Job Discussion Forums

[mitsui]

This is a strange case. A teacher who works in dispatch went to Narita in December but was not allowed on the flight.
Turns out his visa expired over two months before.
He cannot leave the country and will find out soon the result. He has lost his job.

In the past he said the company took care of telling him to renew his one year visas. This time, they did not so why didn't he even look at his zairyu card to see when his visa would expire? It is in English and Japanese.

I think he is lucky he did not go to detention in Ibaraki.
If he gets deported, does it mean that he gets deported only back to his copuntry of origin, the USA?

I assume an interpreter will be provided at the hearing in Yokohama. He would need a lawyer. Any thoughts on this?

[taikibansei]

There are so many variables to this that it is difficult (impossible) to answer. Basically, the officials at the hearing have broad leeway to make decisions, to include: 1) deporting him to his home country, 2) deporting him to the nearest country where he has recently resided, 3) deporting him to the country of his choice, 4) fining him (no deportation), and 5) neither fining nor deporting him.

Is he married to a Japanese woman? If so, there's a procedure in place that will allow his wife to petition for #'s 4 & 5.

http://www.nemushishi.net/marriage14.html

If not, the most likely scenario will be one of #'s 1-3. As to whether to bring a lawyer...does he have the money (about 350,000 yen) to pay for an attorney to defend him? And how much does he really want to stay in Japan? If he has strong reasons to stay and has the money to afford an attorney...sure, why not? If he doesn't have the money (and/or doesn't really want to stay), I'd probably just go to the hearing, apologize profusely for my own stupidity, and take my lumps.

Note that, while rare (particularly for a first offense), he can be blacklisted from Japan for a period of time as well. To avoid this, he needs to be very apologetic--no blaming the company, for instance. Just bow and say "I'm so very sorry." Repeat often, as necessary. (They most likely will have him write a letter of apology at some point. He should take it seriously and be contrite if he wants to avoid further punishment.)

[mitsui]

Nope, he has a Thai wife. He lived in Thailand.
How much could a fine be?

No, he doesn't have the money, so he could be deported, but I don't know if Thailand would take him, even with his wife and kids there.
Thailand is generous with the foreign spouses of Thai men but not the other way around. He only had a work visa for Thailand that expired.

[kzjohn]

[mitsui]

No. He was told in the past so he did not have to think.
The school wanted him back, but too late, he has been replaced.
He thought it expired in 2020 but I don't know what he meant.
Maybe that means five years at the company only, I don't know.
One year visas make life inconvenient.

You could argue that with dispatch, the company has to take care of these things, and must remind the teachers. With a direct hire, there is no excuse.

[taikibansei]

It sounds pretty grim. Just to confirm, the guy has no job, an expired visa, no ticket (as his plane departed without him) and no money, correct?

Does he have enough money even to pay for a ticket back to his home country (i.e., not Thailand)? If so, he should be able to qualify for 自費出国 and might be able to choose Thailand.

If not...it's going to be 国費送還, and they're not (per their website) going to send him anywhere that he might be turned away (even if just a 1% chance). If I were him, in that situation I would just accept deportation back to my home country.

Still, again, there's so many variables in play here that it's hard to give advice. Heck, maybe the officials at the hearing will like/feel sorry for the guy and try to help him out? It would be a miracle...but stranger things have happened!

[mitsui]

Once the school found out his visa had expired, he lost his job.
He can pay for a ticket home or to Bangkok.

I am surprised since he seemed fine as a teacher and really made an effort with learning Japanese. He would go to class a few days a week. He made more progress than most Americans I have seen learn the language.

In late December he could not board the flight since his visa had expired. This was just for his vacation back in Bangkok.

[mitsui]

No deportation. Maybe bowing and apologizing in Japanese works.
It seems then that the dispatch company is the one mostly at fault.

[taikibansei]

Glad it worked out for him!

[weigookin74]

How stupid are people? Who in the hell doesn't look at their own ID cards to know when they expire. Even if the company takes care of it, you look at your card, you tell them you're near the date and are asking them to take care of it. Geeze.

He got lucky, but seriously, people, you're adults now. Take some responsibility for yourself.

[kzjohn]