: who qualifies, how much you'll receive, the step-by-step application process, and how to reclaim the 20.42% tax withheld on Employee's Pension refunds.

Before you decide: A lump-sum withdrawal is not always the best option. If your home country has a social security agreement with Japan, keeping your contribution period for totalization may be far more valuable over your lifetime. Read the decision framework at the end of this article — and our Social Security Agreements Guide — before making a final call.

What Is the Lump-Sum Withdrawal Payment?

The lump-sum withdrawal payment is a refund system for foreign nationals who contributed to Japan's pension system but will leave the country without qualifying for an old-age pension (which requires at least 10 years of contributions). It exists to prevent premiums from being entirely lost.

Separate lump-sum payments exist for National Pension and Employee's Pension. If you contributed to both, you can claim both.

The 7 Eligibility Requirements

You must meet all of the following conditions:

1. You are not a Japanese national. Those who have naturalized are not eligible.

2. You do not have a registered address in Japan. Before leaving, you must file a moving-out notification (転出届 / tenshutsu todoke) at your municipal office. If you still have a Japanese address when the Japan Pension Service (JPS) receives your claim, it will be rejected.

3. You have at least 6 months of contribution history. For National Pension, partially exempt periods count proportionally (e.g., a half-exemption month counts as 0.5). For Employee's Pension, you need 6 or more months as an insured person.

4. You have not met the 10-year qualifying period for an old-age pension. If you have 10+ years of combined contributions (including periods totalized under a social security agreement), you have pension rights and cannot claim a lump-sum withdrawal.

5. You have never been entitled to a disability pension.

6. No more than 2 years have passed since you lost your insured status. If you were still living in Japan on the date you lost insured status, the 2-year clock starts from the date you moved out of Japan.

7. You have not previously received a lump-sum withdrawal for the same contribution period. However, if you received a withdrawal, returned to Japan, accumulated new contribution months, and left again, you can claim for the new period.

National Pension: Payment Amounts (FY2025)

The National Pension lump-sum withdrawal is calculated as:

Premium for the fiscal year of your last payment × ½ × calculation factor

The FY2025 monthly premium is ¥17,510. For those whose last payment falls between April 2025 and March 2026:

Key points: The cap is 60 months (5 years). Even if you contributed for 7 years, only 5 years count toward the payment — but all 7 years are erased from your record. National Pension lump-sum withdrawals are tax-free.

Employee's Pension: Calculation and Estimates

The Employee's Pension lump-sum withdrawal uses this formula:

Average Standard Remuneration × Payment Rate

Where Payment Rate = premium rate (18.3%) × ½ × calculation factor (same 6-month brackets, capped at 60)

The Average Standard Remuneration is calculated by dividing the total of your Standard Monthly Remuneration and Standard Bonus amounts across your insured period by the number of months. For periods before April 2003, the Standard Monthly Remuneration is multiplied by 1.3 for revaluation.

Quick Estimate Method

For a rough calculation: total earnings during your insured period × 9% ≈ estimated payment.

These are approximations. Actual amounts depend on your exact Standard Monthly Remuneration and Standard Bonus history, which your local pension office can confirm before departure. You can also check your records through the Nenkin Net online portal if you have an account.

Note that the payment is calculated on the employer-employee combined premium rate of 18.3%, but since you only paid half (9.15%), the lump-sum effectively returns close to 100% of your share of the premiums for the covered period — making the Employee's Pension withdrawal significantly more generous relative to what you actually paid out of pocket compared to the National Pension withdrawal.

Important: Employee's Pension lump-sum withdrawals are subject to 20.42% income tax withholding (20% income tax + 0.42% reconstruction surtax). This can be reclaimed through a tax refund procedure — see the dedicated section below. With a successful refund, you recover nearly everything you personally contributed.

Step-by-Step Application Process

Step 1: File Your Moving-Out Notification Before Departure

Visit your municipal office (市区町村役場) and submit a moving-out notification. This removes your resident registration and satisfies requirement #2. You can file this up to 14 days before your departure date.

While there, request a certificate of removed residence (住民票の除票). This isn't strictly required if you've filed the notification, but attaching it to your claim speeds up processing.

Critical: If you leave Japan on a re-entry permit (including deemed re-entry) without filing a moving-out notification, your insured status continues during the permit's validity period and you cannot claim the lump-sum withdrawal. This is a common mistake — many foreign residents leave Japan assuming they can claim later, only to discover their re-entry permit keeps their pension enrollment active. The deemed re-entry permit, which is automatically granted for stays abroad of up to 1 year (or 5 years with a standard re-entry permit), is particularly easy to overlook.

Step 2: Prepare Your Documents

Gather these before you leave Japan:

1. Lump-Sum Withdrawal Claim Form — Available on the JPS website in 14 languages (English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Indonesian, Filipino/Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, Myanmar, Cambodian, Russian, Nepali, Mongolian)
2. Passport copy — Pages showing name, date of birth, nationality, signature, and residence status
3. Certificate of removed residence (recommended but may not be required if moving-out notification was filed)
4. Bank account verification — Document showing bank name, branch, address, account number, and account holder name (a bank-issued certificate, or have the bank stamp the verification section on the claim form)
5. Basic Pension Number notification or pension handbook (年金手帳)

Step 3: Submit Your Claim to the Japan Pension Service

After your departure (on or after the scheduled moving-out date), mail the claim form and supporting documents to:

Japan Pension Service, Head Office 3-5-24 Takaido-nishi, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 168-8505, Japan

You can also have an authorized representative in Japan submit the claim on your behalf. If taking this route, prepare a power of attorney before leaving.

If mailing from Japan before departure, ensure the documents arrive at JPS on or after your scheduled moving-out date.

Step 4: Wait for the Decision

If your documents are complete, the decision typically takes 3 to 4 months from the date JPS receives your claim. You'll receive a Lump-Sum Withdrawal Payment Decision Notice (脱退一時金支給決定通知書) by mail. Keep this document — you'll need it for the tax refund.

Step 5: Receive Payment

The payment is deposited into your designated overseas bank account in foreign currency, converted at the average exchange rate for the month the payment is determined — not the rate on the day you submitted your application. For most Asian countries (China, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc.), payment is made in US dollars. European countries typically receive euros or their local currency. Approximately 27 currencies are supported.

If you specified a Japanese bank account (non-resident accounts are eligible), you'll receive payment in Japanese yen. Some foreign residents choose to maintain a Japanese bank account specifically for this purpose, as it avoids exchange rate uncertainty.

Getting Back the 20.42% Tax: Refund Procedure

Employee's Pension lump-sum withdrawals are treated as retirement income, and 20.42% is withheld at the source. In most cases, you can recover all or nearly all of this through a tax filing.

How to Claim the Refund

1. Appoint a Tax Representative (納税管理人) Before Leaving Japan

Submit a "Notification of Tax Representative" (所得税・消費税の納税管理人の届出書) to your local tax office. Your tax representative — a friend, former colleague, or a tax professional in Japan — will handle the filing on your behalf after you leave.

2. File a Refund Claim Using the "Elective Taxation on Retirement Income" Method

Once you receive the Payment Decision Notice, send it to your tax representative. They will file a "Retirement Income Elective Taxation Refund Claim" with the tax office, attaching the original Decision Notice and your passport copy.

3. Receive the Refund

The tax office processes the claim and deposits the refund into the tax representative's designated account (or your Japanese account). Processing typically takes 1 to 3 months.

Deadline: The refund claim must be filed within 5 years of receiving the lump-sum withdrawal.

National Pension: No Tax Applies

National Pension lump-sum withdrawals are not subject to income tax. No withholding occurs and no refund procedure is needed.

Mutual Aid Associations (Kyosai)

If you worked for a private school (私学共済 / Shigaku Kyosai, Category 4 Employee's Pension) or as a government employee covered by a mutual aid association, the process differs slightly.

For private school mutual aid only: Claim directly from the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan (日本私立学校振興・共済事業団).

For multiple pension administrators: If your National Pension contribution period is 6+ months, JPS serves as the coordinating body and handles everything together. If under 6 months, the last Employee's Pension administrator coordinates.

Those with 1+ years of private school mutual aid membership since October 2015 may also be eligible for a separate "Retirement Benefits Pension" lump-sum withdrawal.

Three Critical Warnings Before You Claim

1. Your Entire Contribution History Is Permanently Erased

Receiving a lump-sum withdrawal voids all prior pension contribution periods — not just the months reflected in the payment calculation. This is irreversible. If you contributed for 7 years, only 5 years count toward payment, but all 7 years disappear.

This matters enormously if you might return to Japan. Someone who worked 5 years, claimed a withdrawal, then returned and worked 6 more years would have only 6 years on record — falling short of the 10-year qualification that 11 combined years would have met.

2. Social Security Agreement Totalization Becomes Impossible

For nationals of countries with a Type A social security agreement (currently 20 countries including the US, Germany, France, Australia, and others), Japan contribution periods can count toward your home country's pension qualification. Claiming a lump-sum withdrawal zeroes out the periods available for totalization.

A US citizen with 5 years in Japan might receive roughly ¥525,300 from the National Pension lump-sum — or preserve those 5 years to help meet Social Security qualification requirements. The lifetime value of totalization often far exceeds the one-time payment.

→ See our Social Security Agreements Guide for details

3. The 5-Year Cap Means Long-Term Contributors Lose Out

The current calculation cap is 60 months. If you contributed for 8 years, you receive payment for only 5 years while losing all 8 years of records. The longer you've contributed beyond 5 years, the worse the deal becomes.

Decision Framework: Should You Claim?

Work through these questions in order:

Do you have 10+ years of contributions? → You qualify for an old-age pension. No withdrawal is possible (or necessary). You can receive your pension from anywhere in the world starting at age 65.

Does your country have a Type A social security agreement with Japan? → Compare the value of totalization against the lump-sum amount. If you're close to meeting your home country's pension qualification, totalization is almost certainly better.

Might you return to Japan? → If likely, consider preserving your contribution period. Future contributions can build on past ones toward the 10-year threshold.

Is your contribution period 5 years or less? → You'll recover roughly half (National Pension) to nearly all (Employee's Pension with tax refund) of what you paid. The withdrawal makes financial sense.

Is your contribution period over 5 years? → You'll lose more record years than you're compensated for. Proceed with caution.

2025 Pension Reform: What's Changing

The Pension Reform Act passed on June 13, 2025 introduces two significant changes to the lump-sum withdrawal system.

Cap Increase: 5 Years → 8 Years

The maximum calculation period rises from 60 months (5 years) to 96 months (8 years). This aligns with the combined duration of the new Ikusei Shuro (Training Employment) visa (3 years) plus Specified Skilled Worker Category 1 (5 years). Implementation is expected around 2029 (exact date to be set by cabinet order). Until the new rules take effect, the current 5-year cap applies.

For foreign workers planning to stay 6–8 years and then return home, this is excellent news: you'll be able to recover a significantly larger portion of your contributions. An Employee's Pension contributor earning ¥250,000/month with ¥400,000 in annual bonuses would see their potential lump-sum increase from roughly ¥1.49 million (5-year cap) to approximately ¥2.37 million (8-year cap).

Connection to the 2027 Visa Compliance Rule

Starting June 2027, unpaid pension premiums will be grounds for visa renewal denial. This creates an important dynamic: you must pay your premiums to maintain your visa, but those same premiums can be partially recovered through the lump-sum withdrawal when you eventually leave. Understanding this connection helps frame pension contributions not as lost money but as a recoverable cost of working in Japan — with the caveat that "recoverable" applies only to the capped period.

Restrictions During Re-Entry Permits

After the reform takes effect, those who leave Japan on a re-entry permit (including deemed re-entry) will be unable to claim a lump-sum withdrawal during the permit's validity period — regardless of whether they filed a moving-out notification. This closes a loophole where workers would temporarily leave, claim the withdrawal, and return.

Pre-Departure Checklist

2–4 weeks before departure:

• [ ] Check whether your country has a social security agreement with Japan
• [ ] Calculate estimated lump-sum amounts for both National and Employee's Pension
• [ ] Appoint a tax representative and file the notification at your tax office (if Employee's Pension applies)

1–2 weeks before departure:

• [ ] File the moving-out notification at your municipal office
• [ ] Obtain a certificate of removed residence
• [ ] Download and complete the claim form
• [ ] Prepare passport copies and bank account documentation

After departure:

• [ ] Mail claim form and documents to JPS (on or after your moving-out date)
• [ ] Receive the Payment Decision Notice (~3–4 months later)
• [ ] Send the Notice to your tax representative for the refund filing (if Employee's Pension applies)

Related Articles

• ① Japan's Pension System Explained for Foreign Residents — Understand the full two-tier system before deciding
• ③ Social Security Agreements Guide — Compare lump-sum withdrawal vs. totalization for your country
• Health Insurance When Leaving Japan — Don't forget your health insurance obligations
• What Happens to Your NISA When You Leave Japan — Investment account implications of moving abroad

This article provides general information based on FY2025 pension rules and is not individual financial or tax advice. Payment amounts change annually based on premium rates. For exact figures, consult the Japan Pension Service or a qualified social insurance labor consultant (社会保険労務士). For tax refund matters, consult a licensed tax professional.

Have you gone through the lump-sum withdrawal process? Was it smooth or frustrating? Does your home country offer a similar refund for foreign workers who leave? Share your experience in the comments!