TLDR: Already got a moving out form. How screwed am I if I can’t register a new address within two weeks? Is imprisonment really one of the penalties?
I moved out of my host family’s home and my apartment won’t be available until late March, so I’m staying at an Airbnb until then.
I read online that people have registered their Airbnb as their address with no problems, so I figured I might as well get it done. I got my moving out form in Shiga without any issues.
But when I went to the ward office in Kyoto, they couldn’t find the name of my Airbnb’s building on file. And when I said it was an Airbnb, they said I need to get permission from the Airbnb to register it as my address.
They gave me a permission form that a representative of the airbnb/hotel needs to stamp/sign. The thing is, my Airbnb is basically a self check-in hotel with no reception desk and no staff, and I just message the host when I have questions.
So I sent the Airbnb host a picture of the form and they said since it’s Chinese New Year, the person in charge is in China and may not be back until next month. 🙃
I said to them that anyone from the hotel/company running the hotel could sign it as a representative. So they said they forwarded my concern to their superiors and they’ll let me know when they get a response.
I basically have until March 6 to register a new address. I’m signing my lease contract this week, but the agency said I can’t register the apartment as my address until March 14.
I’m really worried about the penalties for not registering my new address within two weeks, considering I got the moving out form already. Different sites say the penalty is 200,000 yen or cancellation of my visa, or imprisonment. How screwed am I?
by Angharad2563