Perrenial Japanese beaurocracy rant

[me_in_japan]

So, for the past year or so my wife and I have been looking at buying a house. We do all the required shopping around, viewing, talking with various companies etc etc. We also do research about what paperwork is required. I need an eijuken (permanent residence status), and a steady job. Ok, sez I, fair enough. So I collect a whole passel of paperwork and toddle off to the not-very-local Nagoya immigration office to apply for my eijuken. This was in May last year.

Fast forward to December. I'm told by 105bank that I also need to have a permanent contract with my employer (as opposed to the rolling year-by-year one that I and most new staff were on) if I want a mortgage from them. I kinda have to get a mortgage from them as my employer won't pay my salary into a non-105 account. This was a bit fiddly to get, but a good deal of schmoozing and wheedling secured a letter that promised I would be shifted to a perma contract come April (new school year.) This was deemed good enough by the bank.

I also get a letter from immigration telling me that my current visa is due to expire come Jan 14th, and I should hie me hither to Nagoya to renew it. As my eijuken is still nowhere to be seen, I git on the train and go into Nagoya, and apply for a new spousal visa.

Now it's January.

Last Monday I wangle a day off work to go into Nagoya again to pick up my new visa, pay 4000yen (plus travel expenses) then have to bust a move back to work to teach my last class of the day. On the same day I get a phone call from the bank saying actually, no, we can't give you a mortgage because the insurance underwriter requires that you have had a perma-contract for at least a year.

Now, that seems to me to be a pretty standard sounding rule. Not one that just applies to me. That being so, what in the seven hells were ya doing having me running about collecting documents to apply for a loan from your bank which I was never, ever going to be approved for? Riddle me that, bank-boy!

Then, to round it off, I got a letter today telling me to go pick up my eijuken. 2 fricking days after I took a day off work to go to the same fricking building to get an extended visa!

I have no words.

I do have a link to a Ren and Stimpy episode which pretty much sums up my feelings towards Japanese beaurocracy at the mo:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_wW6rENTfaU

[Primarch]

That seems very poor service from the bank and the immigration office. Let us know how it goes because I think I am going to have to go through all that myself in a year or so.

[me_in_japan]

In their defence (kinda) I was told by the immigration office that the visa department and the eijuken department have nothing to do with each other and don't share information. This makes it less the fault of the staff at the immi office, and more the fault of the pen-pushers in national government who make such rules. You'd think that the visa people might just want to know about what's going on in the eijuken department, and vice versa, no?

As for the bank? Aye - not best pleased with them...

[job]

My sympathesies. I've had to deal with that headache before and I'm sure to again. As for your house plans best of luck, but maybe there's another way. As they say there's more than one way to skin a cat. Anyway, gambaru.

[Spevna]

The longer you are here , the more difficult things become mate.

It is a headache and a half but once you are in your own place, it will have been worth the pain in the arse that it is.

That is a bit strange about the one year contact thingy as I got my mortgage while I was working at Nova. Maybe Mie Bank do things differently.

[ashmie]

Wow that sucks. I know 105 bank aren't the most flexible of banks and have annoying working hours or at least used to 5 years ago. My alt mates who had 105 accounts always struggled to get money out of ATMs whenever we went out of Mie and it was later on in the day/night.
It's good you finally got your proper visa though. Hopefully it will move forward now.
I wish it was something that only stemmed from Japanese bureaucracy but I hate to say it's worldwide bureaucracy that has us form chasing and pen pushing. You probably stand more chance of getting a mortgage here than in the UK with all the hoop jumping and massive deposits required these days. We've got Maggie to thank for that, the lets make it hard for regular workers to get houses bill.
Anyway it sounds like it's moving forward slowly so that's good.
I wouldn't mind renting for the rest of my life to be honest as I can't see how you can take a house with you and it's an awful bit of big shopping in this current economy. Keiko seems to think it's a good idea though so we will probably try this year to get something. Still with yearly contracts that may or may not be renewed each year I am wondering if it's for me. I can't see myself getting a permanent contract anytime soon.
Who the heck has a permanent contract these days anyway?

[Spevna]

I wouldn't mind renting for the rest of my life to be honest as I can't see how you can take a house with you and it's an awful bit of big shopping in this current economy. Keiko seems to think it's a good idea though so we will probably try this year to get something. Still with yearly contracts that may or may not be renewed this year I am wondering if it's for me. I can't see myself getting a permanent contract anytime soon.
Who the heck has a permanent contract these days anyway?

I think that you and the missus are both right. Buying is a good idea as you will at least own something at the end. The house itself will eventually accrue negative value and will reduce the value of the land it sits on (depending on how old it is), but at least you will be able to leave a piece of land to your kids. And if you can swing it so the mortgage payments are not much more than the cost of renting, why wouldnt you?

On the other hand, a mortgage is one of the worse things you can get if you are unsure about the future of your job or job prospects. It will basically end up being a 35 year commitment for the average person.

One thing to also consider is not buying something new. The value of property drops massively the older it gets, and there are bargains to be had.

Either way, it is huge decision.

[Primarch_Vanguard]

105 bank is ever so troublesome. It's a country bumkin bank and acts appropriately. I had nothing but trouble from them and switched last year.

[The Underdweller]

Who the heck has a permanent contract these days anyway?

Well, the government just passed a new law that anyone on perpetually renewing contracts must be made permanent after 5 years - but years you have already worked don't count, so 5 years after April 2013, there will either be a lot of people on permenanent contracts, or a lot of non-renewed contracts...or they'll just ignore the law altogether, Japan is good at that.

[ashmie]

Well, the government just passed a new law that anyone on perpetually renewing contracts must be made permanent after 5 years - but years you have already worked don't count, so 5 years after April 2013, there will either be a lot of people on permenanent contracts, or a lot of non-renewed contracts...or they'll just ignore the law altogether, Japan is good at that.

That's worth knowing and explains a lot especially since we are unsure this year if we can continue or not. Perhaps they would rather let us go than make us permanent. So 5 years from April then. Flippin eck!