Staying as tourist for longer than 6 months

Hi everyone,
I want to spend as much time as I can exploring Japan next year.
As a British I can extend my 90days to 180, but then I want to come back again for at least another 90days.
I don't want to work, I just want to be a tourist, but I don't have 300k to show for 1 year tourist visa.
Anybody has done it? Any advice?
Thanks

If you're British, can't you just get a 2 year working holiday visa and do some light work and travel? That would be easier I imagine.

Sorry, I meant 1 year.

Note that a WH visa does not obligate you to work, it only allows you to.

Vita, the OP has already said they don't have the savings required for a 1 year working holiday visa.

OP, if you don't have the savings for a WH visa, how are you funding your trip to Japan? 9 months travelling is a long time!

And as far as I know, you can't spend more than 6 months out of any 12 in Japan as a tourist. If you really want to, I suggest saving until you can get a WH visa.

Going past 180 days is a moot point if you don't have the funds to support yourself. 300K really isn't enough to last 30 days.

Cheap accommodation, food, travel = 10K per day.

I think OP may mean 300k GBP rather than Yen as the general long stay visa page states that you must have 30 million yen in savings.

Makes sense. Brain just defaulted to yen since we are discussing Japan.

I guess Japan want to make sure you can support yourself and then some.

But lets be serious, if you can holiday for 90 or 180 days. Then just do that and come back again later. If you can vacation for that long of a period of time, then the cost of extra flights a second time around will be just peanuts in the whole scheme of things.

1. I meant 300k dollars of course that you need for 1 year tourist visa,
2. I can't get WHV
3. How moot is coming after 180 days

If you saw that it's not allowed to be longe than 180 days a year, please show me whee, I can't find it.

http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/index.html

http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/visa/temporary.html

I saw those links, but none of them say that that's 180 days a year.
So sure, I'm coming for a short visit, then coming for a short visit again.
That is exactly why I asked the question, if anyone has done it. Because there are plenty discussions re 90 days and coming back, but not so much about 180

And thats what I get for guessing the OP was British. Still nearly right :)

Make phone call 020 7465 6500

Did you read this link?
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2221.html

"If you are a citizen of Austria, Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, you have the possibility to extend your stay to a total of up to six months. You still initially enter Japan on a 90 day permit, but can then apply for an extension at an immigration bureau in Japan."

While there not be a hard-and-fast rule about staying for more than 180 days, it looks suspicious. Trying to stay longer might make immigration think you are working in the country illegally, and they may turn you back just based on suspicion.

Again, how do you plan to fund your 6+ month stay?

By the way, the 30 million yen requirement is only for an extended tourist visa, not a working holiday visa. It is much, much less for a working holiday visa. I would suggest you look into a WH visa as then you won't have to worry about immigration potentially denying you a third 90 day tourist visa.

Thanks guest,

I know I can stay for 180days, I'm asking if there is hard rule I can't stay longer.

I can't get Working Holiday Visa, I'm 32.

The hard rule seems to be that once you get it extended from the first 90 days to the second 90 days (for a total of 180 days) you cannot extend it another time (unless there are very extraordinary circumstances or humanitarian reasons that warrant another extension). So in your case, it means that you cannot get it extended from 180 days to 270 days on one stay.

I know this is not what you are planning to do.

So you go back to the UK once, and then come back into Japan another time hoping to get another 90 days (you are starting from afresh). When it comes to this, there is no hard rule, but then Immigration will get suspicious that you might be engaging in activities other than what is allowed on Temporary Visitor status, so they will get more strict with screening, i.e., asking you more questions, including about funds for further traveling, etc.

The above is something I have read off from a few websites of Japanese administrative specialists.

Thank you for your comment.
It seems to me as well that it will basically boil down to convincing them of our intentions.
Thanks a bunch

There is no 180 day limit or "rule".

If you want to stay 180 days first time, you get 90 days and then have to extend (apply in country). For the additional time, you need to leave for a short time and re-enter (say to Korea or Hong Kong for a weekend).

As a post script, I hit 221 days out of 365 on the tourist waiver programme - all legal and no problems.

(watch your tax resident status)

Thanks a lot!