Renewing Tourist Visa 4

Hey guys and girls!

Me and my boyfriend are going to Japan this early November. He is going to teach English so he will have a visa that spans at least 1 year.

However, since I will only be staying with him (with the hope of doing some sort of language course, voluntary work, etc) I am entitled to exactly 3 months stay before my tourist visa runs out.

Myself and my boyfriend have thought of ways of renuing my visa so that it lasts at least 9 months. Apparently, I can't work on a tourist visa so that pretty much cancels the working visa.

This leaves two plausible options:

Option 1: I join a japanese language school that can get grant me a student visa that will at last me up to 6 months or more. The only problem is that most of these language schools (at least the ones i've seen online) only last for a month or so. I hope this isn't the case with all language schools. Surely they can't expect people to learn Japanese in few weeks?

Option 2: I leave the country to go to a Taiwan or something for a couple of days and then enter Japan again thus renewing my visa. Is this likely to work? I hope so as otherwise I don't now how me and my boyfriend will be together for a year.

I hope people can provide me with some good advice and ideas regarding this predicament. It would be very grateful.

x

You should consider looking into a cultural visa also...

Get married and get a dependent visa.
Popping in and out of the country to renew your tourist visa is not recommended now they track passports in a general database; they might stop you from entering if they are suspicious that you are actually living in Japan.

Sorry but do you really think it's THAT simple to get married a month before going to Japan just so we can stay together for a year? No, it's not.

Why should we make such a serious commitment for the sake of staying in ONE country? When I asked for advice, I asked for decent, reasonable ones. Not juvenile stuff like that last poster posted.

Actually, I know people in your situation who have gone to Immigration in Japan to ask what they should do and been given exactly the same answer as Kappa gave you. I also know people who have got married in order to be able to stay in Japan- it wasn't really that unreasonable a suggestion, to be honest.

As per your option 2, you can try to stay here a year on successive 90-day tourist visas, leaving for Guam or Korea for example each time, but particularly the 3rd time you enter there is quite a strong possibility that you will be pulled aside, questioned thoroughly and then not allowed back in. No-one can tell you whether or not this will happen for sure, but particularly if your stays are back to back, you will arouse a lot of suspicion.

That is one option, the other is your option 1, study. I have come across a lot of people on student visas doing much longer Japanese courses than you mentioned- a look in the local English language magazine (Metropolis) shows me 3 month and 6 month courses. They have to be full time study I believe and you have to prove you have the funds to support yourself. You can then apply for permission to work part-time once you are here on that visa.

I think Kappa's post was decent. He just gave you an option, which you might not have thought of before, considering you are a couple.
People have often asked here if there is anything like a fiance visa, which there isn't, so his message was to say that in order for you to be afforded some status to stay together on the basis of your relationship, you need to be *married*. Nothing juvenile about that at all.

Back to your point: for option 1, I am surprised that the schools you found had courses only lasting a month or so. Many schools have courses
lasting one year, a year and half, or even two years.

I also don't think it was a bad response, I thought it was a legitimate option to your problem. You were looking for options, and its a little more serious option and less risky option then moving in and out of the country every 3 months, which they do track and will be able to track even more with an upgraded immigration system being installed next month.

For language school/student visa option, many language schools offer student visas and 6plus month courses, I don't know where you are looking, but when I type japanese language school into google it gives me a website with lots of links to language schools many of which offer long term courses.

I'm sorry you took my post the wrong way; it was meant as a serious option as there is no such thing as a Fiancée Visa in Japan as you found out. Friends of mine married early to solve similar problems and I married my wife early so she could live with me in France. We only did the paperwork and were officially married and had our wedding ceremony half a year later. It is done and it can be done quickly.

Hi!

Would help to know a little more information about you such as:

1) Do you want to work in Japan?

2) Do you have a BA? Or any experience that would be particularly useful to employers there?

3) Try looking at other language schools (if you can afford them) You'd be able to get a sponsored learning Visa that gives permission for you to work (part time only).

If you have experience in something and want to get a job over there I would suggest going on the tourist visa and looking for a job that will sponsor you to get a working visa. If this doesn't suit you I would try for the schooling. There are a ton of schools that teach japanese including Genkijacs.com and even like the YMCA.