Immigration issues are complex and critical to the futures of those involved. Whether you are a business seeking immigrant and non-immigrant visas for your employees, an individual seeking naturalization or a family that wants to remain together in Japan, our immigration attorneys can help. At Futaba Immigration Lawyer’s Office, we are a law firm devoted exclusively to Japanese immigration law. Dedicated to the principles of accessibility and excellence, we are prepared to succeed for every client and are available for our clients any time they have questions.

Business Immigration Law Practice

Futaba Immigration Lawyer’s Office helps human resource departments coordinate all aspects of their employees’ immigration cases, including employment visas for foreign national employees in Japan. The firm handles employer compliance and sanctions. In business immigration, a commitment to quality and unparalleled service is vital to corporations which employ foreign nationals. The firm attorney responsible for your case is accessible twenty-four hours a day.

Family Immigration Law Practice

At Futaba Immigration Lawyer’s Office, our family immigration practice handles all areas of Japanese family based immigration cases. Our primary focus is on helping families stay together and become legal citizens or residents of Japan. Whether you have been living or working in Japan legally or illegally, our firm can help you evaluate your options and reach your goals. We file petitions of citizenship and handle all aspects of Japanese naturalization.

 

Please see http://www.moj.go.jp/ENGLISH/information/icrr-23.html for the details of each status of residence.

 

1. Process from acquisition of Certificate of Eligibility(COE) to acquisition of visa

Visas are generally applied for and issued at Japanese diplomatic missions abroad. However, Japanese diplomatic missions abroad may be unfamiliar with circumstances in Japan, leading to delays and other difficulties in screening applications for long-term stay visas such as those for foreign nationals seeking to work in Japan. In light of this, the Immigration Bureau in Japan often screens these applications to determine whether or not the activities intended by the foreign national wishing to enter and reside in Japan correspond to the conditions for the visa being sought; if it is determined that these activities meet the visa conditions, a Certificate of Eligibility(COE) shall be issued. If this COE is presented to a Japanese diplomatic mission abroad together with a visa application, the conditions for entry/residence will ordinarily be deemed satisfied and a visa promptly issued. A COE is not applicable to temporary visitor visa.

 

2. Flowchart from application for Certificate of Eligibility to visa acquisition and entry into Japan

*If a foreign national who has applied for a COE is already in Japan on a temporary visitor status of residence when the COE is issued, that foreign national may be able to apply for Change of Status from his/her valid temporary visitor status to other status approved in COE while still in Japan, without the need to apply and receive a visa at a Japanese diplomatic mission outside Japan.

3. Change of Status of Residence

A foreign national residing in Japan who wishes to cease the activities in which he/she is currently engaged and to engage exclusively in activities belonging to a status of residence other than that which he/she presently holds must apply and receive permission for a Change of Status of residence. For example, a foreign national transferred from a parent company in a foreign country to a subsidiary in Japan and currently residing in Japan on an “Intra-company Transferee” status of residence who wishes to resign from the company to which he/she is transferred and to invest in and operate his/her own company needs to apply and receive permission for a change to “Investor/Business Manager” status of residence. Applications for a change in status of residence are not automatically approved, and permission shall not be granted if the new activities do not match the requirements and criteria of the status of residence sought.

4. Alien Registration

A foreign nationals are required to apply for alien registration at the municipal office in the city, ward, town or village in which they reside within 90 days of entering Japan (except when re-entering Japan on a re-entry permit) or, for foreign nationals born in Japan, within 60 days of their birth. However, foreign nationals departing Japan within 90 days of their landing date, and their landing date, and those born in Japan departing within 60 days of birth, are not required to apply for registration.

 

5. Re-entry permission (Single or Multiple)

A foreign national residing in Japan who wishes to leave Japan temporarily within permitted period of stay and, after traveling to his/her home country, to enter and reside in Japan again with the same status of residence as before needs to apply for and receive re-entry permit. Under this system, a foreign national who receives re-entry permit before leaving Japan needs not apply for an entry visa again at a Japanese diplomatic mission abroad prior to re-entering Japan, and can reside in Japan after re-entry with the same status of residence held prior to leaving Japan. Please note that departing Japan without receiving this re-entry permit will result in forfeiture of the status of residence and the period of stay previously granted.

6. Extension of Period of Stay

The period of stay is decided together with the status of residence when the foreign national lands in Japan or changes his/her status of residence, and the foreign national may only reside in Japan for this stipulated period of stay.

Consequently, a foreign national wishing to continue the same activities in Japan with his/her present status of residence beyond this stipulated period of stay must apply for an extension of this period of stay no later than the last day of that period of stay. Extensions shall not be granted if the purpose of the stay has already been completed or there are other problems related to the status of residence.

Applications for extensions of periods of stay may ordinarily be filed up to two months before the expiration date of the period of stay. The period of stay for working statuses, except for “Entertainers” engaged in artistic activities, “Diplomats” and “Officials” will be either one year or three years.

 

Contact Us

To speak to an experienced immigration attorney about your business or individual immigration needs, please contact us online or call +81(0)3-5312-0752. You can also reach an attorney at +81(0)70-6487-8382. We are here to serve you throughout Japan and worldwide.