Hi /r/japanlife, I will be leaving my current company this month, and taking a bit of a rest to go back to my home country for the summer. I have a new job lined up to start in the Fall, but no offer letter as of yet. I am currently here on an Engineer/Humanities visa.
Officially in terms of the visa regulations, I know I can only be in Japan for a certain amount of time while unemployed before needing to leave the country.
However, I’ve heard there are many exceptions to this rule. For example, what would happen if I visit the ward office to complete the move out notification document and when I leave the country, indicate that I will return to Japan within one year to get a re-entry permit. Upon returning, would my residence card and/or working visa still be considered valid?
Alternatively, what would happen if I didn’t advise the city office and simply left and got the re-entry permit at the airport before leaving? I’ve been in this situation already as one of those locked out of the country during COVID, so this was a huge administrative pain upon returning with the unpaid residence taxes/pensions/etc, however in the end my Visa was still valid despite being out of the country and unemployed for a few months. Ideally would like to avoid this and officially move out to prevent this situation again.
I realize it would be simpler to stay until the new job starts, but the timing just doesn’t work out between leaving the old position and the new one. The new company could in theory sponsor a working visa, but that’s a bit of an administrative burden as well since I already have a visa.
Has anyone ever been in this situation?
1 comment
Generally speaking immigration is unlikely to initiate revocation procedures while you are outside of the country. They also do not generally revoke status when you are actively searching for a job in country and/or when you next job is lined up.
It would be highly beneficial to follow all appropriate procedures regarding notifications. (Do not lie about being a resident when you aren’t.) That said, how long are you actually planning to leave? You may not actually qualify to cease being a resident for tax/municipal purposes.
In general, given your situation, I would feel comfortable saying your SOR should generally remain valid until its date of expiration. You should follow standard immigration procedures and use special re-entry if you are planning to only temporarily leave.