I could not find the answer anywhere but… Please let me ask here.
Due to family emergency, I must go back to my home country for 1-2 years or more.
I am planning too come back.
Although, during this period my PR Zairyu Card will expire.
I was planning to go one time to Japan just for renewing my Card.
Is it possible?
I’ve heard immigration will send some post card about renewal of the card but since i don’t have any address in Japan anymore… I’m not sure how this will work.
Thank you in advance !
4 comments
If you don’t have a residence in Japan you’re not really a permanent resident are you?
You may be in a difficult situation when it comes time to renew your residency card if you aren’t living here. You’re supposed to be living at the address you have registered with the immigration service when you renew your card.
I know a friend with a similar situation and helped them navigate the issue by discussing directly with immigration.
In short, your zairyu card doesn’t matter, what matters is your reentry permit. Your reentry permit can never be expired while you’re outside Japan. If it’s expired, you will lose your PR status. You can renew your zairyu card anytime you reenter the country. So get the 5 years reentry permit before you leave, and you’re good to go.
And my friend did came back just before his reentry permit expired (with zairyu card already expired for a couple of years), and he went to immigration in shinagawa and they renew their zairyu card, no question asked.
Immigration has a separate paper where you can explain why you want to renew your card out of schedule. But yes go to immigration and discuss about it with them.
You’ll also need to apply for longer re-entry permission so you’ll be going there anyways.