Weird thing happened to me when I applied to extend my visa. Anyone have any insight? Was it just a clerical error?

Hello,

I’m on a spouse visa (1+1+1+3+3) and I applied for another extension of period of stay last year. The usual.

A few weeks after applying for the extension I got a postcard asking for my brother in law’s health insurance documents. The postcard was marked for PR, 永住権。Mind you, I didn’t apply for PR (though I probably should). By the way, we live in a huge house with my husband’s family, including my brother in law. We’re all listed in the same juminhyou.

I thought it was related to the spouse visa extension but the next day I got the extension approval postcard with the 4000円 payment stamp request too.

I got both the BIL health insurance documents and the *come get your new zairyuu card* postcard and went to the immigration office.

Got the new zairyuu card no problem with another 3 years.

When I handed in the BIL’s documents the lady at the counter was baffled too. I asked her the reason and why the eijyuu box was checked on the postcard. She asked me if I had applied for PR, I said no. Then she told me that it wasn’t related to my spouse visa extension and that it wasn’t necessary but took the documents anyway.

What on earth was that about?

Were they just randomly checking legitimacy by asking for an obscure document? If that was the case, they approved my request for extension before I even supplied the documents. Was it just some error or crossed wires on their part. They’re human after all.

Anything similar happen to anyone here?