For Those Handling Residence Procedures in Chiba｜Which Immigration Office, Counter Hours, and Online Applications

When residents of Chiba Prefecture extend their period of stay or change their status of residence, many are unsure “which immigration office to go to” and “what hours it is open.” The Chiba Branch Office relocated in September 2024 (Reiwa 6), and information with the old address is still circulating. This article organizes, based on information published by the Immigration Services Agency, the offices with jurisdiction over Chiba, their locations and counter hours, and how to use online applications to avoid going to the counter.

Sources: Immigration Services Agency, “Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau” / “Regional Immigration Offices” / “Online Procedures for Residence Applications” / “Application for Extension of Period of Stay” / “Revision of Fees for Residence Procedures” / “Number of Foreign Residents as of the End of Reiwa 7.”

Which office has jurisdiction over Chiba residents

The offices with jurisdiction over, or sharing the district of, Chiba Prefecture are the Chiba Branch Office and the Matsudo Branch Office of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau. In addition, the main bureau (Shinagawa building) of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau also includes Chiba Prefecture in its jurisdiction.

Office	Jurisdiction / shared district for residence applications	Services
Chiba Branch Office	Chiba Pref., Ibaraki Pref.	General residence examination, seaport operations
Matsudo Branch Office	Chiba Pref., Ibaraki Pref., Arakawa/Adachi/Katsushika/Edogawa wards of Tokyo	General residence examination
Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau (main / Shinagawa)	Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano	Residence examination and others

The same districts also serve as the jurisdiction or shared district for applications for a Certificate of Eligibility. In other words, residents of Chiba Prefecture may apply at the Chiba Branch, the Matsudo Branch, or the main bureau. If you live in the south or central part of the prefecture, the Chiba Branch is often nearer; if you live in the northwest (the Tokatsu area), the Matsudo Branch is often nearer.

Residence procedures cannot be done at Narita Airport. The Immigration Services Agency’s “Regional Immigration Offices” page clearly states that “airport sub-bureaus do not handle residence procedures and cannot answer questions concerning residence procedures.” The Narita Airport sub-bureau is located within the prefecture, but it is not a counter that accepts extensions of period of stay or changes of status of residence.

Location and counter hours of the Chiba Branch Office

The Chiba Branch Office relocated from the Chiba Central Community Center to its current location on September 24, 2024 (Reiwa 6). Notices listing the pre-relocation address may still remain, so please be careful.

Item	Details
Name	Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau, Chiba Branch Office
Address	3F Chiba Port Side Tower, 1-35 Ton’ya-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba 260-0025
Telephone	043-242-6597
Counter hours	9:00–16:00 (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays)
Access	10-min walk from “Shiyakusho-mae” (Chiba Urban Monorail) / 15-min walk from JR Hon-Chiba Station / 14-min walk from Chiba-Chuo Station (Keisei Chiba Line)
Parking	No dedicated parking lot or parking-fee service

The Matsudo Branch Office is at 8F Kitemite Matsudo, 1307-1 Matsudo, Matsudo-shi, Chiba 271-0092, tel. 047-701-5472, with the same counter hours of 9:00–16:00 (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays), a 5-minute walk from the West Exit of JR Matsudo Station / Keisei Matsudo Line Matsudo Station.

The main bureau (Shinagawa building) is at 5-5-30 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8255, with counter hours of 9:00–16:00 (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays). From the Konan Exit (East Exit) of JR Shinagawa Station, take a Toei bus for about 13 minutes and get off at “Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau (Tokyo Nyukoku Kanrikyoku-mae).”

Are there cases where you must go to the main bureau?

The services of the Chiba Branch Office are described as “general residence examination and seaport operations,” and general residence procedures — application for a Certificate of Eligibility, application to change status of residence, application to extend period of stay, application for permission to engage in activities outside the status qualification, and application for a re-entry permit — are handled at the Chiba Branch. Therefore, you basically do not need to travel to Shinagawa for ordinary procedures.

That said, in practice there are mechanisms that exist only at the main bureau. A representative example is the application reservation system. On the Immigration Services Agency website, this system is stated to be “for those who visit the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau (Shinagawa building) to apply,” and the covered procedures are applications to change status of residence, to extend period of stay, to acquire status of residence, for permanent residence, for permission to engage in activities outside the status qualification, and for a Certificate of Authorized Employment. The counter is not fully appointment-only, so you can go without a reservation, but making a reservation before visiting is recommended. The Chiba Branch is not covered by this reservation system.

If you would like to understand the concept of status of residence itself, please also see What Is Status of Residence? Let’s Cover the Basics.

The option of not going to the counter: the Online Residence Application System

Chiba Prefecture is wide from east to west, and it is not unusual for a trip from Tateyama or Choshi to Chiba City to take half a day. This is why we would like you to consider the Online Residence Application System.

Procedures available online

According to materials published by the Immigration Services Agency (as of January 5, 2026), the types available online are as follows.

Type of application	Online availability
Application for a Certificate of Eligibility	Available
Application to change status of residence	Available
Application to extend period of stay	Available
Application to acquire status of residence	Available
Application for a Certificate of Authorized Employment	Available
Application for a re-entry permit	Only when done simultaneously with a change, extension, or acquisition
Application for permission for activities outside status	Only when done simultaneously with a change, extension, or acquisition

Those holding the status of “Diplomat,” “Temporary Visitor,” or “Designated Activities (departure preparation period),” and those wishing to change to these statuses, are excluded. The Agency has also announced that applications for a Specified Residence Card do not support online application (as of June 2026).

Who can use it

The seven categories of users are: (1) staff of the affiliated organization, (2) lawyers or administrative scriveners, (3) staff of a public-interest corporation whose purpose is to facilitate the smooth acceptance of foreign nationals, (4) staff of a registered support organization, (5) the foreign national themselves, (6) a statutory agent, and (7) a relative (spouse, child, father, or mother).

When the person themselves, a statutory agent, or a relative uses it, they must hold a My Number Card (with a valid electronic certificate for signature and a valid electronic certificate for user authentication). Also, as for the foreign national themselves, those who are not mid-to-long-term residents (those with “Diplomat,” “Official,” or “Temporary Visitor,” or those with a period of stay of three months or less) and those under 15 cannot use it, and applications for a Certificate of Eligibility are excluded. Applications by relatives are, as a rule, limited to cases where the applicant is under 16 or is unable to apply themselves due to illness or other reasons.

By contrast, lawyers and administrative scriveners who have registered can apply online for all of the above application types. The specific flow when you delegate the filing is explained in detail in Online Application for the Engineer Visa: Conditions, Steps, and Points to Note.

Fees are lower than at the counter

Fees were revised effective April 1, 2025 (Reiwa 7), and the amount for online applications was set lower than at the counter.

Procedure	Counter	Online
Change of status of residence	6,000 yen	5,500 yen
Extension of period of stay	6,000 yen	5,500 yen
Permanent residence permit	10,000 yen	—
Re-entry permit (single)	4,000 yen	3,500 yen
Re-entry permit (multiple)	7,000 yen	6,500 yen
Issuance of a Certificate of Authorized Employment	2,000 yen	1,600 yen

As for how you receive documents, the residence card can be received either by mail or at the counter (in some cases, such as when a re-entry permit application is filed at the same time, mail may not be selectable). As for the Certificate of Eligibility, it has been possible to receive it by email since March 17, 2023 (Reiwa 5).

Tips for avoiding congestion

Counter hours are from 9:00 to 16:00, and the office is not open on Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays. For those who want to complete procedures without taking time off work, these very hours are the biggest hurdle. Keeping the following three points in mind makes it easier to plan without strain.

1. Start preparing early. The application period for an extension of period of stay is on or before the date the period of stay expires, and those who have a period of stay of six months or more can apply from roughly three months before expiry (Article 21 of the Immigration Control Act). Where special circumstances such as hospitalization or a long business trip are recognized, applications may be accepted more than three months in advance, so please inquire with the office where you will apply beforehand.
2. Allow for the standard processing period. The standard processing period for an extension of period of stay is stated to be two weeks to one month. If you apply just before the expiry date, the expiry may arrive before a result is issued.
3. Online cannot be used on the very day of expiry. The Immigration Services Agency advises that you cannot apply through the Online Residence Application System on the final day of the residence deadline (the day the period of stay expires), and that you must apply at an office within the jurisdiction. The online system is stated to be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (except during system maintenance, etc.), but on the final day only, you will need to go to the counter.

How many foreign residents are there in Chiba Prefecture?

According to the Immigration Services Agency’s “Number of Foreign Residents as of the End of Reiwa 7” (as of the end of December, Reiwa 7 = 2025), the number of foreign residents nationwide was 4,125,395, an increase of 356,418 (9.5%) from the end of the previous year, exceeding 4 million for the first time.

The number of foreign residents in Chiba Prefecture was 259,663, accounting for 6.3% of the national total. The rate of increase from the end of the previous year (231,614) was 12.1%, exceeding the national average of 9.5%. In terms of numbers, it ranks after Tokyo (801,438), Osaka (375,319), Aichi (357,800), Kanagawa (317,353), and Saitama (290,937).

The breakdown by status of residence in the same statistics (Chiba Prefecture, as of the end of Reiwa 7) is as follows.

Status of residence	Number in Chiba Prefecture
Permanent Resident	61,586
Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services	36,940
Dependent	30,232
Student	27,468
Technical Intern Training	24,157
Specified Skilled Worker	24,152
Long-Term Resident	12,680
Spouse or Child of Japanese National	11,228
Special Permanent Resident	6,642

Technical Intern Training and Specified Skilled Worker together total 48,309, meaning roughly one in five foreign residents in the prefecture holds one of these two. For details on Specified Skilled Worker, see Complete Guide to the Specified Skilled Worker Visa: Type (i) vs (ii) and the 19 Fields; for the most common work-related status, see Complete Guide to the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services Visa. Also, since the most common status in the prefecture is Permanent Resident, those who wish to check the requirements will find Permanent Residence Application Guide: Requirements, Processing Time, and Documents helpful.

Note: The above are all statistics by status of residence and by prefecture, not a breakdown by industry. You may see explanations such as “Chiba has many foreign nationals in agriculture and fisheries,” but industry cannot be read from these statistics. If you wish to check the situation by industry, please refer to other statistics such as the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s report on the employment status of foreign nationals.

Our location and consultations

Kaneko Hidetaka Administrative Scrivener Office is a 4-minute walk from the South Exit of JR Chiba Station.

Item	Details
Address	Dai-8 Higashi Bldg. 308, 18-12 Shinmachi, Chuo-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba
Nearest station	4-minute walk from the South Exit of JR Chiba Station
Telephone	043-400-3399
Initial consultation	Free for 60 minutes
Languages	Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, English

Applications themselves can now be completed online, but the judgment of which status of residence to use and which issues to prove is not something the system can do for you. If you live in Chiba Prefecture, it should not be difficult to meet in person and consult.

Summary

• Residence procedures for Chiba Prefecture residents can be done at the Chiba Branch Office (3F Chiba Port Side Tower, 1-35 Ton’ya-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba-shi), the Matsudo Branch Office, or the main bureau (Shinagawa building) of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau.
• The Chiba Branch’s counter hours are 9:00–16:00 (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays), the telephone is 043-242-6597, and there is no dedicated parking. It relocated in September 2024 (Reiwa 6), so beware of the old address.
• The Narita Airport sub-bureau does not handle residence procedures.
• Using the Online Residence Application System, you can complete procedures without going to the counter, and the fees are set lower than at the counter. However, it cannot be used on the very day the period of stay expires.
• The number of foreign residents in Chiba Prefecture was 259,663 (as of the end of Reiwa 7), increasing 12.1% from the previous year-end, faster than the national average.

This article is based on information posted on the Immigration Services Agency website as of July 2026. Locations, counter hours, and fees are subject to change, so please check the latest information on the Immigration Services Agency website.

Our support

For consultations on status of residence within Chiba Prefecture, please entrust them to Kaneko Hidetaka Administrative Scrivener Office.

• 98% approval rate
• Languages: Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, English
• Free initial consultation
• Serving Chiba, Tokyo, and nationwide (online consultation available)

Contact us here