The Immigration Bureau's Online "e-Notification" Service

Under Japan's recently revised immigration laws, foreign residents of the country are explicitly instructed to inform the Ministry of Justice Immigration Bureau of any changes to information they've registered with the bureau. For example, when you change jobs or get a divorce, you're now required to notify the immigration bureau and can face penalties for failing to do so.

To ease the burden of these notifications, the Immigration Bureau has established an online notification service that allows foreign residents to log in and submit many (but not all, as we'll see) of the legally required notifications without making a time-consuming and, for some, costly visit to the nearest regional or branch office.

What is a "Special Permanent Resident", Anyway?

"Special Permanent Resident." It's a term that plagues Japanese immigration legalese, and I've only ever had a vague inkling of what it means. It identifies a group of people that, for some reason or other, has been granted special permission to be in Japan indefinitely without needing to notify the immigration bureau of working situation or marital status, but whose members are still not recognized as actual citizens in Japan.

I'd heard stories of how, especially in the late 80's and early 90's, the MOJ wrote out some special immigration laws to encourage ethnically Japanese Brazilians and other South Americans to come to Japan as laborers. And I knew that there were a lot of ethnic Koreans in Japan whose families had lived here for generations but had been and sometimes still are marginalized to certain communities and severely discriminated against. They had been encouraged to come into the country and stay here for the long haul, but not as citizens.

All these people were the ones the government was talking about when it used the term "Special Permanent Resident," right?

Residency Card and Visa Expiration Woes in Japan

Recently I had to renew my landing permission at Japanese immigration. I was a little worried about the process because of my impending expiration dates and some upcoming plans to travel abroad. However, things worked out OK, and I ended up learning a lot from a nice lady at the immigration window. Here's the story:

The New Re-entry Permit System

As you most likely know by now, there has been a pretty big change in the Japanese immigration system over the past year or so. Gone are the "gaijin cards," replaced with more inoccuous sounding "resident cards." Even better, the expensive and terribly inconvenient "re-entry permit" (sai-nyukoku kyoka 再入国許可)that all resident aliens were required to pony up for before leaving the country. 

But little do many foreigners know, the re-entry permit system is not actually gone; rather, it has just been simplified and stream-lined, thereby removing the trip to the immigration authorities before you travel. Let's take a look.

Juki Card Application and Expiration Date

Just a mini-update about the juki card (住基カード), a government-issued identification card that was made available to foreign residents earlier this month.

As a reminder, the juki card is one of the few government ID cards available to foreign residents which can contain your 通称名 (tsuushoumei), or registered alias. If you're like me and have a long name, you may find that it's the only card you can get with a tsuushoumei on it.

Getting Married in Japan: Changing to a Spousal Status of Residence

If you are getting married to a Japanese national and already a lawfully registerd foreigner with mid-to-long term residence, you may find it advantageous to take a trip down to the local immigratin authorities and apply for a so-called "spouse visa."

Among other advantages, becoming an offically registered spouse removes any working restrictions that a traditional visa carries. In addition, it is easier apply for permenent residency (eien jumin-ken 永遠住民権) when you are offically married to a Japanese national.

Don't Change to the Zairyu Card Yet?

Back in May, we covered the new Zairyu Card (在留カード) being issued to foreigners in Japan. This card replaces the old Alien Registration Card (外国人登録証明書).

The change is optional for the validity of your card, your period of stay (在留期間), or until July 8, 2015, whichever comes first. Up until that time limit, you can continue using your old Alien Registration Card as an equivalent to the Zairyu Card.

But, there are a few complications that might incline you to hang on to the old ARC as long as possible:

Japanese Ability to be Linked to Visa Extensions?

This article is a bit dated, but I only stumbled across it fairly recently: In May of 2008, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hinted in a press conference that it would like to start taking Japanese language ability into consideration when issuing visas to or renewing landing permissions for foreign residents.

(A Youtube video of the press conference is also available; there's no particular variation between it and the written record, but of additional interest on Youtube are the scathing comments in Japanese about former Minister of Foreign Affairs Masahiko Komura and his "antinational" proposals.) 

Alternatives to Working Visas

Usually, you need a 4-year university degree to obtain a working visa and come work in Japan. But, in case you really wanted to know, and people seem to ask about this a lot, there are other kinds of visas that enable you to work in Japan.

For readers hoping to find a secret, easier way to work in Japan than finishing college, I'm sorry to say that these other options aren't going to thrill you with their ease:

Working in Japan without a Degree

Occasionally, people ask whether it is possible to work in Japan without a 4-year university diploma. I won't beat around the bush: The answer, in 90% of cases, is "no."

The reason for this is not an industry requirement so much as an immigration requirement.

Example of a Landing Permission

As a continuation of our visa series, today we take a look at the 上陸許可 (jyouriku kyoka), or "Landing Permission," stamp in your visa. This stamp is your lifeblood in Japan. Obey the items written on this stamp, or risk deportation from and sanctions on re-entry to Japan.

Example of a Japan Visa

If you come to Japan and intend to stay for a long time, you will almost certainly have a "Japan Visa" in your passport. It is big and shiny and takes up a whole page, and at the top in block letters are the words 日本国査証.

We explained the difference between this Visa and the much more important Landing Permission (上陸許可) before, but for your reference, here is an example of a Japan Visa and explanation of its important points:

Your Real Visa: 査証 and 上陸許可

Visas are a pretty big aspect of any expat's life. And more often than not, they seem to leave people feeling stressed and bummed out. Last year, when I was up for renewal, I waded through a lot of information about renewing visas in Japan. I’ve collected and organized some of that info here.

First off, I want to introduce the difference between a Visa and Landing Permission in Japan. Many newbies are unaware of this difference, which can be very dangerous: If you screw up and overstay in Japan because you mixed up the dates on your Visa and your Landing Permission, you could get deported from Japan and barred from reentry, even as a tourist. So, listen up: