Hi I have questions and advice to ask here.. basically I finally managed to achieved my dream on moving to Japan, however there’s a slight hickup which perhaps I am just overthinking. Below are the summaries
* I managed to get an offer letter for company transfer from Australia to Japan after succesful interview
* My employer has 3rd global immigration services which managing my immigration process (I call it 3P GIS from now)
* I have submitted all required documents and filled in questionaire required by 3P GIS. In the questionnaire they ask if I ever have committed offence including traffic violations.
* I had DUI in April 2017 with aftermath I had to attended court and paid AUD$600 and license suspension of 6 months. So I declare this on the questionnaire
* The person in charge of my case seems quite inexperience and did not assure me that they will do my best for my application. Below is copy paste of what they have mentioned on the email
We most likely able to submit your COE application in the second week of March (4th-8th March 2024) subject to further clarification required. We would like to inform you that we will eventually need to share the info in regards to your traffic violation with the HR since they need to review your application before we can proceeds with the submission. They also need to be made aware beforehand of the elevated risk of delays and complications involved.
so based on the response above, I feel like the case associate was under the impression I am trying to hide my offence. I had always been open on disclosing my offence which is my 1st and only so far to all previous until current employment, so I am not sure what the case associate is on about.
I’ve visited Japan since 2017 to last year for exact number of 5 times with visitor visa (I am from the country where we have to apply for visitor visa every time I want to visit Japan). However in 2022 I applied for Multiple entry temporary visa because I have relatives living in Japan, so I used this reason to the embassy in AU and issued 5 years multiple entry. For each of the visa application and arrival card upon landing in Japan, I always ticked “No” on Have I ever committed crime or offence in Japan or another country .. the reason on this because in 2018 when I visited Japan I called the embassy and explained about my situation on DUI and its aftermath on fine paid. The embassy in charge asked if I there’s jail more than 1 year or drugs related, of course I said no, and he mentioned just tick “No” because automatic denied entry to Japan is prison time > 1 year and drugs charges. Hence the reason I always tick “No” since. I even called the Japan embassy in Australia in Melbourne and Sydney yesterday and explained my situation without announcing my name, one officer straight mentioned it’s not a problem and I should tick “No”, even I tick “Yes” it should not be a problem. The other office mentioned they can’t give answer on the phone as they need to see my documents and court result etc, however they mentioned it should be fine because no drugs/prison sentence
Back to my COE and work visa application preparation, the case associate mentioned they need to carefully review whether they need to declare my traffic violations upon submission to the Japan immigration bureau, and that is the last correspondence I had with them as today is public holiday in Japan.
My anxiety and questions are below
* Would my offer letter can be rescinded due to the situation because they don’t want to take the risk? I had my background check done by the APAC standard before joining the organisation in 2022 so of course the company known I have disclosable court outcome, but of course it is the Australia HR who has this info
* I have applied for Online National police check yesterday to prepare if the Japan HR and 3P GSI need it to ensure I have not committed any offence since (which of course I am not)
* Would the Japan immigration has issue upon seeing my COE application because I have always been tick “No” upon visiting Japan in the past few years?
* In case my COE application is successful, upon applying for a Visa in my country embassy AND upon landing in Japan on the embarkation card , should I tick “Yes” on Have I ever committed crime or offence in Japan or other country ?
* Lastly, I have done lots of research which cause sleepless nights for the past 2 days on whether I would be denied entry , denied COE or denied work visa. My assumption is No, because again I don’t below on the category of Jail time > 1 year and drugs
Is there anyone who ha similar experience to me? Any advice and suggestions you can provide to me? I’ve been trying to live and work in Japan for the 5 years and this is the chance finally I can see the entrance door…. thank you so much for reading
by futon_fix