Jidou Ikan to iDeCo : From Abroad by a Former Resident

[theredcomet]

Apologies in advance for the length - I tried to describe my situation as accurately as possible.

I left Japan several years ago and am just now getting this sorted out.
If anyone has any experiences/advice to share, it would be much appreciated.
I am planning on transferring my Jidou-ikan to iDeCo but want to avoid any pitfalls if possible. Maybe I am crazy for asking.

Years ago, I had a Corporate DCCP (企業型確定拠出年金) in Japan that was Automatically transferred (jidouikan : 自動移換) to the National Pension Fund Federation (NPFF) - so it is being held with no investments at the moment (cash in a holding account). I called the jidouikan hotline and was able to confirm the status of the account. I want to transfer this to an iDeco so I can invest with the existing funds only (low effort couch potato style). The hotline gave me guidance as to how to transfer but obviously not for the selection of an iDeCo vendor (aside from where I can find the official list of vendors).

I reside outside of Japan - no VISA status in Japan (non-Japanese citizen, working VISA long expired). Japanese language is rusty but can definitely navigate web/phone calls. That being said if there is some English option that would be a consideration (as well as a confidence builder for dealing with non-Japanese outside Japan) but not a showstopper if no English. Frankly my expectations are low for English language support - I am more concerned about the vendor being able to deal with a non-resident (The nail that sticks out!) - i.e. we can’t register foreign addresses/etc.

FWIW - in case others find themselves in the same position:
There is a page in Japanese here that describes the scenario(s) where your DCCP can be Automatically Transferred:
https://www.jidoikan.jis-t.co.jp/index.html
There is a hotline where you can confirm the status/account holdings. You need your will need your Kiso Nenkin Bangou(基礎年金番号) and probably some information to identify yourself (I can’t remember what they asked me - but not predefined challenge questions).

[beanhead]

I think you need to reside in Japan to start an iDeCo account...