permanent residence visas

[me_in_japan]

howdy all - a quick "heyulp" from me, here...

As some of you know, I'm thinking (very seriously) about buying a house. Now, in order to get a mortgage I pretty much need a permanent residence visa. Its not absolutely 100% vital, but it helps a hella lot. So, with that in mind Ive been doing some research about getting said visa.

Now, I'm not too worried about meeting the requirements. I've been here 8 years, married for 4 of them, have a son who is japanese and have a good job with a reliable employer where I've been for over 4 years now. All good boxes to tick, I'm sure you'll agree.

The problem I'm facing is:

Where the heck does it say what documents you need to apply for the visa?
I've checked the j-gov immigration site, where it says to check your local immigration office for a list of documents.
I then checked the nagoya immigration site, where the only document list I can see comes under "proving yer not a sponging git" ie.

"2) Have assets or the ability to make an independent living without any public support.
Documents to be submitted include your account balance statement, realtor’s certificates of registration and assessment of real estate property, certificate of employment, tax withholding statement, and a copy of your final tax return."

Surely, surely I have to submit things like a copy of my gaijin card, koseki tohon, etc etc. I can't imagine there isnt a list of documents as long as my arm that I need to submit. I just can't find that list anywhere.

Does anybody know where said list may be obtained?

Any help would be much appreciated

Thanks,

-Dave

[Spevna]

Wh did you check NGoya and not Yokkaich ?

[job]

If you are in Nagoya sometime, try the Nagoya International Center for free advise. They have a retired lawyer there who can help with some legal advice. They might even have a hotline.

This is a page with some of their legal consultations and such. They're usually a good resource for assistance in these matters.
http://www.nic-nagoya.or.jp/en/e/archives/3685

[Spevna]

OK, The Spevna and Mrs Spevna discussed this over breakfast and it jogged the old gray matter into action and reminded them of what they did to get The Spevna's Permanent Visa ( sort of).

Call them

Call the immigration office and ask them exactly what they need. But surely there is a standardised list of documents that is readily available to anyone who requires it you ask. No would be the answer. Mrs Spevna called the Yokkaichi Immigration on 2 separate occasions, spoke to 2 different people, and got 2 answers. Ah, the wonder that is Japanese bureaucracy. The Spevnas erred on the side of caution and got all the documents that both people mentioned.

Use a lawyer (or don't as the case may be)

The Spevnas engaged the help of a lawyer ( a friend and neighbour actually) who went above and beyond the call of duty. While he was very thorough, it was by his own admission not entirely necessary and in fact the bloke at the immigration office handed a lot of the paperwork back to him. He is very much the type of person that crosses EVERY t and dots EVER i. Not a bad trait in a lawyer but he ended up doing more than he needed too.

Mrs Spevna believes that she could have taken care of all of it herself as the process itself is not as daunting as most people imagine it is.

Spevna's summation

Call the immigration office and ask them what they need. Wait two days. Call again and ask the same question. Get all the documents both people tell you.

Thus spoke the Spevna

[Konrad]

The Nagoya office has an info desk if you just want to stop by. Ought to be someone there who speaks English.
My acquiring permanent residence consisted of me of grabbing the "requesting permanent residence" form off the counter instead of the "visa renewal" form. That was it. No letters, no documents, no nothing.

[Mike the Pike]

As the Spevna said above, it isn't actually that hard to get anymore. The paper trail isn't actually that long or expensive either (compared to my Brother in law moving to NZ).

There are various lists of what you need etc all over the internets...

From the Ministry of Justice...
http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetud ... ui/05.html

From Debito.org...
http://www.debito.org/permres.html

From Gaijinpot...
http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.p ... -documents

As the MOJ site states the exact requirements are set by your regional Immigration office. So just get all the ones they suggest. Most of them just require a short wait at City Hall and a nominal fee. The work/support related ones can be done by your school. They probably do 'em for J.staff wanting bank loans and the like too. I am sure you won't be the first to ask. And as Eric pointed out they are mostly the same as those you need for a Spouse visa anyway. That's actually how I got around to getting mine in the end. The last time I went to renew my visa the guy actually said, why don't you just aplly for permanent residence instead?

As I said, it's much easier than it used to be. I even screwed up one part of mine, scribbled it out (at the advice of the officer) and corrected it in front of him and he didn't seem to mind. I think he was glad I wasn't a drunken sailor or a prostitute trying to renew an 'Entertainer' visa.

[Konrad]

they are mostly the same as those you need for a Spouse visa anyway. That's actually how I got around to getting mine in the end. The last time I went to renew my visa the guy actually said, why don't you just aplly for permanent residence instead?

. I think he was glad I wasn't a drunken sailor or a prostitute trying to renew an 'Entertainer' visa.

That's about what I did too. The lady and the info counter pointed it out to me.

And the Pike brings up two good points at the end. Go sober and don't wear that slinky low cut pink dress you are so fond of.

[Tenorikuma]

Sorry to piggyback this thread, but has anyone gotten their permanent residence visa without being married to a Japanese national? I'll have been in Japan nine years when my next renewal comes up, and I'm thinking of applying for permanent residency.

[me_in_japan]

Thanks a lot everyone for your advice - it's very much appreciated. I've asked Kaz to call the immigration office in Nagoya tomorrow to get a list of stuff. Kaz being Kaz, however (i.e. uber organised) she looked it up, too. Now, oddly, it seems very easy to find a definitive list of documents needed if you search in Japanese.

Here's where it's at, for those who can read it:

http://www.moj.go.jp/ONLINE/IMMIGRATION/16-4.html

If you scroll down a bit you can see a bit that says "必要書類等" (required documents). There are 3 options beside this.
Option 1 (申請人の方が，「日本人の配偶者等」又は「永住者の配偶者等」の在留資格である場合) is for if you're married to a Japanese national.
Option 2 ( 申請人の方が，「定住者」の在留資格である場合) is for those with long term resident status
Option 3 ( 申請人の方が，就労関係の在留資格（「人文知識・国際業務」，「技術」，「技能」など）及び「家族滞在」の在留資格である場合)is for those on a work visa (Specialist in Humanities, etc.)

I'm in the process of gathering up the small rainforest worth of documents I need (well, truth be told Kaz is getting most of em, what with me being at work and all), and will hopefully have em all ready by monday next week. I'll let you know how it goes at the office on Monday, although I suspect they'll just take em off me and say "We'll call you in...hmmn, six months or so. Bye now "

Anyway, I hope those links prove useful to those of you who don't have your permanent resi visa. Those who do can bask in their don't-need-to-renew-visas-anymore glory

[Danguinius]

Tenorikuma,

I`m in the same boat; this is my ninth consecutive year and I`m not married and I would like to get a permanent residence visa. The only stipulation they always tell me about is: 10 consecutive years in Japan. They are complete jack-sticks about this. This is actually my sixteenth year in Japan; I lived hear seven years, went to the states for half a year, then came back and now I`m on my ninth consecutive year. Still, when I applied for permanent residence two years ago, I was rejected (after 14 years in the country!!!). The man who handed me that letter of rejection said the process can be expedited if: I`m married to a Japanese national....if I have a child with said Japanese national spouse...or if I`m an Olympic level athlete who is willing to join the Japanese Olympic national team. All of the above sounded equally impossible....so I`m just waiting them out. Two more years and they`ll have to hand it over...by then I`ll be in my 18th year in this country! Unbelieveable! Under the same conditions, you can become a CITIZEN in the U.S. in just seven years. Ahhhh!!!! Gotta love that xenophobia!

Danguinius