I am considering accepting a position in another country this summer, though still have a visa that expires in 2027. I figured it would be nice to hang onto it as a backup should I decide to come back.
I’ve heard mixed things, but am I correct in thinking that I can keep it as long as I apply for a re-entry permit at immigration?
Thanks.
4 comments
The problem is: will you still maintain a residence in Japan while you are in another country?
If you’re moving abroad, you have to go to your city hall / ward office and complete the moving-out procedures, which includes cancelling your registered address. If you officially move out, you will need to get your residence card hole punched by Immigration, cancelling your status of residence (which means you lose your visa). It’s the same as moving for good, so in the future if you want to live in Japan again, you will need to start over from the beginning and get a new visa.
If you don’t move out, and maintain a residence in Japan while living abroad, you can keep your status on your residence card, but you are also still responsible for paying taxes, insurances, etc., even if you aren’t physically living there.
You can. If you continue to maintain your residence and employment. That means continuing to pay your rent as if you live there and not quitting/being fired from your job. Your work visa is not valid 3 months after you leave the job.
Back in 2013, I moved home. I never went to the ward office to complete the move out procedure. I must’ve just thought the visa would expire, and that would be it, so I held on to my residence card.
I decided to come back to Japan after six months, about two months before the visa was to expire. When I tried to renew at Shinagawa, the immigration officer asked why I was away for so long. I told her a relative was dying and I had to help take care of her. It wasn’t a lie; they asked for proof, and I gave them a copy of the death certificate.
I had to go to my old ward office, get the “move out slip”, and get the “move in slip” for my new apartment. Then I back paid the overdue residence taxes. Then they renewed the visa. Of course, I had a new job I found to sponsor the visa.
What the first poster said is correct and the right thing to do. But you could do what I did and move out of your apartment but not “move out” at the ward office. Just pay your back taxes etc. when you come back.
You want to apply for the *up to* 5 year single/multiple re-entry permit from immigration in advance.
The 1 year special re-entry permit you obtain at the airport for free is supposed to be for “legal residents” which for mid to long term residents means having a valid resident card. If you no longer reside at the address on your resident card (because you filed your leaving Japan paper work at your city office) then your resident card is technically no longer valid.
For now this is easy to exploit due to lack of communication between municipalities and immigration (municipalities oversee the address part so it essentially means John Smith can “tell” his municipality he’s leaving for >1 year so he can cease residency. But then tell immigration at departure he’s still residing in Japan… at that address on his zairyu card and return in <1 year)
hopefully this exploit will be fixed when MyNumber cards replace our zairyu card because then Municipalities are allowed to print that leave Japan paper work has been filed on the front of the MyNumber card. Where as at the moment municipalities can only print our address on the zairyu card, nothing else.
Why am I telling you this? Well it seems like the government want to replace our zairyu cards with MyNumber cards by late 2024 (see here: https://izanau.com/article/view/my-number-card-japan) so if you try do the 1 year special re-entry permit exploit, then you may find that come late 2024 it’s a lot more difficult for your to get away with it.
So just get the up to 5 year single/multiple re-entry permit from immigration in advance and then file your leaving Japan paperwork and leave, knowing that you’ve followed the process correctly and with a multiple re-entry permit can even freely return as a non-resident (i.e for less than 3 month visits)