Child allowance is a subsidy policy to help households having children financially.
In the background of child allowance establishment, the government is aimed at applying the breaks to population which keeps declining.
The government set about maintaining the child-rearing environment that parents can raise a child without anxiety with the expectation that this policy can help increase the number of birth rates.
People’s strong demand that requires the government to support the financial part of child rearing backed up the establishment of the child allowance policy.
Contents
It is possible for non-Japanese to receive child allowance?
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare take its stance that if parents, regardless of the nationality, live in Japan and they satisfy the allowance requirements that parents shall take care of children under their livelihood, the children are applied to the allowance.
The followings are the basic requirements when you receive the allowance but it really depends on the municipality. You have to check the requirements and conditions of child allowance in a municipality where you live.
- Parents meet children at least two times a year
- Allowance for living cost and school expenses is transferred between parents and children at least once in 4 months
- Prepare a resident certificate issued by parents’ country, which proves parents lived with children together before coming to Japan.
- Parents and children have already applied for resident registration at a municipality where they live
When is expiration of child allowance ?
Under the current child allowance system, it is effective until a child graduates from a junior high school. (the first 31st, March after a child reach his/her fifteenth birthday)
First thing first, you just make an inquiry about the requirements of child allowance for non-Japanese residents before asking application procedure.
If your child has been left to an orphan or foster parents, you don’t have the right to receive a child allowance.
How much can I receive?
In 2019, the amount of child allowance you can receive is as followings.
| 0 to less than 3 years old | 15,000 yen monthly |
|---|---|
| From 3 years old to right before graduating from elementary school | 10,000 yen monthly (after a 3rd child, the allowance amount will be 15,000 yen) |
| Junior high school student | 10,000 yen monthly |
However, child allowance payment receipt is limited depending on how much income you earn.
If your income exceeds a certain amount, calculated by the number of spouses in a family, you can’t receive a child allowance and 5000 yen per child is paid monthly as a special exception instead of this child allowance
For example, if your family composition consists of a full-time housewife and two children if your income is 7,360,000 yen or more annually, your household is not eligible to receive a child allowance.
If both of parents work, income, higher one of either husband income or wife’s income becomes the standard of whether you receive a child allowance.
Allowance payment is not made every month but you receive allowance 4 months’ worth of allowance in Jun, October, and February.
How to go through procedure
Receiving a child allowance, you need to prepare two documents. You submit a child allowance jido teate nintei seikyu-sho (authorization application form). After that, you submit the ‘genkyo todoke’ (present condition form).
Authorization application form
Authorization application form for a child allowance by Ayaseshi, Kanagawa
Applicants need to go through the procedure at a municipal office. What you need to take with you is…
- Jido teate nintei seikyu-sho (authorization application form)
- Inkan
- A copy of your passbook or cash card
- A copy of applicant’s heath insurance certificate or My Number card
There is a case that you are required to bring My Number card, income certificate, and resident certificate as necessary.
Present condition form
Authorization application form for a child allowance by Setagayaku, Tokyo
“Present condition form” is a document to check if your household satisfies the requirements of a child allowance for the next year’s payment. The first “present condition form” is sent to you in the next Jun after your first child allowance is accepted.
If you don’t submit this document until the deadline, a municipal office will stop paying an allowance to your household.
And, you can’t request a municipal office to provide the past child allowance payment by dating back to a certain period that you haven’t yet received.
So you should go through the procedure as soon as possible after giving birth to a child. Principally, payment will start from the next month after you submit an authorization application form to a municipal office.
Where can I get these forms?
You can get these forms at a municipal office in a region, where you live. Or, you may be able to download PDF files of these forms from the website of a municipal office if it prepares a link to download these forms.
Things to be noted
Notification procedures are required in the following circumstances
- When there is a change of address (If an applicant [recipient] moves to a different city, ward, town or village, a new (jido teate) child allowance application is required at the office for the new address.)
- When the applicant or the child for whom the allowance is being received leaves Japan
- When the applicant (recipient) no longer takes care of the child
- When the applicant (recipient) and child live separately
- When, due to birth or death, the number of children for whom the (jido teate) allowance applies
changes - When the bank account to which the allowance is transferred changes (A new transfer can be
made only to the account of the applicant.) - When the recipient has become a civil servant
Etc. - In the case of a birth, or moving to another city, ward, town, or village, procedures must be
carried out within 15 days from the day after the event. Please note that if procedures are delayed, the allowance for certain months may not be received.
Source of reference: a website of the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare