I’ve been in Japan on and off for roughly 20 years, coming back this time around 2018 with my spouse and child. Stable job at a big Japanese multinational company, thinking about buying a house so last year decided to go for PR. Long story short, 4 months later my application is rejected so head down to immigration to find out why.
Apparently, my spouse was a week late paying her city tax while she was on maternity leave with our second child (usually she pays it through her company, so she just forgot) and for that reason my application was rejected.
I was told to apply again once we have 3 years with no missed payments. 🙁
Urrghhh…I get it, thems the rules but it is still annoying all the same as it really affects our house hunting.
Still, my spousal visa was up for renewal so I sorted that on the same day and it was processed lightning quick in two working days (got the postcard 4 days after my visit) with a new 5 year visa, so at least they are efficient.
I guess the takeaway is at the moment, I’m welcome to stay in Japan as long as I wish, just not forever….
Has anyone else been turned down for a similar reason?
29 comments
>while she was on maternity leave
Huh? If she was on maternity leave then it means she was still employed and her employer should have still be doing “special collection” and then send a bill to you to pay the employer each month. That’s how it usually works for people doing “special collection” who go on an extended leave of absence anyway.
Just submitted my application this morning. They were asking for copies of my wife’s 住民税証明書…I just hope she paid on time as she was on mat leave at one point as well.
That sucks mate
Why would your spouse having missed a payment affect your application?
Edit: Okay because its the spouse route. Makes sense.
Sorry to hear that man. Although the spousal route is generally regarded as ‘easier’ it can be more difficult in the sense that you can get rejected on factors outside your control.
I got mine not too long ago through the spousal route and it took about 7 months. My wife used to troll me during that time like “ah….actually I think I missed a couple payments” lol
FWIW I was able to get a mortgage without PR, on a 5 yr spouse visa if that’s the affect on house hunting you mention.
EDIT revised spouse visa to 5 yr, not 4
Someone I know had a similar situation happen but with pension. It sucks. But you gotta wait it out. Make sure she doesn’t miss any payments for anything.
” I guess the takeaway is at the moment, I’m welcome to stay in Japan as long as I wish, just not forever…. ”
I mean, I’m sorry you didn’t get it, but let’s be real, the takeaway is to pay all your bills before they’re late. On the bright side, if that’s all they had, in three years you’ll be good to go.
I imagine my situation is similar to yours (just haven’t gotten my rejection letter yet and I applied in early February.. Wife missed payment by a couple days while on maternity leave compounded by corona. Hired a someone to get my paper work and he wrote up a very apologetic letter explaining the situation so hopefully my situation is different… this all didn’t stop me from getting a house loan which I got from SMBC.
– 5 year humanities visa
– 3 years at current company
– trying for PR (this doesn’t matter as much)
Loan approved with a 1.475% moving rate. Don’t give up your house plans cause of a bad PR submission.
Does anyone know if there’s a service you can use to check for missed tax/pension/whatever payments before applying for PR?
If you have a Japanese spouse who can co-sign the mortgage, a PR will not make a big difference to your house hunting.
Ouch. Sorry to hear it. IMHO – sounds unreasonable. She did in fact pay it and you are up to date on your taxes, right? And no specific penalties. 3 years is a bit long.
That sucks.
I had exactly this happen. They said that they generally look at the last _two_ years, unless they see something as a red flag that warrants looking further back. I waited until her late payment rolled off the end of the two year window, then immediately applied and was approved after five months.
Exact same situation except my company missed the city tax deadline twice.
Given a 5 year spouse, was told to apply again in 3 years.
Great, now I’m thinking I’m probably screwed too for a similar reason. Planning to do PR later this year. With changing jobs I had to pay residence tax manually and got two bills once. Thought it was weird so I took them to the kuyakusho and was told I only needed to pay the bigger one. The smaller one then came again saying it was late so I went back to the kuyakusho and they said the first guy was wrong, this was an adjustment to an earlier payment, so I promptly paid that one too plus a late fee. I guess I can go check with them and see if they have any records or whatever, but as this was just a year or two ago I’m likely screwed.
It’s expensive but a lawyer is a lock if it’s really something you desire.
at least 4 months… Where did you submit?
immigration are just… have no words
They are crazy strict on payment dates these days. Pay everything well in advance and keep all your payment receipts in a safe place.
Did the rules for PR change? I don’t think they asked me for a lot of this stuff. I’m certain I was late on taxes, not sure I paid pension/healthcare.. I did however own a good chunk of land, owned my house and had kids. Was a long time ago.
SMBC may give you a house loan on a spouse visa. I got one. A couple others I know got one. I’ve got PR and can now refinance and get a mortgage with a lower interest rate.
All hope is not lost and your life isn’t on hold. 🙂
Lol I guess I’ll apply in 3 years then. My wife forgot about an electricity payment that was for our old place. We just moved last month. My wife is careless and the paper got put somewhere that wasn’t with the other bills to pay, and I forgot to ask her where it was. Because we both work and have a 1 year old. Literally 1 day late. We only found out because they cut the power to our new place. That was rather rude after finishing work, picking up the kid, and getting home at 7. The electric bill? 299 yen.
I don’t have PR or spouse visa, but to my surprise I did get a house loan. I am married with a daughter.
Just try the loan test.
Ah, that is a bummer, sorry to hear that. At least you know the reason for it and that you can apply again. Sucks about the house situation in the meantime though.
Same happened to me too bro. I let ChatGPT make sense of the rest.
dear compatriots, it is with great pride and admiration that I inform you of my extensive residency in the magnificent nation of Japan for a staggering period of 18 years. During this time, I have endeavored to secure the coveted status of permanent residency, albeit with repeated disappointments.
Alas, let me bring forth an intriguing tale of my recent encounters with the immigration authorities. It appears that despite my consistent ability to procure visas for durations spanning three to five years, an unforeseen turn of events unfolded. Regrettably, due to an outstanding debt of ¥40,000 in city taxes, my most recent application resulted in a mere one-year visa being granted.
I assure you, my fellow countrymen, that I am fully cognizant of the significance and utmost importance of fulfilling our civic duties, including the payment of city taxes. However, it does cast a shadow upon my spirit to consider the impending prospect of dedicating an entire three-day span next year to the visa renewal process, accompanied by an additional expenditure of ¥4,000 for the visa stamp.
Such circumstances, though vexing, shall not deter my resolute pursuit of resolving this financial predicament and, more significantly, persevering in my aspirations towards obtaining permanent residency within this remarkable land of the rising sun. Your support and well-wishes in this endeavor are most sincerely appreciated. y dear compatriots, it is with great pride and admiration that I inform you of my extensive residency in the magnificent nation of Japan for a staggering period of 18 years. During this time, I have endeavored to secure the coveted status of permanent residency, albeit with repeated disappointments.
Alas, let me bring forth an intriguing tale of my recent encounters with the immigration authorities. It appears that despite my consistent ability to procure visas for durations spanning three to five years, an unforeseen turn of events unfolded. Regrettably, due to an outstanding debt of ¥40,000 in city taxes, my most recent application resulted in a mere one-year visa being granted.
I assure you, my fellow countrymen, that I am fully cognizant of the significance and utmost importance of fulfilling our civic duties, including the payment of city taxes. However, it does cast a shadow upon my spirit to consider the impending prospect of dedicating an entire three-day span next year to the visa renewal process, accompanied by an additional expenditure of ¥4,000 for the visa stamp.
Such circumstances, though vexing, shall not deter my resolute pursuit of resolving this financial predicament and, more significantly, persevering in my aspirations towards obtaining permanent residency within this remarkable land of the rising sun. Your support and well-wishes in this endeavor are most sincerely appreciated.
How were you able to get the reason? My friend also got rejected recently but even after heading down to immigration, got a basic “we can’t really tell you the reason”
Is there any way to know if you ever missed/were late with a payment?
“Spouse was a week late paying *her city tax*..”
Wait, why are you responsible for her paying her tax from -presumably – her income from her job????
chin up mate, least we can renew online now