Nagasaki Name and Address Changes for Foreign Residents

Nagasaki name and address changes for foreign residents are not handled through one all-purpose government transaction. An address move normally begins with Nagasaki City, while a legal name, nationality, date-of-birth or sex change on a residence card begins with immigration. Your My Number card, Japanese driver’s licence, health-insurance record and pension record then follow different update rules.

The practical challenge is sequencing, not simply obtaining a certified translation. Some foreign civil records need a Japanese translation identifying the translator; an address-only move may require no translation at all. This guide covers Nagasaki City—not every municipality in Nagasaki Prefecture—and focuses on record updates after moving, marriage, divorce or another legal identity change.

Key takeaways for Nagasaki residents

For a new address, start with an authorized Nagasaki City counter. A municipal residence notification can also satisfy the immigration residence-address notification requirement. Foreign-resident notifications are not accepted at every small district office.
For a changed legal name or nationality, start with immigration. Update the residence card before asking downstream offices to reproduce the new identity.
Nagasaki City uses a more specific translation concept than the English phrase “certified translation.” For foreign documents proving a household relationship during an overseas move-in, the city asks for an original document and a Japanese translation that identifies the translator.
A Japanese driver’s licence does not update automatically. Record changes are handled at the Nagasaki Driver’s License Center, which has limited reception windows and no dedicated visitor parking.

Who this guide is for

This city-level guide is for foreign residents living inside the administrative boundary of Nagasaki City who need to:

register an address after arriving from overseas or another Japanese municipality;
update records after marriage, divorce, adoption, a court order or a passport name change;
resolve a mismatch among a passport, residence card, jūminhyō, My Number card, Japanese driver’s licence, health-insurance record or pension record; or
prove a relationship between foreign household members using a marriage certificate, birth certificate or similar civil record.

Practical language needs can include Chinese–Japanese, English–Japanese, Nepali–Japanese, Vietnamese–Japanese, Indonesian–Japanese and Korean–Japanese. English documents are also common among applicants whose civil records were issued in English even though it is not their first language. These are planning examples, not evidence that any one language pair dominates local translation orders.

A typical packet combines passports and residence cards with a foreign marriage certificate, birth certificate, divorce judgment or name-change record. Higher-risk cases involve different name order, omitted middle names, inconsistent Roman spelling or a Japanese record using a different katakana rendering.

Start with the record that legally changed

The safest way to avoid repeat visits is to separate an address event from an identity event. Do not begin with the most convenient office; begin with the authority responsible for the changed fact.

First steps for common record changes in Nagasaki City
What changed?	First practical stop	Translation likely?	What follows?
Address only	Authorized Nagasaki City regional center	Usually not for the address itself	My Number card, licence and any non-linked accounts
Legal name, nationality, date of birth or sex on a residence card	Fukuoka Regional Immigration Services Bureau, Nagasaki Branch Office	Possible for the foreign evidence supporting the change	City records, My Number, licence, insurance, pension and employer records
Household relationship during overseas move-in	Nagasaki City	Yes when the relationship record is not in Japanese	Residence record, My Number and relevant benefits or insurance
Mismatch with no underlying legal change	The authority holding the incorrect record	Sometimes; prepare the identity chain first	Check every downstream record using the same spelling

Nagasaki name and address changes for foreign residents: the correct order

1. If you moved, report the address to Nagasaki City

For an overseas move into Nagasaki City, the notification is due within 14 days after you actually take up residence. Nagasaki City’s instructions list the passports and residence cards for the people moving, along with additional evidence when an arrival stamp is unavailable. If two foreign residents in the household need their relationship recorded, bring the original foreign marriage or birth record and, when it is in another language, a translation identifying the translator. See the city’s official overseas move-in instructions.

The City Hall headquarters is at 4-1 Uono-machi. The Central Regional Center is on the first floor, and normal municipal hours are weekdays from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., excluding public holidays and the year-end closure. Some regional centers support advance form preparation or staff-assisted entry.

Local routing trap: Nagasaki’s small chiku jimushō district offices do not accept foreign-resident notifications. A nearby counter may therefore be the wrong counter even if it handles simpler municipal services. Check that your destination is an authorized regional center before travelling.

For a medium- or long-term resident, presenting the residence card and completing the municipal residence notification generally also counts as the immigration notification of the new residence. The national procedure is explained by the Immigration Services Agency. This is the counterintuitive part: an address change can begin at City Hall without a second trip to immigration for that same address.

2. If your legal identity changed, update the residence card first

A change to the name, nationality or region, date of birth, or sex shown on a residence card follows a different route. The Immigration Services Agency requires the relevant notification within 14 days of the change. Its residence-card item-change procedure identifies the application, residence card, passport, photograph and evidence of the change that may be required.

In Nagasaki, the relevant local node is the Fukuoka Regional Immigration Services Bureau, Nagasaki Branch Office:

Address: Nagasaki Port Joint Government Building, 7-29 Matsugaemachi, Nagasaki City
Telephone: 095-822-5289
Counter hours: weekdays, 9:00 a.m.–noon and 1:00–4:00 p.m., excluding holidays
Access: approximately five minutes on foot from the Oura-Kaigandori tram stop or about two minutes from the Glover Garden bus stop

Confirm the current counter arrangements before travelling. Once the residence card reflects the new identity, use that updated source record when dealing with Nagasaki City and downstream organizations. Starting with a driver’s licence, pension office or bank can produce another version of the name before the primary immigration record has been corrected.

3. Update the My Number card and municipal records

Bring the My Number cards for everyone whose recorded details changed. Nagasaki City processes card-face name and address updates at regional centers and certain offices, but not every district counter can perform them. A change may also affect the card’s electronic certificate, so confirm whether its digital functions require an additional procedure.

If you use National Health Insurance, ask the municipal counter whether any qualification document or insurance record requires a separate update. Since the former health-insurance-card system has changed, the practical question is which credential or qualification document you currently use—not simply whether you possess an older plastic card.

What kind of Japanese translation does Nagasaki City require?

In this setting, certified translation is a bridge term. Nagasaki City’s overseas move-in page uses the Japanese concept hon’yakusha o akiraka ni shita yakubun: a translation that makes the translator identifiable. On that page, the city does not state that a court-sworn translator, notarized translation or apostille on the translation is required.

That does not mean every office accepts every self-produced document. The cited city instruction does not set out a universal rule on applicant self-translation, translations by relatives, electronic delivery or a required certification template. Before ordering or preparing a translation, ask the receiving counter whether it expects a signature, completion date, address, telephone number, certification statement or paper original.

As a practical preparation measure—not a published Nagasaki City form—use a translation that reproduces every visible field and clearly identifies the translator. Keep names, dates, certificate numbers, seals, annotations and illegible text aligned with the source. Do not silently remove a middle name or reverse the name order to make it look more Japanese.

For a concise explanation of the terminology, see CertOf’s guide to Japanese translation versus certified translation after a name change. Questions about applicant translation, machine translation and notarization are summarized separately in Japan self-translation and notarization limits. These national concepts remain secondary to the receiving Nagasaki office’s instructions.

Updating a Japanese driver’s licence in Nagasaki

After the source identity and municipal address are correct, update the name or address on an existing Japanese driver’s licence. Nagasaki City police stations no longer handle these record changes; the city location is the Nagasaki Driver’s License Center, 5-26 Onouemachi.

The Nagasaki Prefectural Police license-center page publishes narrow reception windows. Record changes are generally accepted on eligible weekdays from 10:30–11:15 a.m. and 2:00–3:30 p.m., with limited service on the second and fourth Sundays from 3:00–4:00 p.m. A Sunday opening can be paired with closure on the preceding Friday, so check the current calendar rather than relying on a generic weekday schedule.

The center has no dedicated parking. Visitors are asked not to use the adjoining Nagasaki Police Station’s general parking, apart from stated accommodations for people with disabilities or pregnancy. Public transport is the safer plan.

Do not confuse a record update with foreign-licence conversion. Conversion of a foreign licence is handled through advance document screening and appointments at the Nagasaki Prefectural Driver’s License Examination Center in Omura. It also requires a Japanese licence translation from an accepted issuer. An ordinary commercial certified translation cannot be represented as a substitute for that designated document.

Check pension records instead of assuming a separate visit

A pension-office trip is not automatically required. The Japan Pension Service states that when a person’s My Number is correctly recorded against the Basic Pension Number, a separate name or address notification is generally unnecessary. Exceptions include records without that linkage, people without a My Number and certain short-term or overseas-resident cases. Employees covered by Employees’ Pension Insurance normally raise the issue with their employer; a Category 1 National Pension insured person uses the municipal pension route. See the Japan Pension Service name-and-address FAQ.

The Japan Pension Service lists the following principal Nagasaki City offices:

Nagasaki-Kita Pension Office: 4-22 Inasamachi
Nagasaki-Minami Pension Office: 3-1 Kanayamachi

The Nagasaki Pension Consultation Center at Iwasaki Building 5F, 2-6 Chitosemachi, has a narrower role focused on pension claims and pensioner reports. It is not a universal substitute for enrollment or underlying record-correction work. Consult the official Nagasaki pension-office list and confirm jurisdiction before selecting the north or south office.

Build one identity packet before visiting downstream offices

Prepare a master packet and use the same spelling decisions throughout:

current and previous passports;
current residence card;
My Number card;
recent jūminhyō showing the details relevant to the receiving office;
foreign marriage certificate, birth certificate, divorce judgment or legal name-change record;
complete Japanese translation where required;
a one-page old-name-to-new-name cross-reference;
Japanese driver’s licence, if held;
Basic Pension Number notice and recent pension correspondence; and
employer and bank records that still use the former identity.

For longer identity chains, the source record should remain visually traceable. CertOf’s discussion of Japanese name-chain records explains why a marriage, divorce or family record should connect the old and new identities rather than merely display the latest name.

Local scheduling, cost and delay reality

There is no single official citywide completion time for this entire chain. It spans separate authorities, and the total depends on whether the case involves an address-only move, an immigration identity change or a disputed mismatch. Avoid any provider promising a fixed government completion date for the whole process.

City Hall: use weekday hours and verify that your selected counter accepts foreign-resident notifications.
Immigration: keep the noon-to-1:00 p.m. counter break in mind and bring the original evidence supporting the identity change.
Driver’s licence: arrive inside the specific record-change reception window; general building hours are not enough.
Pension: verify My Number linkage and office jurisdiction before travelling.
Translation cost: depends on language, document length, handwriting, seals, formatting and whether paper delivery is requested. It is not a Nagasaki government fee.

If timing matters, separate the controllable translation schedule from the government schedule. CertOf’s translation turnaround benchmarks explain what affects document-production time, while the receiving authority controls its own review.

Local failure points worth preventing

Going to the nearest district office. A convenient local counter may lack authority to accept a foreign-resident notification.
Treating an address change like a legal name change. They begin with different authorities.
Submitting a translation without identifying its translator. This conflicts with Nagasaki City’s published instruction for foreign household-relationship records.
Assuming every downstream system updates automatically. My Number-linked pension records may update, but a Japanese driver’s licence does not.
Changing the spelling during translation. A tidier-looking name can create a new mismatch if it does not mirror the passport and source record.
Driving to the license center without checking parking or the closure calendar. The center has no dedicated visitor parking and observes unusual Friday/Sunday scheduling.
Buying the wrong licence translation. Foreign-licence conversion requires an accepted issuer, not simply a translation carrying a commercial certificate.

Commercial translation and administrative-service options

The default need in this article is document preparation, not a local lawyer, notary or government representative. Compare providers by the document and support they can actually deliver—not by claims of local government approval.

Commercial service routes for foreign-resident record updates
Provider type	Useful for	What to verify	Important boundary
CertOf online document translation	Foreign marriage, birth, divorce and name-change records; consistent formatting and revision support	Required language direction, translator details, paper versus PDF delivery and the receiving counter’s current instructions	Not a Nagasaki government agent and cannot guarantee acceptance
Nagasaki administrative scrivener firm	Complex immigration filings, international-marriage documentation or an identity chain needing procedural assistance	Immigration application-intermediary status, written scope and whether translation is performed in-house	An administrative scrivener is not automatically an official translation authority
Designated foreign-licence translation issuer	Foreign driver’s licence conversion in Omura	Whether the issuer and issuing country are accepted under the current police rules	Special-purpose route; unnecessary for an ordinary Japanese licence address update

Before ordering, review who signs a CertOf translation certificate and the guide to PDF, Word and paper translation formats. You can then review the online ordering process or proceed to the secure translation submission page.

Free public and nonprofit support in Nagasaki

Public guidance and consumer-support resources
Resource	Contact or location	Use it for	Does it issue translations?
Nagasaki Prefecture Foreign Residents Consultation Desk	Dejima Exchange Hall 1F, 2-11 Dejimamachi; 095-820-3377; weekdays 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.	Free multilingual guidance on residence, work, health, welfare and daily-life procedures; published coverage includes 22 languages	No
Nagasaki City general municipal guidance	095-822-8888	Checking which regional center handles a municipal procedure and what to bring	No
Japan Pension Service offices in Nagasaki	Nagasaki-Kita, Nagasaki-Minami and the limited-purpose consultation center	Confirming pension linkage, jurisdiction and whether a separate record notification is required	No
Nagasaki City Consumer Affairs Center	Meruka Tsukimachi 4F, 3-18 Tsukimachi; 095-829-1500	Consumer-contract disputes involving a paid translation or administrative service, including refund or misleading-advertising issues; telephone contact is recommended before visiting	No

Why language preparation matters locally

Nagasaki City reports approximately 5,400 foreign residents as of December 31, 2025 and publishes municipal information in multiple languages. This makes multilingual access a practical municipal issue rather than a rare exception. The city’s multicultural-coexistence information describes its foreign-resident support and multilingual information work.

Population data should not be turned into unsupported claims about the most popular translation language or the fastest office. Its useful implication is narrower: Nagasaki counters regularly encounter foreign names and overseas civil records, while applicants still need to prepare a document-specific Japanese translation when the receiving rule requires one.

Misleading claims and complaint routes

Be cautious if a provider claims that its translation is “officially approved by Nagasaki City,” guarantees government acceptance, or describes an ordinary certified translation as automatically valid for foreign-licence conversion. Ask for the exact receiving rule and the provider’s written service boundary.

For a translation-quality or refund dispute, preserve the quotation, source files, delivered translation, revision messages and any government request for correction. Use the provider’s written revision or refund process; CertOf publishes its refund and returns terms. If a Nagasaki consumer contract remains disputed, contact the Nagasaki City Consumer Affairs Center. It can provide consumer advice and may assist with mediation, but it cannot overturn an immigration, city, police or pension decision.

For procedural uncertainty rather than a commercial dispute, contact the authority that owns the record. The Foreign Residents Consultation Desk is the more appropriate first stop when language access makes it difficult to identify that authority.

Frequently asked questions

Do I report a foreign resident name change to Nagasaki City Hall or immigration first?

For a legal name or other non-address item on a residence card, begin with the Nagasaki Branch Office of the Fukuoka Regional Immigration Services Bureau. After the residence card is corrected, update the municipal and downstream records. An address-only move normally begins with an authorized Nagasaki City counter.

Can I update my residence address at any Nagasaki district office?

No. Nagasaki City states that its district offices do not accept foreign-resident notifications. Use an authorized regional center, such as the Central Regional Center, and confirm the counter before travelling.

Does Nagasaki City require a certified translation of a foreign marriage or birth certificate?

For an overseas move-in where a foreign marriage or birth certificate proves the relationship between foreign household members, the city asks for the original and a Japanese translation identifying the translator. Its published page does not impose an English-style sworn or notarized translation label. Confirm the translator-detail and paper-format requirements for your particular submission.

Can I translate my own document?

Nagasaki City’s published instruction identifies the required outcome—a translation that makes the translator clear—but does not provide a universal self-translation acceptance rule or standard certification template. Ask the receiving counter before relying on an applicant or family translation, especially where the document establishes the applicant’s own name or family relationship.

Does changing my jūminhyō automatically update my pension and driver’s licence?

Not both. A pension record generally does not need a separate name or address notification when My Number is correctly linked to the Basic Pension Number, subject to exceptions. A Japanese driver’s licence requires its own record-change procedure.

Where do I change the name or address on a Japanese driver’s licence in Nagasaki?

Use the Nagasaki Driver’s License Center at 5-26 Onouemachi. Nagasaki City police stations no longer perform these record changes. Check the restricted reception windows and closure calendar, and plan to use public transport because the center has no dedicated parking.

Can CertOf provide the translation used to convert a foreign driver’s licence?

Do not assume so. Foreign-licence conversion requires a Japanese translation from an issuer accepted under the applicable police rules. CertOf may assist with other supporting documents, but an ordinary commercial certified translation must not be presented as a replacement for the designated licence translation.

Prepare the translation before the records diverge further

If a foreign marriage certificate, birth certificate, divorce judgment or name-change document is the missing link, submit a clear scan through the CertOf translation portal. Include the exact name spellings used on the passport and residence card, identify every former name, and tell the team which Nagasaki authority will receive the document.

CertOf can help prepare and format the translation, maintain field-level consistency and handle appropriate revisions. It does not act as an immigration representative, reserve government appointments, provide legal advice or promise acceptance by Nagasaki City, immigration, the police or the Japan Pension Service.

Disclaimer: This guide provides general document-preparation and routing information, not legal advice. Government procedures, reception dates and document requirements can change. Confirm current requirements directly with the receiving Nagasaki authority before travelling, mailing originals or ordering a special-purpose translation.

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