jkrobs

Hi All,

I have a question on the residency card..

So I have been living in Japan for around 4 years and to that point I had a 1 year Spouse visa, then a 3 year spouse and last year I got my current 5 years Spouse visa.

So anyway, unfortunately my father was unwell with cancer and I decided to come back to the UK to spend a few months with him.. I left Japan December 1st 2021. When I left the customs officer gave me a special re-entry permit. It says I must return within 1 year.

I will be returning on the 11th of May...but before Ieft Japan my wife told me we had to inform the city hall that I would be away and not living at our address in Japan. so we took my name of the address and told them my UK address.

My question is..does that make the residency card void? It worries me as I have my wife and kids in Japan .

I will be re-rejistering again within 2 weeks of returning at the city hall.

I did just check the card validaty on a MOFA website and it says It's still valid and not expired. But does it cause issues if the address was removed?

the actual card which I have here, shows the address I was living at and is valid until 2026.

anyone think I'm ok and worrying too much?

alan11

If the card is still valid and your re-entry permit is valid, you may be OK.

But to be honest, I would not have done that with removing your residence at the City Hall. Doing this is mainly for Japanese citizens who move abroad who either no longer have any address in Japan and/or those who will be abroad for a long period and don't want to be liable for taxes, pension fees, etc. Since you are maintaining an address, its unnecessary to remove it. And unlike yourself, citizens are guaranteed the right to return no matter what is the status of their address, yet foreigners (as you may have learned) are not so privileged.

So by removing your residence, you are saying you are no longer living in Japan, which doesn't necessarily void your visa (but then again, it might), but it may somehow affect you being allowed to re-enter under the ridiculous covid rules.

Yet regardless, there's nothing you can really do now, so just fly back and hope for the best. They should let you onto the plane from the UK (as you said, the card is valid so the airline people should let you board), and once in Japan you should be OK as long as you have the re-entry permit. If they want to give you a problem, it would be a mess for them.

But in the future, I wouldn't do that again. Furthermore, with being married for as long as you are and with having kids, you should change your visa status from Spouse to Permanent Resident (I did this myself a decade ago). You only need to be married 3 years to do so, but the only other stipulation is that you need to be living in Japan the for the full previous year before applying for PR, which in your case, you technically invalidated when you specifically removed your address.

Please update when you get into Japan, I'd be curious if there was any issues at immigration.

bpe

You shouldn't have any problems with immigration - you have a valid reentry card and although they might remind you to reregister your address at the city hall, that's about it. On a spouse visa (or PR if/when you get it) there's no requirement to work so you aren't violating any immigration conditions by not working for an extended period of time.

As for the city, that will cause issues once you are actually back in Japan and go back to reregister. You should only unregister if you expect to be gone for over a year (if you get the regular 2+ year reentry permission and have a long visa or PR) since it means that you won't owe residence tax and so on, rather than for shorter trips. But it shouldn't be anything that can't be solved with a lot of apologies, a bunch of waiting around the city hall, and maybe paying some taxes and fees that you missed out on paying when you moved out.

THECLIPPERS

I would not be worried at all. I got a residence card last December and have returned twice to the U.S. and back in the last 2 months. I have not registered with a local city hall and do not have an address on the back of my card.

A Little Cow

That sounds problematic with me... You should definitely register with a city hall and are required to within two weeks of moving. While you might not be having issues with immigration while coming/going, you might have issues with local police and while trying to renew your VISA. You may face a fine (200,000 yen) or possible revocation of your residency status. See some discussion here: https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/qu....html?0+148392

alan11

I agree with Little Cow. Sure, immigration at the airport may not care, but local Govs will, and someday immigration will too.
You need to register to get health insurance and/or prove you have it from abroad (insurance is required to live in Japan), as well as for pension and local tax (also required). And wherever you do eventually register will be wondering why you never registered, and may give you a problem.

bpe

A lot of it comes down to intent. If you have a valid reason to not register an address such as actually living abroad for a medium to long period of time (if your visa status allows it) or not having a proper address due to taking a long time to move, it should not be a problem but you will have to explain to the city hall when you do eventually register.

If you don't register because you are trying to avoid paying residence tax or insurance or simply out of ignorance, the city hall will notice and will not like it, but they don't really have the power to do much other than make you pay those fees, maybe with some penalty and interest. If you are working, your job will eventually find out since the city hall can force your employer to withhold your paycheck and cause a lot of trouble for them. Immigration will care if you ever apply for PR, and maybe but not necessarily for other visa renewals, but reentering Japan won't be a problem.

THECLIPPERS

I have been staying in hotels in different cities while I'm in Japan so I can't register yet. I called the city hall of my mother in law's town to see if I should register with her address and they said it wasn't required.

I do have health insurance from the U.S. and travel insurance as well. I'm not working, just enjoying family time.

I would like to buy a house in Japan and once I do that I will have an address to register.

mrploddy

You might have some interesting explanations when it comes to renewing your visa.

One of the requirements is to show that you're up to date with taxes, pension and health insurance.

I would strongly recommend that you take advice on this. Even people who are not working are expected to pay pension no matter what (although you can claim no income exemption).

Granted the fact you've been living in hotels and don't have a permanent address to create a residence record is quite a key factor / creates a unique situation but even so make sure you keep records eg hotel bills to prove where you have been.

EDIT - One thing to note is that once you do get a residence record be prepared for them to ask for back payments from the moment you entered Japan. I had to clarify my social security status when I first came so didn't register for pension straight away. When the UK said I was liable in Japan BOOM pension service were on the phone for back payments to the point of first entry. Would strongly recommend if you want to avoid a big back payment to register for Exemption - zero income for previous year (as not in Japan) means you can get 100% exemption on payments at least for a certain period of time.

THECLIPPERS

Thank you for the info and advice. I appreciate it.