Hello,
I’ve been told that you can go out of Japan during a visa renewal process a long as you come back before the 2 months extension to pick up your visa if the card came in the mailbox. Anyone with personal experience? I’ll also bring the receipt.
Family want to meet this summer after the 2 years + covid mess hiatus and I just hope it won’t screw up my residency.
2 comments
nothing to stop you going, but it’s quite irresponsible because you have two weeks to collect the new card from the date on the post card they send you. Especially if you’re in the 2 month buffer at the time because that 2 month buffer is for only *up to 2 months* I.e if a decision is made before the 2 months buffer ends then essentially the 2 month buffer still ends.
So if the travel is unavoidable, speak to immigration when you submit the application and explain to them your plans so that maybe they can send you the post card before you’re due to return. No one here can really give you the answer, only immigration can.
I did it 3 years ago and I don’t recommend it. I was changing my visa to working visa and my previous visa expired during my trip.( It was the only period I could back home, so there wasn’t any other way) Before leaving Japan I’ve been a few times to the immigration bureau to try to solve this issue because the travel agency that I bought the ticket from wasn’t so sure about my situation.
So, the immigration told me that the only thing that I need to prove that my visa is still ok is the stamped paper in my passport and they won’t give any other proof since that the paper written in Japanese and in poorly understandable English translation is the only proof that I need.
I had a problem during the boarding to Japan because no one there has ever seen that “document” but after a few minutes I could convince them that this is the Japanese way and they allowed me to board.