Keep on receiving yellow envelope pension office letters

[fortyseconds]

Hello,

I have a friend who has left Japan and came home to the UK last year.

They have unfortunately left because their Visa ran out and also Japan hasn't been good to them financially (pay wasn't good enough to even pay rent or food at times). Pay situation was so bad that they've chosen to not pay pension because of the simple fact they didn't have money at all. They've also skipped on some health card payments from the local government as they did not use it but was only required to sign up. However, they've paid all income and residential tax payments.

When they left they accomplished the 転出届 paperwork by mailing the application form through mail. They sent the form with a photocopy of their Residence Card (to prove their Visa has ran out) and the health card the municipal office provided them. They've also closed off their accounts with SoftBank, Yahoo Mobile, Electricity, Water, and their contract with the Landlord. Lastly, they then made my address as a mail forward destination of any mail they receive. This is where my concerns start.

I've been receiving these increasingly alarming (should I be alarmed?) colored pension office letters. I've been putting it back in post after writing the following on the envelope:

誤配達。もう帰国しました。２０２２年からもう日本にいません。

Can I continue doing this or is there something else we should be doing? Is this any cause of concern? Can I just straight up ignore this? Will they bust my friend in the UK or something?

Thank you.

[Tkydon]

How long was that person in Japan, and how many months did they pay into the Pension System?

If more than 6 months and less than 10 years (120 months), and they don't expect to ever come back, they can claim a refund of upto 5 years' (60 months') contributions

See

https://www.nenkin.go.jp/international/ ... iles/A.pdf

They can do it from overseas, or you can help them if they send over a Power Of Attourney - 委任状

https://www.nenkin.go.jp/service/jukyu/ ... 1_inin.pdf
https://www.nenkin.go.jp/service/jukyu/ ... in_rei.pdf


The pension and healthcare contributions are / were compulsory, and so they will probably keep sending demands...

[fortyseconds]

How long was that person in Japan, and how many months did they pay into the Pension System?

If more than 6 months and less than 10 years (120 months), and they don't expect to ever come back, they can claim a refund of upto 5 years' (60 months') contributions

They can do it from overseas, or you can help them if they send over a Power Of Attourney - 委任状

The pension and healthcare contributions are / were compulsory, and so they will probably keep sending demands...

Appreciate the response! The links are extremely helpful.

They were here for around 3 years. They were paying pension up until corona hit which was 2020. They arrived here 2019.
Not sure if they want to come back but from what I've been seeing they're in a relationship with a Japanese national and are looking to settle here. Are they in major trouble if this is the case?

I also asked them if they're interested in a lumpsum withdrawal of their pension but they said they're not.

So even if I keep reverting these letters they'll keep on sending these yellow envelopes? I worry that since the period for mail forwarding is about to run out whoever is the fella residing in their previous residence will keep on receiving these mails...

[captainspoke]

So you're their representative? Please clean up their mess.

When they left they accomplished the 転出届 paperwork by mailing the application form through mail. They sent the form with a photocopy of their Residence Card (to prove their Visa has ran out) and the health card the municipal office provided them. They've also closed off their accounts with SoftBank, Yahoo Mobile, Electricity, Water, and their contract with the Landlord. Lastly, they then made my address as a mail forward destination of any mail they receive. This is where my concerns start.

Sorry, no sympathy. And even tho they did a number of things right, they left you holding their bag.

Good luck. Hopefully, this friend is not even considering getting the pension refund.

[fortyseconds]

So you're their representative? Please clean up their mess.

Sorry, no sympathy. And even tho they did a number of things right, they left you holding their bag.

Good luck. Hopefully, this friend is not even considering getting the pension refund.

Not a representative. Just have the address where their mail gets forwarded to in the past year or so.

They're not looking to do any pension refund / lumpsum withdrawal because they know they were missing payments.

I'm sorry but your comment about sympathy is a bit underhanded. I didn't post to ask for sympathy for them nor for myself. The only reason I made an account here and posting is because I want to help them. They've been through a lot during their stay in Japan. Not everyone is lucky with the cards their dealt here.

You didn't have to comment if you didn't have anything to add to the conversation.

[TokyoBoglehead]

How long was that person in Japan, and how many months did they pay into the Pension System?

If more than 6 months and less than 10 years (120 months), and they don't expect to ever come back, they can claim a refund of upto 5 years' (60 months') contributions

They can do it from overseas, or you can help them if they send over a Power Of Attourney - 委任状

The pension and healthcare contributions are / were compulsory, and so they will probably keep sending demands...

Appreciate the response! The links are extremely helpful.

They were here for around 3 years. They were paying pension up until corona hit which was 2020. They arrived here 2019.
Not sure if they want to come back but from what I've been seeing they're in a relationship with a Japanese national and are looking to settle here. Are they in major trouble if this is the case?

I also asked them if they're interested in a lumpsum withdrawal of their pension but they said they're not.

So even if I keep reverting these letters they'll keep on sending these yellow envelopes? I worry that since the period for mail forwarding is about to run out whoever is the fella residing in their previous residence will keep on receiving these mails...

They didn't contact or communicate with the nenkin office? The departments are exclusive, and immigration does not seem to inform the nenkin office about departures. (This is supposedly by design).

So basically....the nenkin office doesn't know they left. They need to file... something.

[Tkydon]

They didn't contact or communicate with the nenkin office? The departments are exclusive, and immigration does not seem to inform the nenkin office about departures. (This is supposedly by design).

So basically....the nenkin office doesn't know they left. They need to file... something.

But, I think the Local Government Office will pass the notifications to the Pension Office and Local Tax Office on receiving the Notice of Moving Out, as you do all of those functions there. I may be wrong...

[RetireJapan]

So even if I keep reverting these letters they'll keep on sending these yellow envelopes? I worry that since the period for mail forwarding is about to run out whoever is the fella residing in their previous residence will keep on receiving these mails...

My daughter moved overseas and we got similar letters from the nenkin office for her. I called them up and they amended their records. No more letters.

[TokyoBoglehead]

They didn't contact or communicate with the nenkin office? The departments are exclusive, and immigration does not seem to inform the nenkin office about departures. (This is supposedly by design).

So basically....the nenkin office doesn't know they left. They need to file... something.

But, I think the Local Government Office will pass the notifications to the Pension Office and Local Tax Office on receiving the Notice of Moving Out, as you do all of those functions there. I may be wrong...

My friend was fully paid up and followed all the proper checkout steps. These notices kept coming until he filed for his refund.

[fortyseconds]

Thank you for your input fellas.

They didn't communicate with the nenkin office because they were under the assumption doing the 転出届 would sort those out. There isn't much of a concrete guideline on what paper work needs to be done before you leave Japan. By the looks of it the nenkin office did not get the notice at all though.

For now, because I still have the latest envelope in my hands I'll reach out to them by writing 誤配達 again.
If I get another envelope, I'll call them up as per Ben's experience that worked in terms of having the letters stop.

To kinda summarize, it doesn't sound like they're doing any crime or anything and it's more of the pension office just doesn't know and they need to somehow know that my friend isn't in Japan anymore.