Maintaining my residency visa in Japan
I will be the first to admit I have been "all over the place" with maintaining residency status in Japan over the years. Never negligent but not my first priority. During my early years in Japan I had the support of the hotel where I was working. They did all of the work.
Then I left Japan temporarily and returned as a student. The college where I studied assisted me with a student visa (at age 35!!) Having a student visa made it easy later to convert it to a resident visa when I graduated and found a job. Several years later I married Yoshiko and that secured my residency regardless of work.
When we moved to Vancouver I wanted to retain my residency status in Japan... just in case Yoshiko was unhappy with her life in Canada. Also, we kept our condo in Tokyo for the same reason. I would need to return to Japan at least every twelve months to retain my visa.
During the trip this month I was carrying a new passport but my re-entry permit was stapled to my previous passport. I presented both at Immigration at Haneda Airport and entered without any issue. I was concerned about departing the country with a new passport in case there was no connection between this passport and my visa. But it worked out okay.
When is my next trip to Japan?
