immigration

Applications to renew a Japanese visa are accepted starting 3 months before the foreign national’s visa expires and will continued to be accepted right up until the last day of the visa.  To apply for a renewal of a Japanese visa, the applicant needs to prepare the necessary documents as part of the application packet.  These include the application form, a 4cm by 3cm photo of the applicant, supporting documents, passport and residence card.  The applicant must also prepare the application fee.  These documents must be submitted to the local immigration office.  Processing can take anywhere between two weeks to […]

A Long Term Resident visa (teijusha visa) is a visa provided to foreign nationals who are granted special permission to stay in Japan by the Minister of Justice.  The requirements for this visa are not as clearly defined as other Japanese visas but it was designed to meet a very specific purpose.  Basically the long term resident visa is granted to foreign nationals who should be allowed to stay in Japan for a special humanitarian reason. 

Foreign residents in Japan are usually granted visas lasting 1, 3 or 5 years.  However, that does not mean that the foreign national must leave the country at the end of the visa term.  In general, Japanese visas may be renewed continuously, which allows the visa holder to stay in Japan for extended periods.