(Apolgies, this is a cross-post from r/japan. Trying to get advice where I can)
Greetings!
I’ve been in Japan over 10 years and I would like to apply for PR. I check all the boxes and I do think I would be accepted.
However, my job is sucking up my time and energy (It is a bit on the dark gray side and one of the reasons I want the freedom of PR), so I am unable to get all the necessary paperwork. I’d like to get it started as soon as possible, but…
The lawyers (especially those that speak English, which I feel is important for such an important undertaking) run around 150,000, and don’t include the proce of the revenue stamp or any certificates. In addition, there are still a few tasks or certificates that I and my guarantor would have to get ourselves; so I’m left wondering if I can justify the price.
Does anyone have experience either applying for PR themselves or hiring a lawyer? Any recommendations?
Thanks in advance!
26 comments
I don’t know anyone who used a lawyer for PR.
All the lawyer is going to do is have you gather the documents and help prepare the excel file you can download for free of the immigration website.
The one time a lawyer will help is telling you if you’re going to get rejected or if you feel you are borderline the fact you wanted PR badly enough to hire a lawyer might sway immigration.
I applied myself, and my colleague applied using a lawyer. My colleague paid roughly what you quoted. The lawyer is definitely the more stress-free choice, but I’m a cheap bastard.
Comparing notes with my colleague, one of the hard-to-quantify benefits of using a lawyer is their experience in interpreting somewhat vague rules — it gives you more confidence going in. I wasn’t really sure how my case (done by myself) would go until I was granted PR. I also had an error in my initial application and had to submit additional documents.
I hired a lawyer to do my PR application on the 10 year path. It was money well spent.
For work visa I did it for myself .
For PR I have hired a lawyer. 180.000yens in total. He went to city hall to get paper for me, going to inmigration instead of me etc.
It takes 6 months so if you do yourself you can miss some document.
Got my PR without a lawyer. Getting the papers is a hassle, but isn’t too hard. I’d recommend you save the money.
Pretty much all the tax and nenkin related documents can be requested via mail, myna card or online and doesn’t require going to the office in person to pick up.
Unless you were rejected before, I think it is worth trying by yourself first. All the necessary documents are listed on the website and if there is an item you don’t understand, put it here and someone can explain.
I have used a lawyer for my work visa, then change to spouse visa, and I will use her again for pr probably this year. She’s cool, she knows me and my family, the particulars of my personal situation etc
It’s nice to have a person to trust on these matters (i.e. better than Reddit) so I don’t mind the cost. Money you can always get some by working but if you have visa problems then it’s over.
I did everything myself. I had a 5 year work visa but married to a Japanese national for 3 years at the time of application. Took a bit of time and was asked for additional documents after 4 months, but got approved without problems.
Save the money, it’s not that difficult
Got mine on the fast track process, took one day off work to collect all the forms from the various city offices. Went to apply, they told me I was missing one of the certificates. Quick trip back to the tax office and returned to the immigration centre an hour later. Applied, visa came through about 5 months later.
If any aspect of your application might be considered unconventional or there’s some minor infraction of the rules (such as failing to report a change of employment within the specified period of time), a good J Immigration paralegal can be well worth it. A small infraction on record in the distant past like getting caught “borrowing” a bicycle can get your PR application nixed. Or, an occupation that is deemed “not contributing to Japanese society”.
Alot of applicants may argue that they have all the time and energy to do it themselves the first time – and don’t care if they might get rejected the first time because if they get it through, they’ll have saved themselves a hefty fee. However, if you have a guarantor who has gone to the trouble of submitting documents like proof of assets etc… most people I know would be a bit upset if asked to re-submit the same documents again.
If you qualify it is really not difficult to do yourself.
If you save 150k a month, you would be working a full month to pay for it.
Lawyer is only financially worth it is you save 150k every one or two days, which would be less than 1% of the salaried population. Or if you have been rejected before and have a specific issue a lawyer can help with.
I’m going to be doing it with a lawyer this year. I can do all the paperwork myself, but I currently have a young baby so doing the paperwork, and actually going downtown to the immigration office and getting everything handed in, is really hard for me right now. I’m mean it takes me two days to write a single email to my aunt because I have so little time with the baby and everything around the house (my husband honestly really isn’t that great at helping with the baby), so for me just paying someone to do the paperwork and deal with everything at immigration is worth the cost of me not having to stress about it. Especially given that it takes me an hour to get downtown as it is, which means two hours round trip with a baby. No thanks.
I think a lawyer will only help if you can’t be bothered researching what you need. In the end you’ll be providing everything, you just have to work out what the “everything” is. Not too hard.
Did it myself. Was no trouble at all.
Never used a lawyer for anything in my life.
We used a legal scribe, not a lawyer, for my PR application (and no, they didn’t speak English). It cost about 40 000 yen, and was well worth the money.
We worked with them to get all the documents and information needed, and they went to the immigration office on my behalf. Just not having to take half a day off 2-3 times to stand in line at the crowded immigration office made it worth the money as far as I’m concerned.
I agree with most people here that if your case is straightforward enough you don’t need a lawyer. With that said I went with one for a few reasons:
* They gave me an exhaustive list of documents to provide which aren’t mentioned on the immigration website to avoid delays/back-and-forth.
* I wanted to ensure that the documents I provided would be enough to prove my work history, and they provided some helpful suggestions.
* They were able to accept my guarantors documents (private info) instead of me so they felt more comfortable with it. You don’t have to provide much anymore but this may be worth it for you depending on your situation
* They went to the immigration office for me, which is easily worth 150,000 yen (lol)
* I’d rather not mess up something simple and have the application rejected. Waiting for 6+ months is bad enough, I wouldn’t want to do it twice.
I would argue that if you’re super busy at work and don’t have the time to arrange the documents yourself the lawyer would be money well spent. It is expensive but it’s a one off cost to make sure that the PR application is submitted correctly the first time which gives you piece of mind and means you can focus on work.
FWIW I applied by myself, preparing the documents and while it does take some time to gather, it was a relatively straightforward process (Similar to a visa renewal with extra documents). If you want a reference I wrote a summary post when I got it last year. Ten year track as well, I would say give it a shot yourself and save yourself the money if you don’t have many complications (main one would be tax/pension payments sorted).
If you’re white, from a first-world country, earn a decent wage, and got all your pension/taxes paid, you can easily do the application yourself.
I did it myself via the ten-year route, and I got my PR after six weeks back in 2015 through the Fukuoka immigration bureau.
Save your money!
I would recommend the lawyer route for people from countries which the Japanese consider inferior to Japan (Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam etc.).
I’d say professional help is worth it if your application is not 100% perfect. While I was switching jobs, my previous company caused me to miss health insurance and pension payments by two weeks, because of miscommunication on their part. I hired a lawyer. He handled the application and wrote a letter explaining what happened. I got PR in 5 months (Osaka). But if I didn’t have that one issue, I’d apply myself. The process is pretty straightforward.
What the lawyer gets you is someone who is chummy with the immigration authorities and who can smooth over issues to a certain extent.
If you have doubts that your PR will be granted, then you should go with a lawyer. Otherwise, it’s not that hard to do on your own.
I’m biased, but I agree with the others posters who mention hiring a lawyer makes sense if any part of your application/personal circumstances could be seen as unusual.
(Which is also true of a lot of administrative legal matters…ie making a will with a single adult beneficiary can be done with a $90 estate plan kit, but if you have minor children, hire a lawyer to do it)
In general, you’re paying for the expertise and convenience. You could make bread at home yourself for 50yen worth of ingredients, or you could just buy a bag for 150yen at a konbini knowing it’s done right and will save you time.
Depends on you. If your case is straightforward , save the cash man. It’s not that hard. Just be sure to go over the application 2-3 times to make sure everything is lined up. Then again, loads of lawyers out there making bank for doing easy work.. don’t wanna mess their game up. Lol
I’m still on a work visa, likely spouse visa next and then PR after that.
I *absolutely* plan to use a lawyer for both the spouse and PR applications when they come around. I can afford it and I don’t want to deal with the stress involved.
You could wash your clothes at the local stream by hand but you’re probably chucking them in your washing machine, and maybe even drying them in the same machine because you can’t be bothered to put them outside (or it’s raining).
You are paying for convenience and for someone else to deal with the potential stress.
I’d say it’s worth it but “worth it” means different things to different people.
Thank you! I found the post and saved it to reference later.
If you genuinely do not have the time or have a shakey work history it is probably worth it.
In my case, I’m married and have been consistently employed for over a decade with the same company that handles my insurance and tax payments, so it was just a matter of collecting the appropriate documents, which took two or three of my days off all together (visiting various offices, quadruple checking that my information was right because the MOFA website doesn’t have a very smooth transition between English and Japanese so even working with my husband it was hard to confirm we were understanding the same thing sometimes). Luckily for me I live in an area where all the offices I needed to visit are within about 15 minutes of my home on foot, though I hear you can access a lot digitally these days too.
I did consider a lawyer just because I was so nervous I hadn’t collected everything correctly but I’m *excessively* stingy and only got as far as seeing a single quote before that went out the window.