Residence card renewal & expired passport

Hello. I wanna ask if my mother will lose her permanent residency status if she cannot show a valid passport (her Philippine passport has already expired and don�ft intend to renew anymore since she doesn�ft want to leave Japan) when renewing her residence card. My mother has been living here for 30+ years and is currently taking care of my sick stepfather which is blind with one eye due to diabetes. But she is too worried to renew her residence card herself because the immigration authourities might reject her application for renewal and deport her for not renewing her passport. We are considering an immigration lawyer to represent on her behalf. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Not renewing your passport or your residence card is not a reason for deportation.

However it is possible that immigration will reject the residence card renewal application due to the expired passport. Again, that doesn't mean deportation but it could cause other issues with various government offices, etc.

The proper thing to do is renew the passport and the residence card. Not doing so is really asking for trouble, especially since nobody will consider "I don't wanna!" to be a justifiable reason for not having a valid passport/residence card.

Your mother will not be deported, but it is better to renew the resident card or she will have more difficulties. I assume the has a permanent resident status.

She need to apply for renewal of the residence card if not than she can face difficulties in renewing, or penalties.
Does your mother prefer to have issues and risk losing (revoke) of her status.

I really do not know what the issue is, she just need to apply as anyone else. She is not the person who can decide she does not want.

Passport is a travel document - you do not need a passport to reside in Japan.
Renew the residence card.

That is false. As a foreign resident in Japan, you are expected to have a valid passport for most immigration procedures. It is not a hard requirement, but if you don't have one you need a pretty good reason.

When I renewed my resident card there was no requirement of passport or even have been asked to present my passport.

http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/kanri/shyorui/14.html

It is written passport OR certificate of status of residence which can be obtained at the city hall.

Only you need a valid passport when traveling outside Japan.

The mother of the OP needs to follow the requirements and renew the resident card in order to prevent penalties, which may include imprison if not complying.
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Thank you for your reponses and input. My mother tried to renew here passport at the consulate in Osaka two years ago but was denied because they said she had a name sake that has a criminal record back in the Philippines. She was too afraid to go back because she might be prevented from leaving the country because of that person on the watchout list. She is worried for my stepfather if she couldn�ft come back. Until the passport got expired in the end.

justmyday, thank you for that very encouraging response. I�fve read the requirements in the official site. It says passport OR certificate of status of residence.

My mother is a permanent resident. I wonder where we can avail of the certificate of permanent residency for my mom. Can we really get it from the city hall?

A Certified Copy of Resident Registration is proof of your mothers residential status and address in Japan. She can apply for this at the ward office

Justmyday, You meant the juminhyo �Z–¯•[?

That is false. As a foreign resident in Japan, you are expected to have a valid passport for most immigration procedures. It is not a hard requirement, but if you don't have one you need a pretty good reason.
As you say, it is not a requirement. Simple reason for not needing a passport - being permanent resident and not travelling.
If you have an official reference to quote I would be interested in reading it.

Thank you JapanCustomTours for that comment. These past few days have been quite tough for me for I worry for my mom�fs permanent residency might be taken away just for having an expired passport. We just hope that the immigration will renew her residency card without having to show a passport.

@tom

�Z–¯•[ is correct. Small payment of 300 yen is needed to get the certificate.

Please follow the link I have provided for the process and your mother will be fine. Just be on time to apply for renewal.

Thank you! @ justmyday