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Site MapLump-sum withdrawal payment may be made to foreign nationals who have coverage periods of six months or more under the Employees' Pension Insurance (EPI) system on the following conditions, in case they are unable to receive pension payments. The coverage period for which the payment is calculated will not constitute a coverage period for future benefits under the EPI system.
If you have paid contributions for Private School Mutual Aid Pension system for a year or more in total since October 2015, you are entitled to a lump-sum withdrawal of the Retirement Pension benefits as well.
Requirements
You are eligible for lump-sum withdrawal payment if you satisfy all the following seven requirements.
- You are not a Japanese citizen.
- You are not a resident in Japan.
- You have coverage periods of six months or more under the EPI system.
- You are not eligible for Old-age Employees' Pension period (see note below)
- You have never been entitled to receive a pension (including disability allowance).
- It has been less than two years since you were disqualified as an insured person under the National Pension system or you no longer have a residence in Japan.
Note:
for details on the qualifying period, click here.
Payment request procedure
Due to the consolidation of employee pension systems on October 1, 2015, a new procedure has been introduced for lump-sum withdrawal payment to Non-Japanese Nationals. You must make sure which procedure to take, the old one before the consolidation or the new one after the consolidation. Check the following cases to determine which procedure is appropriate.
You had lost residency in Japan and membership of the National Pension before October 1, 2015, when the consolidation of employee systems took place.
You lost your residency in Japan or membership of the National Pension on and after October 1, 2015, when the consolidation of employee systems took place.
Claim procedure for Case 1, where you had lost your residency in Japan and membership of the National Pension before October 1, 2015, when the consolidation of employee systems took place.
Foreign nationals who have subscribed to PMAC pension scheme for six months or more may claim lump-sum withdrawal payment to us, if they are unable to receive pension. If you have other pension schemes as well, you must take procedures as advised by their relevant systems.
Claim procedure for Cases 2 to 5, where you lost your residency in Japan or membership of the National Pension after October 1, 2015, when the consolidation of employee systems took place.
If you have subscribed to more than one employees pension system, the amount of your lump-sum withdrawal payment shall be determined and paid by a responsible implementing institution.
If you have been insured with the Category 1 of the National Pension for six months or more, the responsible implementing institution shall be Japan Pension Service. If you have been insured with the Category 1 of the National Pension for less than six months and if you have not received any lump-sum withdrawal payment from the National Pension, the last pension association shall be responsible for your lump-sum payments.
responsible implementing institution
- If National Pension Category 1 Insured Period is less than six months (see the note below), which means that you are not eligible for lump-sum withdrawal payments under the National Pension, the last pension plan agency you belonged to is the responsible implementing institution.
- If National Pension Category 1 Insured Period is six months or more (see the note below), which means that you are eligible for lump-sum withdrawal payments under the National Pension, Japan Pension Service shall be in charge irrespective of the length of period.
Note:
National Pension Category 1 Insured Period is the sum of the number of months of payment of pension premiums for the Category 1 of the National Pension, three fourths of the number of months in which one fourth of the payment of the National Pension premium was exempted, one half of the months in which one half of the payment of the National Pension premium was exempted, and one fourth of the number of months in which three fourths of the payment of the National Pension premium was exempted. You are eligible for lump-sum withdrawal pension benefits only when the period is six months or more.
Example:
You left Japan after joining the employees pension system of a private company (Category 1) for 12 months and the employees' pension plan of PMAC (Category 4) for 24 months.
In this case, PMAC shall be the responsible implementing institution for 36 months of lump-sum withdrawal payments.
If you have paid contributions for Private School Mutual Aid Pension system for a year or more in total since October 2015, you are entitled to a lump-sum withdrawal of the Retirement Pension benefits as well.
Amount of Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment
Your lump-sum withdrawal payments are calculated as follows based on the length of coverage. The amounts payable to you are subject to tax withholding of 20.42%.
Formula:
Payment amount (insurance benefits) = Average standard remuneration(Note1) × Payment rate(Note2)
A different formula shall be applied if the coverage period is before March 2005.
Note 1:
Average Standard Remuneration
When the coverage period is entirely in and after April 2003,
When the coverage period is entirely or partly before March 2003,
Note 2:
Payment rate
Payment rate = (Premium rate(Note3)×1/2)×number of coverage months(Note4)
Note 3:
Premium rate
If your last covered month is between January and August, the premium rate as of October of the year before the previous year is applied.
If your last covered month is between September and December, the premium rate as of October of the year of the previous year is applied.
Note 4:
Number of coverage months
The following table shows the months to be used for the payment calculation based on the total coverage months (see Item(Note5) below).
|
Your total coverage period |
The number of months used |
|---|---|
|
6 months or more and less than 12 months |
6 |
|
12 months or more and less than 18 months |
12 |
|
18 months or more and less than 24 months |
18 |
|
24 months or more and less than 30 months |
24 |
|
30 months or more and less than 36 months |
30 |
|
36 months or more and less than 42 months |
36 |
|
42 months or more and less than 48 months |
42 |
|
48 months or more and less than 54 months |
48 |
|
54 months or more and less than 60 months |
54 |
|
60 months or more |
60 |
Note 5:
If you only have the Employees' Pension insured periods earned before March 2021, the upper limit of the number of months used for the calculation is 36 months.
Note 6:
Total coverage months
If you lost residency in Japan and membership of the National Pension on and after October 1, 2015, when the consolidation of employee pension systems took place, the whole insured months of Employees' Pension shall be regarded as coverage period.
Remarks
- If you have received lump-sum withdrawal payment, the period for which the payment is made is not regarded as coverage period for future benefits under the EPI system.
- You may be qualified for the totalization benefits if you have qualifying coverage periods under pension systems of countries with which Japan has totalization agreements subject to certain qualification conditions. Once you have received lump-sum withdrawal payments, you may no longer include for future benefits the period for which the payments were made and its preceding period.
For more details on the social security agreement, click here. - The amount of your lump-sum withdrawal payments will be calculated depending on your coverage periods up to 60 months. Note that even if your coverage periods are 61 months or longer, your payments will still be calculated up to 60 months and you may no longer include for future benefits the period for which the payments were made and its preceding period.
Note:
If you only have the Employees' Pension insured periods earned before March 2021, the upper limit of the number of months used for the calculation is 36 months. - A new law enacted in August 2017 shortened Pension-benefit Qualified Period from 25 years to 10 years. Accordingly, you may not claim the payment of lump-sum withdrawal in and after August 2017 if your coverage period exceeds 10 years.