📮 Pension support benefit forms from Sep 1

❓ What's happening?

The Japan Pension Service began mailing the FY2026 postcard-type claim form for the Pension Support Benefit (年金生活者支援給付金) on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, sending them out in batches. The forms go to basic pension recipients who have newly become eligible for the benefit. The benefit is an extra payment added on top of the pension for recipients whose pension income and other income fall below a set standard, and it is not paid automatically — the recipient must file a claim. Once a claim has been approved and payments begin, there is generally no need to re-apply each year as long as the requirements are still met; instead, the Pension Service sends a claim form to people who newly qualify. Those who receive the postcard form can either fill it in and mail it back or submit it electronically; instructions are on the Pension Service page for individual online filing of this claim form. Separately, people whose eligibility the Pension Service cannot confirm receive an A4-size claim form together with an income status report (所得状況届) used to verify income. Because what you must submit depends on which document arrives, check the mail carefully before acting.

👥 Who is affected?

• ●Foreign nationals in Japan receiving an old-age, disability, or survivors' basic pension
• ●Anyone who receives the postcard-type claim form mailed from September 2026
• ●Anyone who receives the A4-size claim form together with the income status report instead
• ●Pension recipients with low income, including elderly people and people with disabilities
• ●Family members helping a parent or spouse with pension paperwork

🌏 Impact on foreign residents

The Pension Support Benefit does not distinguish by nationality. If you live in Japan, receive a basic pension, and meet the income requirement, you qualify on the same terms as Japanese recipients. The common reason foreign residents miss out is language: everything arrives in Japanese, and a postcard is easily mistaken for advertising or a notice that needs no reply. Unlike the pension itself, which is paid automatically once the initial procedure is done, this benefit does not start until you submit the claim form — that is the key difference. Also, if you have moved without filing a change of address with the Pension Service, the form will never reach you. If you travel between Japan and your home country, or help a family member with pension paperwork, open every piece of mail arriving from September onward and check whether the sender is the Japan Pension Service.