There has been a recent trend toward stricter visa renewal requirements.
As early as 2025, discussions about tightening the requirements for management visas have already begun.
In addition, there seems to be some movement on social insurance for the time being.
Press Conference by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare on November 4, 2025
Quoting directly from the minister’s press conference, the announcement is as follows:
Q. Please provide an update on the status of measures being considered to prevent non-payment of social insurance premiums by foreign nationals and ensure proper utilization of the social insurance system, as included in this year’s Basic Policy.
A. Regarding the prevention of unpaid National Health Insurance premiums, preparations are underway to launch a system in June 2027 that will share foreign nationals’ payment status with the Immigration Services Agency for use during residence status examinations. Regarding measures against unpaid medical bills, discussions are underway to expand the scope of the system—which collects information on foreign nationals with unpaid bills from medical institutions and shares it with the Immigration Services Agency—from short-term visitors to mid- to long-term residents. This expanded system would also be utilized in residence status examinations.
Therefore, starting in June 2027, the visa screening process will verify whether social insurance premiums have been paid.
Why 2027?
The reason for changing the system in this way, starting in 2027, is to promote system integration.
They would probably like to start right away, but the reality is that local governments need to coordinate system integration, and it’s not going as smoothly as hoped.
You should pay any outstanding amounts promptly, if there.
Will the two-year retroactive adjustment be positive or negative?
Unpaid social insurance premiums can be paid retroactively up to two years.
In general, visa renewals require verifying payments dating back two years.
However, this point is unclear.
This is because while unpaid amounts may be traced back two years, conversely, it is not possible to make payments for periods exceeding two years.
When considering visa applications, people also verify the circumstances from several years ago.
If the stain of past social insurance non-payment remains, it could potentially affect future visa decisions or judgments when switching visa categories.
Summary
We recommend that you handle this properly.
