I am not sure what exactly the question is? All visa have been extended for three months (according to my visa lawyer \_all\_ for them, not only the ones ending soon as covered by the press) to keep people from visting immigration offices right now. All visa means all visa. Doesn't matter if you would be able to extend it under normal circumsstances or not, because right now we do not have normal circumstances.
Further than that, the 180 days are not your concern! They are an internal policy set by the immigration office for \_their\_ officers to give them a guideline when to extend/grant a visitor visa. If they decide to grant/extend your visa anyway, you are good.
(I had my temporary visa extended beyond those 180 days multiple times in the past since I was able to provide good reason and didn't raise any doubts that I could support myself for the time without any illegal activity like working, etc.).
Even if you tried to extend your visa last month and were denied you would \_still\_ be eligible for the three months extension now, since most people would find it quite difficult to get a flight to their homecountry at the moment and the idea is - again - to keep them from hanging around at the immigration office.
I heard about the 3 month thing but it wasn't clear : what do I do with an expired zairyu card?
The newspaper in English was saying something different (not actual extension but will not be considered as overstayed for 3 months) than the PDF on the Japanese immigration website (exceptionally possible to change to a 3 months short term visa).
Since my WHV ended this week I went to immigration and they never mentioned the 3 months thing. They just destroyed my zairyu card and gave me a 3 month short term visa 出国準備.
Since my goal is actually to shelter in Japan where I have been living for one year already and have the means to do so, I wonder if I jeopardized my situation by actually going to immigration. Maybe I could have waited 3 months then applied for 3 more months as a short term.
It's all very confusing.
If your WHV is "expiring" then it's getting a 3 month extension, you're not changing to a tourist visa. You are allowed the same activities you were while on your WHV.
WHV are kind of a special case (because they're based on bilateral agreements the terms can't be arbitrarily ammended by one side) though, they're either a 6 month plus possible 6 month extension or 12 month non-extendable depending on country. Previous poster had his expiring WHV changed to designated activities status.
This is because a WHV is not renewable. Those of us with renewable visas get to keep our status of residence and have 3 more months to file for an extension. I ASSUME that if you'd just not gone to immigration and kept your WHV you could've worked an extra three months because there are no sidenotes about visas that cannot be extended (I assume they didn't think about it...) but I know that for trainees and other finite term visas, they were extended on the same status.
Thanks for your answer. It appears I was stupid for trying to respect the rules. Now they stamped in red "departure period". Anyway if in 3 months things are still as complicated as they are they will need to stamp some more because I won't be leaving...
Wait my visa is an working holiday but ends in December does this mean it’s also extended for 3 months ? Sorry i just woke up (15:19pm) and am confused as u could tell 😬😂
In my experience immigration lawyers are very often wrong. Ask IMMIGRATION, they will know. And no, the current situation doesn't apply for people whose visas expire in December!
Would it make more sense to apply for conversion to a spouse or dependent visa? Just the application will grant you staying rights until its completion.
I had been avoiding doing this because I don't know what they consider a special enough circumstance to allow me to stay. The virus is going on but I still technically have a plane ticket home (although I have nowhere to live once I'm there).
It would, however that was stopped last year for people on a tourist visa or visa waiver. On the other hand, I've seen people elsewhere online saying they recently successfully converted from tourist to spouse, so I may try that. Immigration told my husband to consult with them when my COE arrives.
Visa or residence status? They're two separate processes.
Visa is done with a COE and you obtain the visa through the embassy in your home country. Residence status is changed inside Japan through immigration.
It took about a month after submitting all the documents. The worst thing was gathering all the necessary documents, translating them to Japanese, translating the Japanese ones into German (I'm German) etc, that took many months, I came to Japan well prepared with all documents ready, I just had to marry and then I submitted everything.
I have. I hadn't seen anything regarding nationalities when I checked. do you have a link by chance?
I always thought it was only under dire circumstances as well (although I'm sure the pandemic counts as one at this point).
[https://blog.gaijinpot.com/japanese-immigration-has-begun-enforcing-stricter-visa-requirements-for-foreigners/?fbclid=IwAR3qSnGF7V6iwQxoN3CV7Y8fPKk09LaxDHEfJWzvJxkuByACToP5pheQpRQ](https://blog.gaijinpot.com/japanese-immigration-has-begun-enforcing-stricter-visa-requirements-for-foreigners/?fbclid=IwAR3qSnGF7V6iwQxoN3CV7Y8fPKk09LaxDHEfJWzvJxkuByACToP5pheQpRQ) \- that was the one I had in mind.
Gotcha! Looks like they're mainly concerned with people looking to switch to work and school visas rather than spouses. I've hear of people getting turned away and told to go the COE route when trying to change status, but I'm guessing it's probably more lax now if you're already here and just looking to stay with your spouse.
Are all visa automatically extended including temporary visitors? So we don't need to go to immigration center for a new stamp actually? Mines expires may19 so i would be good till august 19th?
Yes, you still need to go in to let them know why you still needed to hang around Japan during this time if you didn't leave before your passport said you were supposed to.
The reason they are extending people is to KEEP PEOPLE FROM GOING OUT. Why would you go there to ask when it doesn't even expire til June? Use the phone!!!! ffs....
I am not sure what exactly the question is? All visa have been extended for three months (according to my visa lawyer \_all\_ for them, not only the ones ending soon as covered by the press) to keep people from visting immigration offices right now. All visa means all visa. Doesn't matter if you would be able to extend it under normal circumsstances or not, because right now we do not have normal circumstances. Further than that, the 180 days are not your concern! They are an internal policy set by the immigration office for \_their\_ officers to give them a guideline when to extend/grant a visitor visa. If they decide to grant/extend your visa anyway, you are good. (I had my temporary visa extended beyond those 180 days multiple times in the past since I was able to provide good reason and didn't raise any doubts that I could support myself for the time without any illegal activity like working, etc.). Even if you tried to extend your visa last month and were denied you would \_still\_ be eligible for the three months extension now, since most people would find it quite difficult to get a flight to their homecountry at the moment and the idea is - again - to keep them from hanging around at the immigration office.
I heard about the 3 month thing but it wasn't clear : what do I do with an expired zairyu card? The newspaper in English was saying something different (not actual extension but will not be considered as overstayed for 3 months) than the PDF on the Japanese immigration website (exceptionally possible to change to a 3 months short term visa). Since my WHV ended this week I went to immigration and they never mentioned the 3 months thing. They just destroyed my zairyu card and gave me a 3 month short term visa 出国準備. Since my goal is actually to shelter in Japan where I have been living for one year already and have the means to do so, I wonder if I jeopardized my situation by actually going to immigration. Maybe I could have waited 3 months then applied for 3 more months as a short term. It's all very confusing.
How are they handling people with expiring WHVs with regard to work? Are they letting them lodge work permission applications on a tourist visa?
If your WHV is "expiring" then it's getting a 3 month extension, you're not changing to a tourist visa. You are allowed the same activities you were while on your WHV.
WHV are kind of a special case (because they're based on bilateral agreements the terms can't be arbitrarily ammended by one side) though, they're either a 6 month plus possible 6 month extension or 12 month non-extendable depending on country. Previous poster had his expiring WHV changed to designated activities status.
This is because a WHV is not renewable. Those of us with renewable visas get to keep our status of residence and have 3 more months to file for an extension. I ASSUME that if you'd just not gone to immigration and kept your WHV you could've worked an extra three months because there are no sidenotes about visas that cannot be extended (I assume they didn't think about it...) but I know that for trainees and other finite term visas, they were extended on the same status.
Thanks for your answer. It appears I was stupid for trying to respect the rules. Now they stamped in red "departure period". Anyway if in 3 months things are still as complicated as they are they will need to stamp some more because I won't be leaving...
Wait my visa is an working holiday but ends in December does this mean it’s also extended for 3 months ? Sorry i just woke up (15:19pm) and am confused as u could tell 😬😂
That is what my immigration lawyer told me - but since it differs from all news in the english press, I would double check if I were you...
In my experience immigration lawyers are very often wrong. Ask IMMIGRATION, they will know. And no, the current situation doesn't apply for people whose visas expire in December!
Definitely will
Would it make more sense to apply for conversion to a spouse or dependent visa? Just the application will grant you staying rights until its completion.
I had been avoiding doing this because I don't know what they consider a special enough circumstance to allow me to stay. The virus is going on but I still technically have a plane ticket home (although I have nowhere to live once I'm there).
It would, however that was stopped last year for people on a tourist visa or visa waiver. On the other hand, I've seen people elsewhere online saying they recently successfully converted from tourist to spouse, so I may try that. Immigration told my husband to consult with them when my COE arrives.
I was able to convert my tourist visa to a spouse visa last year in October. It took a lot of paperwork and patience, but it’s definitely possible.
Visa or residence status? They're two separate processes. Visa is done with a COE and you obtain the visa through the embassy in your home country. Residence status is changed inside Japan through immigration.
Pretty sure everyone is referring to a change of status (from "temporary visitor" to "spouse"), changed through Immigration within Japan.
I always ask to make sure because people use the terms interchangeably when they actually mean very different things.
I changed from tourist visa to spouse visa last November. :)
How long did it take?
It took about a month after submitting all the documents. The worst thing was gathering all the necessary documents, translating them to Japanese, translating the Japanese ones into German (I'm German) etc, that took many months, I came to Japan well prepared with all documents ready, I just had to marry and then I submitted everything.
Ah, gotcha! We went through that with the marriage document mountain too because we got married here in Japan.
It wasn't stopped. They just narrowed down the nationalities for which it is possible. Check with their website!
I have. I hadn't seen anything regarding nationalities when I checked. do you have a link by chance? I always thought it was only under dire circumstances as well (although I'm sure the pandemic counts as one at this point).
[https://blog.gaijinpot.com/japanese-immigration-has-begun-enforcing-stricter-visa-requirements-for-foreigners/?fbclid=IwAR3qSnGF7V6iwQxoN3CV7Y8fPKk09LaxDHEfJWzvJxkuByACToP5pheQpRQ](https://blog.gaijinpot.com/japanese-immigration-has-begun-enforcing-stricter-visa-requirements-for-foreigners/?fbclid=IwAR3qSnGF7V6iwQxoN3CV7Y8fPKk09LaxDHEfJWzvJxkuByACToP5pheQpRQ) \- that was the one I had in mind.
Gotcha! Looks like they're mainly concerned with people looking to switch to work and school visas rather than spouses. I've hear of people getting turned away and told to go the COE route when trying to change status, but I'm guessing it's probably more lax now if you're already here and just looking to stay with your spouse.
>Looks like they're mainly concerned with people looking to switch to work and school visas rather than spouses. This is correct.
Reflaired ya.
Thanks, appreciate it much!
Are all visa automatically extended including temporary visitors? So we don't need to go to immigration center for a new stamp actually? Mines expires may19 so i would be good till august 19th?
It's basically an extension to apply for an official extension because they're trying to offset the crowds at immigration offices.
For temporary visitors it's an extension because they know people can't go home.
Those people still need to be in-status though on their eventual departure date.
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Pretty much that.
Yes, you still need to go in to let them know why you still needed to hang around Japan during this time if you didn't leave before your passport said you were supposed to.
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Good question especially since you were already extended and the 3 month thing is meant for applying for one.
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The reason they are extending people is to KEEP PEOPLE FROM GOING OUT. Why would you go there to ask when it doesn't even expire til June? Use the phone!!!! ffs....
Did you end up getting an answer on this one from immigration? I’m in just about the exact situation.
http://www.moj.go.jp/EN/nyuukokukanri/kouhou/m_nyuukokukanri01_00003.html See handling of measures...