I have a weird predicament and I’m wondering why I can’t do this one thing. It’s somewhat hard to describe so I may need you to bear with me.
So… I received my working holiday visa from the Japanese consulate in Toronto in December of 2022.
The visa says it expires December 2023 and it is valid for “stay(s) of 6 months”. It says under number of entries: “SINGLE”, however when I left the airport (I stayed in Japan for about 4 and a half months) I received a reentery permit valid for reentries within one year.
Given that my visa expires December 2023, and it says valid for stay(s) of up to 6 months, it sounds like I should be able to return before December 2023, and stay at least until December 2023. E.g. if I return in August I should be able to stay until at least December 2023.
Now the predicament comes with something known as the Canadian working holiday visa extension. My understanding of it is that when you are I Japan, you can apply for it to stay for up to 12 months total. But it sounds like something that’s only needed if you don’t leave the country. With something like a tourist visa, I’m aware that one can simply cross the border and then potentially be given another 3 month stay.
The challenge is something that perhaps gets lost in translation when talking with the people at the consulate. I already called them twice and they don’t seem to have patience for the details of my question. (When I call the line there is a pre-recorded message saying they are extremely busy, but I am able to press “0” and get someone within a reasonable amount of time.) The woman simply says she doesn’t understand what I’m saying but that you need to be in Japan to extend the visa, so I would need to return before the initial 6 month entry expires.
I understand I would need to be in Japan to get the extension, but since I
1) already left the country
2) have the reentry permit
3) my visa says for stays of up to 6 months
4) my visa doesn’t expire until December 2023
It sounds like I shouldn’t NEED to extend it in that way, it sounds like I can return and get another 6 months.
When I told them this, they simply said that I don’t understand what they are saying (I do, I know what they are saying is an option for me, which definitely will work), but also that they don’t understand what I’m saying, which to me basically means that it *could* technically be possible to not need the extension, and thus not *need* to rush to return to Japan within a month to get it. They basically hung up on me once they said this, which was super rude so I’m hesitant to call them again without some way of explaining it better.
Thoughts on this? I know you are not visa experts, and I’m also planning on sending them an email or calling them again and somehow explaining, but maybe I’m just being dumb here.
3 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Working holiday reentry predicament**
I have a weird predicament and I’m wondering why I can’t do this one thing. It’s somewhat hard to describe so I may need you to bear with me.
So… I received my working holiday visa from the Japanese consulate in Toronto in December of 2022.
The visa says it expires December 2023 and it is valid for “stay(s) of 6 months”. It says under number of entries: “SINGLE”, however when I left the airport (I stayed in Japan for about 4 and a half months) I received a reentery permit valid for reentries within one year.
Given that my visa expires December 2023, and it says valid for stay(s) of up to 6 months, it sounds like I should be able to return before December 2023, and stay at least until December 2023. E.g. if I return in August I should be able to stay until at least December 2023.
Now the predicament comes with something known as the Canadian working holiday visa extension. My understanding of it is that when you are I Japan, you can apply for it to stay for up to 12 months total. But it sounds like something that’s only needed if you don’t leave the country. With something like a tourist visa, I’m aware that one can simply cross the border and then potentially be given another 3 month stay.
The challenge is something that perhaps gets lost in translation when talking with the people at the consulate. I already called them twice and they don’t seem to have patience for the details of my question. (When I call the line there is a pre-recorded message saying they are extremely busy, but I am able to press “0” and get someone within a reasonable amount of time.) The woman simply says she doesn’t understand what I’m saying but that you need to be in Japan to extend the visa, so I would need to return before the initial 6 month entry expires.
I understand I would need to be in Japan to get the extension, but since I
1) already left the country
2) have the reentry permit
3) my visa says for stays of up to 6 months
4) my visa doesn’t expire until December 2023
It sounds like I shouldn’t NEED to extend it in that way, it sounds like I can return and get another 6 months.
When I told them this, they simply said that I don’t understand what they are saying (I do, I know what they are saying is an option for me, which definitely will work), but also that they don’t understand what I’m saying, which to me basically means that it *could* technically be possible to not need the extension, and thus not *need* to rush to return to Japan within a month to get it. They basically hung up on me once they said this, which was super rude so I’m hesitant to call them again without some way of explaining it better.
Thoughts on this? I know you are not visa experts, and I’m also planning on sending them an email or calling them again and somehow explaining, but maybe I’m just being dumb here.
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>It says under number of entries: “SINGLE”, however when I left the airport (I stayed in Japan for about 4 and a half months) I received a reentery permit valid for reentries within one year.
The visa is used to enter Japan. The visa was single entry. This means that once you’ve entered Japan, the visa is null and void and can’t be used again. Instead you received a “status of residence”. While living in Japan you have this status or residence, not a visa. In daily speak people will use these terms interchangeably, but for finding information it’s important to know the difference.
>Given that my visa expires December 2023,
The visa expiry and status of residence expiry is completely separate, and not related. The visa is valid for 1 year, and single entry. So once you’ve entered Japan, it’s not longer valid. So if you’ve entered Japan, the visa is already invalid.
The period of stay in your case is 6 months. This means that your status of residence is valid for 6 months from the time you entered Japan. The expiry date should be on your residence card. You can’t re-enter after the period of stay has ended.
Like u/pancakepepper mentioned: You no longer have a visa, you have a Status of Residence.
The ***ONLY*** date that is relevant in your case is the expiration date on your zairyu card.
Visa date? Irrelevant, because you already used it to enter the country.
Reentry permit date? Irrelevant, because the moment your status of residence expires it becomes invalid.
>When I told them this, they simply said that I don’t understand what they are saying
Frankly I kinda agree with them. They told you the *only* way to reenter the country and get an extension.
>also that they don’t understand what I’m saying
No, they understood just fine. What you are saying/planning *will not work*.
Literally the only way to reenter the country is to return before the expiration date on your zairyu card. Doing anything else will result in you being turned away at immigration, or forced to enter on a tourist visa.