Job Discussion Forums

TokyoLiz · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1548 Location: Tokyo, Japan

I'm about to start gathering up all the items I need to apply for eijuken status.

Does anyone have advice or anecdotes about the process? I'm on a kyoiku visa now, not spousal.

I talked to an immigration consultant who said I'm a good candidate for eijuken. Should I go it alone, or is it better to go through a consultant or lawyer?

kzjohn · Joined: 30 Apr 2014 Posts: 277

I did it alone, with help from my wife, but many others have done it on their own. It's been 15 yrs or so, but I don't remember it as being at all difficult. It was actually harder getting spouse status, as I recall.

OTOH, people applying for citizenship do need a scrivener to get it all together, and part of that is the time-sensitivity of certain documents--they all need to be dated within a certain period. That's not an issue with PR.

Do some searches, this has been discussed a lot below (and Dave's doesn't seem to attract PR holders):
http://www.jref.com/find-new/2875283/posts
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/
https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife

e.g., http://www.jref.com/forum/threads/applying-for-a-permanent-residence.58442/

TokyoLiz · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1548 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Thanks for the leads!

mitsui · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 1562 Location: Kawasaki

www.debito.whattodoif.html

I think a lot of it is the money you make plus the money you have.

Maitoshi · Joined: 04 May 2014 Posts: 718 Location: 何処でも

TokyoLiz · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1548 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Th' link doesnae wark.

Maitoshi · Joined: 04 May 2014 Posts: 718 Location: 何処でも

I think you can do it on your own, Liz. While gathering the things you need will be a hassle, it's doable. With hope, you have part of a day during the work week that you are free during business hours. Aside from needing documents from City Hall, you will likely need to make more than a few trips to the immigration center. After they accept your application, don't be surprised if you go many months without hearing from them, only to receive a letter requesting additional documentation. Then, about six months after you submitted the initial paperwork, you will receive the postcard that you addressed to yourself at the immigration center. It will notify you about what to bring to the immigration center. I'm not sure why, but they make you pay the fees with a revenue stamp rather than cash. Depending on where your immigration center is, you can usually get this stamp in or near the building. Good luck with your application, Liz!

mitsui · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 1562 Location: Kawasaki

www.debito.org/?page_id=506

The government wants to know what your salary is and I think they want to know about the money you have in banks.
If you can support yourself, then they can justify giving you this kind of visa.
There is more to it but I don't remember now. There is a bit of paperwork, and you can get the checklist at an immigration office.
I don't know which office that would be, maybe in Narita for Chiba residents.
Ibaraki has an office, but I assume you know this.
まいとし、わかりまひたか。

TokyoLiz · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1548 Location: Tokyo, Japan

I'm well aware of the beaurocracy of the immigration office. To my surprise and relief, Saitama immigration office processed my most recent visa very quickly and I was treated like a person (in contrast to another regional immigration office where I was verbally abused...)

Regional immigration office details are listed here http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/soshiki/kikou/tokyo.html

The information I'm after regards my particular situation. Unlike a lot of long-term residents here who get eijuken, I'm not on a spousal visa. I have a kyoiku visas and I don't work in tertiary education.

One ALT I know got his eijuken. However, he is a public servant at a municipal board of education, not a private school teacher like me. He says the BoE wrote the guarantor letter.

Maitoshi · Joined: 04 May 2014 Posts: 718 Location: 何処でも

mitsui · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 1562 Location: Kawasaki

Well that surprises me.
I hear of people being reprimanded for going to another prefecture to get a visa unless the person lives very close to that visa office, in a bordering prefecture.
Like a Chinese pair from Saitama who went to the Kawasaki immigration office. Well, they were told to go back to the prefecture where they reside.

Not being married to a Japanese means it is not as simple to get this visa.
Being self-supporting is the issue.
So many years of continuous residence is needed.
Some people have to wait a long time.

I read about taxes being an issue but others disagree.
I think Japan wants to be like the US and wants to know what money you have overseas.

TokyoLiz · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1548 Location: Tokyo, Japan

mitsui · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 1562 Location: Kawasaki

I don't think so but you will find out.
Each case is different.

I thought work was the main thing.
With a spouse it is easier since one can be unemployed.

Inflames · Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 486

What Mitsui says is correct - Every case is different.

If they want to give it to you, they will. If they don't want to, they will find some reason to say no. One of my friends got denied because his wife's former employer didn't pay her taxes (this was before they had met). Other people I know have applied and, after 6 months, got it without issues (even single people on work visas).

taikibansei · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Posts: 811 Location: Japan