Eligible for the long-term resident visa?

Hi,

My grand-aunt and her family works in japan, and we plan to make me live with them for next year. Would I be applicable for a COE and VISA of Long-Term Resident?

We already found a school that would accept me even tho i cannot speak japanese fluently (they will give a special entrance exam and provide support for foreign students) and as long as i’ll be there for the entrance exam and start of the new school year there would be apparently be no troubles.

We cannot ask the embassy here in the Philippines about this concern as they only accept questions about visas w/ a certificate of eligibility already.

And my grand-aunt isnt really that good at fixing stuff nor at giving us corrent info, while we cannot ask the the embassy at japan due to the obvious language barrier. And the rest of my grand-aunt’s family cannot speak english nor filipino properly

We will send the application form for the coe with all the requirements as stated by the website to my grand-aunt by tomorrow morning and she’ll act as a courier and just simply give the documents to the embassy.

I really just want the peace of mind of knowing that it would hopefully be processed without any issues, as if it does not i may not be able to go arrive there on time for the entrance exam + the needed 2 week self-quarantine due to covid

I really appreciate if you could help us, thanks 🙏

hire a immigration lawyer, if you don't speak the language and don't know immigration system.

I second the suggestion to seek the advice of an immigration lawyer.

From my layman's perspective, though, I have a couple thoughts.

Obtaining a visa is much more about showing a need to live in Japan, not just that you have a place to stay if yo get there. You ask if you would be "eligible for the long-term resident visa," but there's no class of visa just called "resident." The basic ones are student, work, spousal, and dependent visas. The work and spousal visas aren't applicable to your situation, so let's look at the other two.

Unless you are your great-aunt's legal dependent, you would not be eligible for a visa simply because she lives in Japan. For example, I live in Japan, but that doesn't mean my niece and nephew can get Japanese resident visas. My brother is their legal guardian, and they're his dependents, so there's no need for them to live in Japan if my brother isn't here.

Is there some reason you can't continue to live in the Philippines, such as your parents being unable to support you there? If not, you're unlikely to be granted a dependent visa.

So what about a student visa? You say 「We already found a school that would accept me even tho i cannot speak japanese fluently (they will give a special entrance exam and provide support for foreign students) and as long as i’ll be there for the entrance exam」, but there are a couple of issues here, including what type of school you're talking about.

It's not simply a matter of a school being willing to accept you. The school also has to be willing to act as your visa sponsor throughout your stay in Japan. While some middle and high schools are willing to do this, most aren't, because of the legal complexities of the process. It's far more likely that a school would be willing to serve as a sponsor for a limited-time student exchange program, but these usually aren't "long-term" arrangements.

Universities and language schools are usually far more likely to have systems in place by which they serve as student visa sponsors. However, this also varies from school to school, and the length of study programs they offer may not be what you would consider "long term."

By the way, you say both 「We already found a school that would accept me」 and 「they will give a special entrance exam...as long as i’ll be there for the entrance exam」. To me this sounds like you're hoping to move to Japan first, then take the entrance exam after you arrive. This would likely be difficult, since schools can't sponsor your student visa until after they've accepted you, but if they're making you take the entrance exam only after you get to Japan, then they haven't accepted you yet.

「my grand-aunt isnt really that good at fixing stuff nor at giving us corrent info, while we cannot ask the the embassy at japan due to the obvious language barrier. 」

To be honest, this sounds like a huge barrier to your obtaining a visa. Your great aunt, who's supposed to be your source of support while living in Japan, sounds like she's incapable of providing the systematic support you'd need to make sure your residence is legitimate. Meanwhile, your Japanese language skills are at a low enough level that, in your opinion, trying to handle that yourself is "obviously" impossible.

At the risk of hurting your feelings, it sounds like you would have a very difficult time transitioning to life in Japan. Your local support person won't be able to help you, and you won't be able to help yourself, so what's going to happen when you inevitably run into problems? That's exactly the kind of situation immigration departments want to prevent, so if your plan to move to Japan is based simply on wanting to live in Japan, and not an actual need to leave your home country and relocate to Japan, it doesn't sound like you've got much of a shot at it. If you simply want to get a taste of daily life in Japan, I'd recommend looking at short-term study programs (for which student visas are much easier to obtain) or aiming to study at a university or language school in Japan a couple years down the road.

But again, this is just my opinion, and talking to an immigration lawyer, to whom you can provide more specific details about your situation, is the wisest choice.

Initially I thought your grand-aunt is Japanese but it sounds like she's Filipino. Even if she was Japanese, I don't think you would be eligible for the LTR visa. That visa is for grandchildren of Japanese.

I could be wrong but I don't think you will get approved. Let us know the results, good luck.

An aunt (or grand-aunt) is not a family relationship that would normally be recognised. A parent is more usual. Realistically I do not see how you would be eligible for a long-term resident status - you would be better simply applying for a student visa/status of residence.