Student renewal visa

I have a question on renewing a student visa. I'm planning on attending school in Japan in April of 2009. I got the paperwork and even visited the school. The thing is though, the school is a language and IT school combined. I'm planning on attending the IT portion after attending the Japanese course after a year and then IT for 2.

But I noticed that you can only get a 2-year visa at the most, to renew, is it a pretty fast process after being in Japan. I'll be in school for a total of 3 years then graduate but am wondering if I have to come return to my country and go back, and the wait time.

Thanks and hope to hear from anyone who can help me.

I went to Japan under a 1yr Student Visa, but ended up staying for 2 years. The process I'm sure depends on the prefecture you're in and how their office runs, but for Akita it was fairly easy.

You just need to make sure the school has accepted you for the period after that 1yr, then fill out the required forms at the immigration office in your prefecture.

It's not too difficult if you get the papers all sorted out early. I would suggest trying to contact an official at your school regarding that process however, as they've probably dealt with it before.

Thanks for the useful response. The school I'm going to is actually located in Osaka, Abeno more specifically. So I'm hoping it's an easy process being in a big city and all.

I'll definitely ask someone from my school though to see how they deal with that kind of situation. I still have a year to go before I leave but I really want to plan it out well and hope I don't have any problems visa/immigration wise.

Thanks again for the post.

The school will take care if it. If not, find another school that will.