National Pension Exemption in Japan: How to Apply

Last updated: 19 October 2026 · the Japan Pension Service’s pages · premiums for April 2026 to March 2027

If you are 20 to 59, live in Japan and are not in an employer’s pension — between jobs, studying or working for yourself — you pay the national pension (国民年金) yourself: ¥17,920 a month for April 2026 to March 2027. (A spouse supported by an employee in an employer’s pension is covered without paying instead, as a Category III member (第3号被保険者) registered through the spouse’s employer, and needs none of this.) If that is more than you can manage, you can apply to have it waived, in full or in part, or put off. A waived or deferred month still counts towards the ten years a pension needs; an unpaid month counts for nothing. This page covers who qualifies, how to apply and what each choice does to the pension. The guide to the Japanese pension explains the system as a whole.

This is a general explanation. The Japan Pension Service and your city office decide each application, and they are the authority on your own record.

Four exemptions and two deferrals

The shares are for months from April 2009. A partial exemption only counts once you have paid the reduced premium for the month. Exempt and deferred months also count towards the disability and survivors’ basic pensions, which an unpaid month can cost you — but only if you applied in time. Those pensions have conditions of their own, and an application made after an illness or injury has begun does not count for the disability pension, even though it is backdated. Apply as soon as you cannot pay, not later.

Who qualifies: the income of the year before

Students are the exception to everything in this section except their own deferral: a student at a school the student deferral covers uses that, and cannot have the ordinary exemptions or the under-50 deferral.

Exemptions and the deferral run in years from July to June, and each is decided on the income of the calendar year before it starts: July 2026 to June 2027 on 2025 income, July 2025 to June 2026 on 2024 income. The student deferral runs from April to March, so April 2026 to March 2027 goes on 2025 income. Income here is income for tax (所得), which for a salary is what is left after the employment income deduction, not the salary itself. For an exemption, your income, your spouse’s and the head of your household’s (世帯主) are each checked; for the deferral, which is for people aged 20 to 49, only yours and your spouse’s. The limits:

• Full exemption and deferral: (the number of dependents + 1) × ¥350,000 + ¥320,000 — so ¥670,000 for somebody with no dependents.
• Three-quarter exemption: ¥880,000 plus deductions for dependents, social insurance premiums and some others.
• Half exemption: ¥1,280,000 plus the same deductions.
• Quarter exemption: ¥1,680,000 plus the same deductions.
• Student deferral: ¥1,280,000 + ¥380,000 for each dependent + social insurance premiums and some other deductions, counting only the student’s own income. Most students at a university, graduate school, vocational school or high school in Japan qualify, part-time and distance courses included.

If you have lost your job

After losing a job, or closing a business, there is a special exemption for job loss (失業等による特例免除): your own income for the year reviewed is left out of the check, so a good salary before you lost the job does not stop you, and it can cover months from the month before you lost it. A spouse’s and the head of household’s income are still checked, unless they qualify for the job-loss exemption themselves. Attach a copy of your separation notice (離職票) or of the Hello Work papers that show you qualify for unemployment benefit, and apply again for each year. The guide to unemployment benefit after quitting puts it in order with the rest.

How to apply

• Where: the national pension desk at your city office, or a pension office; by post or online as well.
• What to bring: your basic pension number, or your My Number card. A student adds proof of enrolment.
• How far back: for months whose payment deadline passed less than two years ago, which reaches back to two years and one month before the day you apply. Do not count on it for the disability pension, as above.
• Each year: an application covers one year, July to June (April to March for a student); going further back takes one application for each year. If you are approved for the full exemption or the deferral, you can ask for it to be reviewed again for the next year without a new application; a partial exemption, a student deferral or the job-loss exemption needs a new one.
• If you arrived recently: if you were living abroad on the 1 January the review looks at, write the country and the date you moved to Japan on the form. If somebody whose income is checked filed no tax return and had no year-end adjustment for that year, they first file a resident tax declaration at the city office.

What it does to the pension

Forty years of paid premiums give an old-age basic pension of ¥847,300 a year from 65 (fiscal 2026, for somebody born on or after 2 April 1956). Forty years of full exemption would give half of it, ¥423,650. Deferred months give nothing towards the amount unless you pay them later, though they count towards the ten years. Months spent in an employer’s pension count in full, so a few exempt months between jobs make only a small difference.

Paying it back later

You can pay exempt and deferred months later (追納) to bring the pension back up, for months in the ten years before the month your request is approved. From the third fiscal year after the one the exemption was for, a small extra amount is added to what you pay. Paying back a year of fully exempt months adds about ¥10,000 a year to the pension, and a year of deferred months about ¥20,000. What you pay counts as a social insurance premium, so it is deductible from income for tax. Once you are receiving the old-age basic pension, you can no longer pay back.

Questions people ask

Can foreigners get the national pension exemption?

Yes. The rules are the same whatever your nationality. If you were living abroad on the 1 January the review looks at, write the country and the date you moved to Japan on the application.

Is an exemption better than simply not paying?

Yes. An exempt or deferred month counts towards the ten years a pension needs and counts towards the disability and survivors' basic pensions if you applied before an illness or injury began, and a fully exempt month still pays half of a paid month's pension. An unpaid month counts for none of these.

How far back can I apply?

For months whose payment deadline passed less than two years ago, which reaches back to two years and one month before the day you apply. Applying late can still cost you the disability pension for an illness or injury that began before you applied, so apply promptly.

Sources

• Japan Pension Service — 国民年金保険料の免除制度・納付猶予制度 (the four exemptions and the deferral for 20 to 49; the income limits; ¥4,480, ¥8,960 and ¥13,440 for fiscal 2026; the shares of the pension; ¥847,300 and ¥423,650; the job-loss exemption; two years and one month back; the 1 January abroad note; the yearly review). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.
• Japan Pension Service — 国民年金保険料の免除等の申請が可能な期間 (years from July to June, April to March for students, each on the income of the calendar year before it; one application for each year; applying late can cost the disability pension; the job-loss exemption from the month before, with a spouse and head of household who meet the limit or qualify themselves). Japanese, updated 3 August 2026.
• Japan Pension Service — 国民年金保険料の学生納付特例制度 (¥1,280,000 + ¥380,000 for each dependent + social insurance premiums, the student’s own income only; the schools). Japanese, updated 16 October 2026.
• Japan Pension Service — 国民年金保険料の追納制度 (ten years; the extra amount from the third fiscal year; about ¥10,000 and ¥20,000 a year; deductible; not once the pension is paid). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.
• Japan Pension Service — 国民年金保険料 (¥17,920 a month for April 2026 to March 2027). Japanese.