Family & Children
Register a Birth出生届·shusshō todokeWithin 14 days at city hall — plus a second, separate deadline with Immigration that catches everyone.
Not verified yet
Drafted from general knowledge. Amounts, thresholds and deadlines change and vary by insurer and municipality — confirm with the office named here before you rely on it.
Why it matters
A baby born in Japan to foreign parents does not automatically get a status of residence. There are two clocks running at once and they are different lengths: 14 days to register the birth at city hall, and roughly 30 days to apply to Immigration for the child’s status of residence. Miss the second and your newborn is technically without status. Parents deal with the city hall visit, assume that is the whole job, and discover the rest much later.
- Deadline
- 14 days to register at city hall; ~30 days for the child’s status
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 1–2 hours at city hall, plus a separate immigration visit
Do these first
What to bring
- Birth certificate from the hospital出生証明書·shusshō shōmeisho
Part of the same form as the registration — the doctor or midwife completes their half.
- Maternal and child health handbook母子健康手帳·boshi kenkō techō
- Residence Card在留カード·zairyū kādo
Both parents’, if both are foreign residents.
- Health insurance card健康保険証·kenkō hokenshō
How it goes
- 1
Register at city hall within 14 days
The hospital gives you the combined form with their portion completed. Take it to the city hall where you live. The counter is often open outside normal hours for this specific registration, since babies do not arrive on schedule.
Say this
出生届を出したいのですが。
Shusshō todoke o dashitai no desu ga.
I would like to register a birth.
- 2
Apply to Immigration for the child’s status — about 30 days
This is the deadline people miss. A child born to foreign parents needs their own status of residence, applied for at your regional immigration bureau. Do it while you are still in the first weeks, not when you next think about it.
- 3
Register your own country’s birth registration too
Your embassy or consulate handles registering the birth with your home country and issuing a passport. Some countries have their own deadlines. The child will generally need a passport before you can complete the immigration side, so start it early.
- 4
Add the child to your health insurance and claim allowance
Add them to your insurance — on National Health Insurance, at the same city hall. Then apply for child allowance within 15 days. Try to do all of it in one visit; you will not enjoy a second trip in that particular fortnight.