I'm here on an Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa. My work ended a week ago, and my visa expires in 3 days. I notified immigration online that my job had ended, and it was confirmed. Today, I went to immigration to switch to a tourist visa to finish moving out. The immigration officer just looked at me and said, 'What? Your visa ends in 3 days. Why would you want to stay longer?' I told him that I wanted to switch to a tourist visa, and he replied, 'No, you cannot do that. You need to leave in 3 days. We are not changing it unless you meet the criteria for a new visa and want to apply. You can only get a tourist visa if you return to your country and then fly back to Japan. Book a ticket before your visa expires and leave.'
I'm so confused. I thought it was commonly understood that you could switch to a tourist visa at any time and that they would readily do so. Am I just misinformed? What are my options? A day trip to Korea and then come back?
by Spiritual-Essay4316