Since June 2025 you can carry your My Number Card on an iPhone. It is worth being precise about what that means: your phone is issued its own certificates, tied to the card. It is not a photograph of the card, and it is not a copy of it.
What you need before you start
- The physical My Number Card. There is no way to get the digital version without it.
- iPhone Xs or later, on iOS 18.5 or later. Apple Watch and other Apple devices are not supported.
- An internet connection. Required for setup.
- Two PINs. This is where most people get stuck.
The two PINs
Enrolment needs both of these, and they are not the same thing:
- The card-information PIN (券面事項入力補助用暗証番号) — 4 digits.
- The signature password (署名用パスワード) — 6 to 16 characters, letters and numbers.
These were set when you collected the card, possibly years ago. If you have forgotten them, or locked them by guessing, you cannot reset them on the phone — that is a trip to your municipal office with the card and photo ID. Check you know them before you set aside an evening for this.
Adding it
Open Wallet, choose to add an identity document, select My Number Card, and follow the prompts — the process hands off to the Myna Portal app (マイナポータル), which does the actual work of reading the card and issuing the certificates to your phone. You can equally start in the Myna Portal app and reach the same place.
You will be asked to hold the physical card against the top of the phone so it can be read over NFC. There is no step where you photograph or scan the card at various angles.
What it does
- Health insurance at clinics, hospitals and pharmacies — the function most people use daily.
- Certificates at convenience stores — residence certificates and the like, from the multi-copy machine.
- Logging in to Myna Portal, and identifying yourself in apps and online services, authenticated with Face ID.
What it does not do
Three limits are worth stating plainly, because assuming otherwise is expensive:
- It is not a substitute for the physical My Number Card. Apple says so directly. Keep the card.
- It is not a driving licence. The My Number Card can be integrated with your licence as a physical card, but the phone version does not carry licence function. The Digital Agency and the National Police Agency are still working on that.
- It is not a residence card. Your residence card — including the combined specified residence card — must be carried at all times, and a phone does not satisfy that, whatever is in Wallet.
One phone at a time
The card can live on a single iPhone. Adding it to a new phone removes it from the old one automatically, which is the behaviour you want when you upgrade — and a thing to remember if you were hoping to have it on two devices.
Once set up, in-person verification works offline. Online authentication, naturally, does not.
Guides are dated rather than undated: last reviewed 7 August 2026. This is an organisational aid, not legal or immigration advice — always confirm anything consequential with your ward office, the Immigration Services Agency, or a qualified professional.