So how do you go about renewing your long term tourist visa for Japan? This is another none dog related post, but it is something that we got a lot of interest from our previous post. If you are reading this page it’s likely you have already read our first post about how to get a long term tourist visa in Japan. If you are looking to get your first long term tourist visa in Japan, that link may be useful for you.
Or maybe you already have your designated activities : long term sightseeing and recreation visa and want to stay in Japan for longer. Then this is the page for you.
Our first designated activities : long term sightseeing and recreation visa for Japan expired on 17th April 2024. This included the 6 month extension we had. We wanted to stay for another year in Japan so we went to immigration to apply for a renewal. Let’s see how it went.
Application for Certificate of Eligibility Options
We took all of our papers to apply for a new COE to Shinagawa immigration counter T a couple of weeks before our visa expired. We took a ticket from the machine and were called up within 10 minutes. They checked through our papers and called us back to the counter. As we were already on the designated activities visa they said we had 2 options;
- Apply for COE now and if it is received before our designated activities visa expires, we would need to leave Japan and apply for the visa in an overseas Embassy
- Leave Japan on or before the date the designated activities visa expires. Re enter Japan on another visitor visa and apply for COE on return
This is because the visa itself is not renewable. So if you are in country you can’t simply apply for another one. However, you can apply for the COE if you plan to go back to your home country after expiration. The good news is, you can now receive the results of your COE by e-mail. So if you do plan to do this option, you can apply for COE yourself in Japan, receive the results by e-mail in UK for example and then apply at the Japanese Embassy in UK for the visa. So it can be a good option for some.
It’s a long way back to the UK and we have no intention of going back anytime soon. We also checked neighbouring countries and places like South Korea only process visa applications for residents of South Korea. So for renewing our long term tourist visa in Japan we chose option 2.
Exiting & Re entering Japan
We decided to maximise our time on the visa and booked a flight out of Japan on 17th April. The day before we got worried. We thought maybe the expiry date meant you had to have left by 17th ie 23:59 on 16th. However, we got a Japanese friend to call immigration. They confirmed it was fine to leave on the same date as the expiry date on the residence card.
At security, you have to fill in a form confirming you are aware that you will not be re entering Japan on a residence card. Also that you will need to re apply for a new visa if you want to come back. You hand this to immigration agent with your residence card on departure. They stamp a hole in the residence card then give it back to you. It would not allow us to use the automatic gates. I assume because we were leaving on the expiry date.
We left for 5 nights to South Korea and on return we simply entered as tourists again. There were no questions asked at all and we were given a new 90 day visitor visa. Originally we planned to maximise this visa for the full 90 days. We will be leaving before it expires for their summer trip so had planned to come back again in August on another visitor visa. Then we would apply for the second designated activities visa. However, having the knowledge of the second visa secured would make us feel more accepted in Japan. Having a residence card does help with certain things. So we headed to Shinagawa immigration on 28th May 2024 to submit our COE application for our second long term tourist visa in Japan (designated activities long term sightseeing & recreation).
Certificate of Eligibility Documents
The documents we took with us were same as first time, only we were a bit more prepared;
- Application form. (We got this from the information counter on ground floor as the one on the website is out of date). *Note the information counter did say we couldn’t apply for this visa again. They almost would not give us the form. It was only after insisting counter T had informed us we could that they gave us the form.
- Passport photo
- Passport copy
- 6 months bank statements confirming ¥30,000,000 (in £) – needs to have your name & address on
- Copy of medical insurance with full policy details
- Schedule of stay
For our schedule of stay we provided a breakdown of each month of the year with an expected destination. For our place of stay we either put our home address, campervan or Air BnB to be decided.
Certificate of Eligibility Application
The process was much the same as the first time around. We took our documents with us to counter T on the first floor. The only differences this time were;
- No bag check at ground floor
- Counter T is now only 1 counter (previously it was 2, but half has been taken over by B counter)
- You must take a queue number from the ticket machine before you are called
- The agents now have iPads with translate function on them which makes it a lot easier if you don’t speak Japanese
We arrived at 13:15 and took a ticket. There were 3 people in front of us. Unfortunately, this time it took ages to just be called. The 3 people in front did not come prepared, asked hundreds of questions and were filling out the forms with the counter agent. This meant it was 1 hour before we were called up. As we had fully prepared they simply did a cursory glance over our papers. They took them off us and said please wait while we check thoroughly. It took less than 1 minute! So that was frustrating for us.
We grabbed some snacks from Family Mart and came back up to wait. After another hour we were called back to the desk. All our papers were fine. He gave us a written card to take down to counter E.
He asked if we had an envelope for the results. Knowing we could now receive by e-mail we asked about this. On the card he wrote we wanted to receive the results electronically. The card has the confirmation that counter T had checked the documents and they were OK. It also has the date and time stamped on they approved them. So off we went to counter E.
Certificate of Eligibility Document Submission
At counter E we took a ticket and there were 3 people in front of us. We only waited 15 minutes and handed over our documents. After another 15 minutes we were called up. She asked if we had an envelope and again we asked if we could receive the results by e-mail. I’m not sure why they don’t do this as standard as surely it’s easier and quicker for everyone. Had we not had comments on our previous post about e-mail we probably would not have known. So be insistent you want the results by e-mail.
We were given a leaflet about receiving the results by e-mail. To do so, we had to complete a registration using the QR code on the form which generated a user ID. Then fill in a separate form with this user ID along with basic details such as name, date of birth, address, phone number and e-mail address.
After that, we handed it back at counter E and were given a receipt. We were told it would take 2-3 months for the result. However, we got the approval e-mail 3.5 weeks later at 7am on Saturday morning. I’m not sure if they take all the applications and send all the approvals at the same time or it if’s automated or what. Anyway, the good news is, we have the COE approval second time around 🙂
Change of Residence Status Application
We headed to immigration the Monday after we received our COE (24th June). We arrived at 10:58am, a change for us going in the morning. There was no one waiting in the queue at counter T so we got seen to straight away. We took with us;
- Application form
- Passport photo
- Print out of COE approval
- Copy of passport
- Original passport
By 11:12 we got our documents checked and given back and told to go to counter B5. This was a much smoother process than last time where we went to B1 and then B4. There were no ticket numbers, we just joined the queue which had only 1 person in it. So we were seen within 5 minutes. We handed over our documents and passports and the guy thumbed through them. We were a bit unfortunate that this guy was super slow. The lady next to him saw about 6 people in the same time it took to do ours and she was also doing change of status applications. I guess it’s always the same at immigration, some people are slow, some people are fast. That being said, we were still done within 45 minutes in total.
We filled out the postcard with our address on as well as the receipt form with our name on. In our passports we got the stamp which gives us an additional 2 month extension of our temporary visa. He told us it would take 1 – 2 months for the approval but we are hoping for sooner.
Change of Status Approval
We got our approval postcard on 8th July in the mailbox, exactly 2 weeks after we had submitted the change of status application. It was posted on Friday 5th. We are so happy it came through quickly as we do have a flight booked out of Japan shortly.
Residence Card Pick Up
We headed to Shinagawa on 9th July. It was almost 40 degrees so instead of walking like we usually we do, we gave in and took the bus. The busstop is clearly signposted from the Konan exit of Shinagawa station. It was waiting when we got to the bus stop and waited for about 5 minutes before it left. It only takes 5 minutes and costs ¥210 each.
The bus drops you right outside immigration so it saves a lot of time rather than walking. We got to counter A1 at 11:39 and joined the relatively long queue. It moved quite quickly but still took us 30 minutes to submit our documents (12:11). Documents required;
- Original passport
- Approval postcard
- Application receipt
- ¥4,000 revenue stamp each (we got from Family Mart downstairs)
We were given a ticket number, 591 and the wait time said 120 minutes. When we looked at the board the latest number called was 286. We grabbed some snacks from Family Mart and settled in for the long wait. In the queue at A1 it was really hot. Many people clearly hadn’t worn deodorant so it wasn’t very pleasant at all. Thankfully, at the seating area it was a bit cooler, but for some reason 4G signal is almost non existent.
The numbers were slowly called and at the 150 minute mark we get into 550s. Finally 590 was called…….then 594,595,595 oh my, what about 591? The numbers aren’t necessarily called in order but it was really frustrating. Another 20 minutes passed and we are now in the 700s. We were just about to go to the desk and ask when finally, at 14:56 magic number 591 was called.
We handed over our number and were given our passports and our new residents cards with 6 months approved!
Notification of Residence
We were handed a note that we now needed to register our address at the ward office. So we headed straight to our ward office so we could get everything done in one day. Whilst we are still at the same address since we first arrived, it was a bit of a chore. We filled in an application form with our names and address on. When we got called to the counter we were asked for our marriage certificate. I remembered from last time we needed this and had gone to Family Mart to print it off. However, this time they said we needed the original, which of course I don’t carry with me.
Thankfully, after explaining we were at the same address as last time so had already proved we were married they registered the address again and printed it on the back of the residents cards. So we managed to get everything done in the one day.
Conclusion
Renewing a long term tourist visa in Japan is pretty easy. It’s basically the same process as your first one but it’s more streamlined now. You just need to bear in mind that you need to leave Japan at the end of your first visa expiry. Either to apply for the visa at an overseas Embassy. Or to re enter as a tourist and start again. As long as you continue to meet the requirements for this visa, it seems you can re apply as many times as you like.
I’ve had some comments that other immigration offices have approved change of status and given residence cards on the same day. Unfortunately, it seems standard at Shinagawa you have to wait a couple of weeks for the approval and then go back. So maybe we’ll try a different immigration office next year!
One thing to be mindful of is that once you have lived in Japan for 5 years you’ll become liable to tax on your foreign earned income also. After 10 years you’ll also become liable to pay inheritance tax on any inheritance you receive anywhere in the world. So it’s worth planning for that.
Hope this post on renewing a long term tourist visa in Japan helps as much as the first post. A small donation would be greatly appreciated below if this post has helped you.
Woof woof, Wylie x
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2-3 months is way slower than the 1 month for the first CoE, right?
Yes, when we got the first one we applied on 30th January and had the result on 17th. Although it was stamped 3rd February but we had a mix up with the postcard address so it got a bit delayed. However, when we submitted at that time they also told us 2-3 months so we are hoping it will be similar timing to the first one this time around as well. Will be updating this post as we get the various approvals.
Hi Wylie,
Your article on renewing a long-term tourist visa for Japan, and it’s incredibly helpful!.. Breaking down the renewal process with your firsthand account makes everything click into place. It’s great to know that even after an extension, there’s a clear path to staying longer in Japan. For those in Dubai needing assistance with visa applications, Regal Travel Agency offers excellent services to ensure a smooth process. Thanks so much for your generosity!
Hi! Thank you soooo much for your posts, amazing work.
I got my visa begining of this year following your guide. I did it in Nagoya and I was a bit worried it would be difficult here as there are not as many tourists here so even less requests for this visa. At first they told me I had to leave the country to apply for the COE but after assuring the office that is not needed (lol) they agreed and within 2 weeks I got it approved. Then I was able to get the visa and card the very same day at the immigration office.
Quick questions, you don’t need to apply for the COE again for the 6 month extension, right? I read your old post but you only mention the visa form.
Again, thank you so much for theses posts !!!!!
Thanks for your kind comments!
When you say you got the visa and residence card the same day do you mean the same day as the COE approval? Or did you still need to submit the change of status and then wait for the postcard? Then you got the residence card after that approval?
For the 6 month extension you don’t need the COE, you just need to submit the application form for extension of stay (plus the supporting documents showing the insurance is still valid and you still have the relevant money in the bank).
Thanks for the answer! Once I received the COE approval via mail I went back to immigration and I was able to change my status, receive visa and the residence card on the very same day. I was very surprised. I’m going today to apply for the extension, hopefully it all goes as smoothly🤞
Wow that’s incredible! How long did you have to wait on the day? We might have to try that immigration office next time!
At Shinagawa you have to wait at least a couple of weeks for the approval after change of status and then spend a good few hours just to collect the card. We just did it yesterday 😳
Let us know how the extension goes.
As even for extension we had to submit the application for extension wait for approval (that took 1 month) and then go back and wait the 3 hours for the new card again!
Everytime I went there it took around 3 hours or so but mostly because it’s quite busy and it takes forever until you can submit the documents.
Yesterday I applied for the extension and the officer had no clue as usual, but I’m hoping it goes well. I will update once it’s done with the times and everything, thanks once again!
It’s better to wait for 3 hours than have to go back twice though! When we submitted our change of status it took over an hour and then to pick up it took in total 4 hours. Plus obviously all the time getting to and from. So it would be so much better getting it all done in one day! Good luck on the extension!
Were you on this visa at the start of any year? Did you get a notice from the ward office at that time to pay a resident tax? I did and I know I don’t have to pay anything, but I’m pretty sure they are including me on a tax mailing list incorrectly (when I took my residence card there, they didn’t even know about this visa)
Hi James, I’ve been meaning to post a comment about this but keep forgetting so thanks for the reminder!
Yes we got a tax form in the last few weeks. It said we missed the deadline for doing a tax return which was March and that we had until 30th August to do the form they sent us (which I believe is the normal tax return form).
We took the form to the address it had and asked at the desk what to do with it. We explained that we don’t have any income in Japan at all as we are essentially on a tourist visa. They connected us with an interpreter on an iPad who helped translate.
They basically asked us if we have no income in Japan how do we support ourselves and we explained we had savings and income in other countries.
They then asked us to write our name and phone number on the form, circle box c on the back (which says you have no income in Japan for the year and are living off savings) and they stamped it and gave us the receipt to confirm we’d submitted it.
I’m not sure if we’ll get anything else from them but it seemed straight forward.
The reason we got the letter is because we’ve been resident here for more than 180 days which makes us tax resident here. So whether or not you have to pay any actual tax or not, you still have to do a tax return and is the reason we got the letter.
After 5 years resident you do become liable to pay tax on foreign earned income as well I believe so would need to declare that as that stage.
We did see some comments on the original post saying we had to declare and pay tax on any money we remitted into Japan, either by ATM withdrawals, credit card spending etc which we felt was weird. However, now we’ve been and discussed directly with the tax department we are comfortable that this doesn’t seem to be the case. Maybe we’ll get some other notification shortly if that is the case but the guy we spoke to seemed confident we wouldn’t need to pay anything.
What kind of tax resident you are seems debatable. Normally, a tourist wouldn’t pay a tax because their “jushou” is not in Japan — the place that is the center of their life.
See here:
See here: https://japanfinance.github.io/tax/income/
Since this is a tourist visa and you have property in the UK, you can make the case you don’t have a jushou in Japan even though you have an address there. Thus, you would not be subject to any tax
If it is indeed determined that the center of your life is Japan, then you’d be subject to the income tax
Have to find a lawyer who knows this visa and the tax residency stuff for a definitive answer. I don’t know that the ward office people know the tax law and this visa that well
I agree, normally a tourist wouldn’t pay tax, but you are tax resident wherever you are present for more than 180 days a year, and tax residency isn’t based on visa status. I am not tax resident in the UK nor Thailand as I don’t stay in either country for more than 180 days a year, however, I still pay tax in those countries as I earn income there. Here, I don’t earn income but am tax resident. I still really cannot see how they can tax you here when you don’t earn income here (until at least after the 5 years when you become liable for tax on foreign sourced income) and that is what the tax form asks for you declare (income earned in Japan).
With regards to the address, since you register the address with the ward office as you’re staying here longer term I think it would be difficult to argue that your life is in the UK when you are physically based here.
Finding a lawyer who knows both this visa and the tax related to it is almost impossible, but let me know if you find one. Finding someone that even knows this visa exists at all is a hard enough task which is why we ended up just doing it ourselves in the first place as anyone I did find who claimed knowledge of the visa ended up giving me duff information, and was the main reason I wrote this post in the first place, to help others who were interested in it from a real experience.
IMO the only people who can tell you whether you owe tax or not are the tax office after assessing your personal situation as everyone is different.
Will you do this visa a third time?
Hey, we will be leaving for a few months so leaving before our second visa expires. We decided not bother to extend this time as it felt like a bit of hassle to go through the process to renew for 6 months but only use 3 of it (the 2 trips to immigration were what really put us off ;-)). It made more sense for us to apply for the COE and visa again when we come back and take advantage of the 90 days on arrival again.
I recently successfully reapplied for this visa as well. Like you, before my residence card expired I went to Korea for a few days. However, when I arrived back in Japan they actually gave me a bit of a hard time at immigration and customs. I probably spent 15 minutes answering questions about where I live, where I work, when I plan to return to my country, etc.
I had travel plans interspersed at least every six weeks for a few months, so I wasn’t sure when I would be able to reapply for the visa. When I called immigration, though, they said that it is ok to leave Japan while you’re waiting for the CoE to be processed. The immigration office confirmed this in person, so I was actually out of Japan when I received the approval email. When I came back to Japan (for whatever reason, no questions at the airport when reentering this time), I was able to apply for a change of residency same as before. They did make me fill out a statement saying where I was when I received the CoE and why I couldn’t apply in my home country (just said I wasn’t going back for a while). As you detailed, you absolutely cannot leave Japan while the change of residency is processed.
Also, at the immigration office I saw signs saying that you can do most residency applications online: https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/online/10_00112.html?hl=en. Has anyone tried this? I plan to look into when renewal time comes.
Thanks again for all the information :).
Did you look at the online option? When I had a Quick Look it seemed you had to already have a residence card it wasn’t available for those on Visa on arrival and you had to have a card reader to read the residence card. I started to follow the online steps but gave up as it was all in Japanese and Japanese websites aren’t the easiest to navigate at the best of times. So will continue with the trek to Shinagawa I think 😂
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences on this. I’ve been using this post (and your previous one) to help guide me as I apply for this visa type (I just got back today from submitting for the change in residence status, after receiving my COE a few weeks ago). Fingers crossed I hear back about the residence cards soon!
A few questions looking ahead:
1. Ward registration – I’m anticipating this is something I’ll have to do since I’ve read about it on your post, but I find it kind of strange for a tourist visa. I’m a tourist – I don’t have a place of permanent residency here: If I’m planning on moving around every 2 weeks to a month, do I need to re-register every single time I move?
2. When applying for the extension (6 months) – what’s a reasonable amount of time before the visa expires to hand in the paperwork for the extension? Does it always come with a 2 month auto-extension while they process the extension?
I’m glad the posts are useful and helpful 😀
I’m not quite sure on the ward registration if you’re moving around every 2 weeks – a month. Maybe you can ask when you pick up your residence card as they will give you a leaflet about registering. My understanding was that you need to register if you are there for more than 30 days. But if you’re moving from ward to ward it wouldn’t be feasible. I think that’s how they contact you for tax, medical stuff etc though (even though you don’t get the NI we still get free vouchers for various medical things although we haven’t tried to use any of them yet)
For the extension yes you always get the 2 months so we waited until close to the expiry of the original visa before we applied. But once it’s approved you only have a 2 week period to collect the residence card so you don’t always get the full 2 months of extension if it’s approved quickly. In our case our extensions always took longer than the change in status.
Your blog post was amazing, finally some good information on this Visa. I qualify and have all the documents ready and I’m currently in Japan on a 90 day visa (US citizen). I plan to head to the bureau tomorrow.
My question is: passport validity. My 10 year US passport expires in 5 months. (I know, I’m stupid to wait till last minute to renew lol). I want to apply for this Visa while I’m in Tokyo and renew after I submit the application. Do you think they would accept it if the validity of the passport is less than the actual Visa time?
The website only says passport it doesn’t mention anything about validity so I do not know the answer. However, any time we’ve applied for a visa anywhere else in the world we’ve always had to have a passport that’s valid for at least the length of time for the visa. So I would say you have a better chance of getting it if you have a new passport.
Even if they did give you the visa, you’d have to go through the trouble of changing it to your new passport details when you got it so I would say it’s best to get a new passport first.
UK passports you can renew online and they arrive quite quickly in just a few weeks not sure if you have the same option.
Just wanted to say thanks for posting this information online. You’re the most helpful location for details on it. Mods on reddit have an aversion to discussing it other than chastising people.
But maybe I just prefer the old web dynamics vs modern social media.
Thank you, I’m glad it’s been helpful to a lot of people!
Highly recommend going to T counter first. They may send you to the priority B5 lane and you can skip the 3 hour line
B5 will send you to T counter first anyway then send you back to B5
Yes T counter is always are go to counter. In fact, I didn’t think you could do anything without going there first as they check all your documents then give you a slip saying they’ve been checked and telling you which counter to go to next.
You should definitely talk to a lawyer. You’ve made quite a few comments about this and it is clear you have serious concerns about tax residency and liability. I don’t think debating it with laypeople in the comments of a travel blog is going to get you the answer you’re looking for.
That said, allow me to clear up a couple of misunderstandings:
1) You only become a tax resident if you have lived in Japan for at least 5 of the last 10 years. It does not have to be continuous. So as long as you avoid doing this, you won’t have any tax liability for overseas income. If you are in Japan on a work visa, of course you have to pay taxes… but given that we’re talking about the tax implications of long-term stay visas, we’ll ignore that rather obvious point.
2) It is unclear whether or not long-term stay visas would count toward the tax residency requirement since you are technically NOT a resident of Japan. Being granted a residence card for a long-term stay visa is a bit of a point of confusion as it very clearly says RESIDENCE on it, but possession of a residence card on what is tantamount to a tourist visa does not necessarily mean that the time spent on that visa contributes toward long-term tax residency in the same way that it does not count toward earning permanent residency or citizenship. After all, you are a TOURIST on a LONG-TERM STAY, NOT a resident. However, from a legal standpoint, it is entirely possible that should you use enough of this type of visa over a ten year period, the authorities COULD attempt to classify you a tax resident. And this is why you need to consult with a lawyer!
As a non-resident (there’s that pesky term again!) you are not liable for nor subject to local taxes, nor pension or healthcare payments. Should you receive a bill in the mail, take it to your local ward office and explain that you’re on a long-term stay (tourist) visa and they will give you a form to take to the appropriate department so that they can mark you as exempt. You may also want to proactively visit the tax department so they can mark you as zero income/exempt for your taxes so you don’t receive bills the following calendar year.
In short, if you are concerned about potential tax liabilities of a long-term stay visa, consider simply using two 90 day visas instead. While there is no hard cap on short-term stay visas in a calendar year, attempting to exceed the soft cap of 180 days will result in you spending a lot of time on planes in a very short period of time – do not attempt it.
Good luck with whatever you decide!
We don’t have serious concerns about it, everything you’ve mentioned we’ve covered either in the blog post or the comments.
I do mention taxes often as I am aware that not everyone realises you become liable to tax on foreign income after having spent 5 years here so I think it’s worth mentioning every now and again.
Anyone that’s concerned should speak to a tax advisor but good luck finding one that can 100% answer the questions given this visa.
As you’ve rightly said there’s a blurry line with this visa and just like immigration lawyers often don’t give the correct information about it im sure there’s plenty of tax lawyers that can’t give the correct answers either.
The only people we personally trust on this matter is the tax office, where we’ve been and spoken to with our circumstances and they’ve told us what we should do.
I have been following you on your blog and Youtube as well. The info you shared are amazing. I am from Singapore and recently got my No.40 visa approved as well and will live in Sapporo. My dog and wife will be going with me. I like to check who take cares of your fur boy when you were in South Korea? My visa will end in Sept 2026 and I need to start planning for it. Many thanks for taking your time to help!
Hi, I am glad you have found the blog useful and you got your visa approved! We use Sakura Bace, near to Narita airport when we travel. You can read about it here – https://wylietraveldog.com/dog-boarding-tokyo/
really grateful for all the help!
Hi, i like to check why do you need grace period of 2 months when extending your next 6 months as the approved extension will start on the expiry date of your 1st 6 months. Even if you have automatic special period of 2 months while you wait, the extended 6 months will end 6 months after the expiry of the 1st 6 months. In summary, the period of stay granted for an extension does not start from the date of approval but from the day after your existing visa expires.
Example.
How the extension duration is calculated:
Approval before expiry: If your extension is approved before your current visa expires, your new six-month period will begin the day after your current visa’s expiration date. For example, if your visa expires on April 1, 2026, and your application is approved in January 2026, your new six-month visa will be valid from April 2, 2026, to October 1, 2026. You do not lose any of your six months.
Approval after expiry: If your application is still pending during the two-month “Special Period,” the new visa’s validity will still be calculated from your original visa’s expiry date. For example, if you applied on March 23, 2026, and the application is approved on May 1, 2026, your new visa will still start from April 2, 2026, and end on October 1, 2026.
Sorry I’m a bit confused as to what you are meaning. Your comment is on the post about renewing the visa ie taking it for the second time onwards, but I think you are talking about extending the visa after the initial 6 month period?
Anyway, in our experience (we are onto our third visa), the residence card date has always been the date we picked up the residence card. This is regardless of whether we applied before the first visa expired or whether it was approved during the 2 month grace period. It’s always been 6 months from the date we picked up the card, not the date after expiry of the original, not the date of approval but the date we picked up the new residence card. It’s been the same when we’ve done an application or an extension.
Maybe your experience is different or maybe a different immigration office, but that’s how it’s always worked for us at Shinagawa for us.
Hi, thank you very much for all your content.
I read in one of your comments that you are already on your 3rd visa? Could you confirm and do you know if there is a cap on how many times you can apply for this visa?
Im on my 2nd (both with extensions), and I would like to do a 3rd, but if you ask AI it says its very unlikely to get it lol.
Thanks again for your content! Much appreciated
I’ve not seen anything official regarding the amount of times you can apply for this. As far as I am aware, as long as you continue to qualify you can continue to apply. However one commenter did say they got rejected for their second COE as immigration office said they didn’t feel they were a tourist. I don’t believe that was at Shinagawa office. I wouldn’t trust AI on anything to do with this visa, as you can see from one of the latest comments, there’s only 200 people in total on this visa so almost zero information about it readily available.
In our instance we did 1 visa with 1 extension, 1 visa no extension and now on our third. We will not extend this one either.
My personal opinion, and it’s simply that, an opinion not based on anything other than my own thoughts, is that if you spend all or almost all of your time in Japan without leaving much, they could see you as not really being a tourist and that you are setting up your life here. Each case is approved on it’s own merits so I guess it also depends on what you put in your application. Again, my own opinion, but if you say show ¥30,000,000 for 2 people right on the cusp and you’ve been here constantly for 2-3 years leaving only to do a reset, they may see you as a risk. If you say show ¥100,000,000 and show strong connections to other countries, then there’s much less chance of you being a risk. End of the day, they don’t want people working here illegally, so the less chance of that happening, the higher the likelihood of another approval. IMO. And everything is dependent on the person approving that COE/application.
Thanks a lot for the answer!
While on this visa, between summer and Christmas, I still spend 5 months or so in my home country plus a few short trips here and there outside of Japan, so hoping it will be ok! Fingers crossed
🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼 but do you really need to be on this visa if you spend 5 months out? We don’t bother to extend if we know we will be out for a few months and only apply if we plan to be spending more than 3 months here with no breaks.
Just extended this visa for the second time (to 2nd year). It has been exactly 3 weeks since submitting
Everything went without a hitch — went to counter T then The priority B5 line. The T guy did ask me to highlight on the insurance policy where it covered repatriation of remains. I also only used brokerage documents with no cash — I do note that one investment was a us treasury fund that meets the requirement. I marked it in Japanese (米国債). The guy asked me about it and whether it was stocks, but I said in Japanese that these same documents were approved before and it should be ok. He went along with that
Just got my postcard back asking me to go in with the revenue stamp (to get a new card) within 10 days
I was expecting me to ask about the cash, but the didn’t. So a treasury fund seems to be ok this time. I feel like everything is streamlined for me now. I have all the forms filled out on pdfs so it’s was to reprint again
I should mention I tried to do they extension online with the ic card reader, but this visa is indeed excluded from online
Great news and great to hear no hiccups with everything going smoothly. It helps the second time round when you have a bit more of a clue as to what to expect, and as you seem to have a good grasp of Japanese that always helps! It’s also useful to know that a treasury account counts as well. I always find it funny about the reliance on cash, as it would be far easier to just spend a boat load of cash than it would be stocks and shares but hey ho!
You certainly have more patience than me with the online thing. I tried to sign up and didn’t even get far enough to buy a card reader 😉
Thanks for such a detailed account! This is awesome as there is precious little detail online about this visa and how it works. Not sure if this has been addressed prior but have you run into any problems with regard to Japan deciding to deem you a tax resident, since you stayed there (semi-continuously) for >1 year, or does this resident status explicitly shelter you from being considered for, for example, tax on remitted overseas income (even passive income)? I am thinking of trying out this visa for myself (the ability to stay for upwards of 15 months if you include the 2 month grace period is enticing) but I’m worried about potential tax surprises.
Hi, there’s lots of comments and opinions about the tax situation in the comments section. As you are in Japan for over 183 days then you are officially deemed a tax resident of Japan but you are only liable for tax on income you remit into Japan. This technically includes money you spend on your credit card/withdraw from an ATM. Our personal experience is when we received a notification to submit a tax form we went to the tax office and they asked us about our status. We explained and told them we live via savings from overseas and we simply put that on the form. We haven’t heard anything since. There’s so few of us here on this visa it’s almost impossible to get a definitive answer and as you can see from the pension exemption treatment experiences across the wards, it seems to differ depending on the ward you are in. So in short, you should be liable to tax on any income you remit to Japan since you are here over 183 days.
On taxes, I just went to tax office and submitted an exclusion form under condition (2), Designated Stay No.40 and 41. There is a form you need to fill up, together with photocopied of your zairyu card and shiteisho (which is the paper stapled on your passport). Took about 20 mins. That is it. Hope it is useful.
Wow that’s great to hear! Very good information for us all, we’ll have to try it 🙂
Hi Benjamin, thanks for sharing. I am curious whether you went to the tax office coz you received a tax notice letter from the tax office or did you go on your own accord? I’m currently on my 2nd visa and so far did not receive anything from the tax office – wondering if I should be glad or worried. Thanks.
You are right. I received a notice letter from the tax office. By the way, was your 2nd application smooth? Did you leave for a week or 5 days, re-enter on a 90 days tourist visa and then reapply? Any enhanced scrutiny due to the recent anti-foreigners mood?
We left for one month and came back on 90 days tourist visa. When we applied for COE, the process was essentially the same as prior. However after 1.5 weeks, we received a letter requesting us to furbish “additional bank certificates”. The 6 months of bank statements submitted during application already significantly exceeded the requirement. So fearing that either those bank statements were somehow misplaced (unlikely) or that they wanted to see more liquidity, we promptly resubmitted those bank statements plus additional bank statements to further increase the amount. About a week later, we received the email approval for COE. When we went to apply for change of status of residence, we were issued the residence cards on the same day.
Did you have to go back to the immigration office to submit the bank statements? Also which office was it that gave the residence cards the same day as the change of status? I wish Shinagawa would do this!
We sent the bank statements by registered mail to Shinagawa Immigration office as the letter came from there. We got our residence cards from Takasaki Immigration office. It was a pleasant surprise to get them the same day!
Yes very interesting to know. We are tempted to try a different immigration office for the change of status next time as there’s been a few comments of different offices doing on the same day. We are just worried if we did submit at a different office if they are as knowledgeable about this visa and/or if you have to prove anything about being resident in that ward.
From what I understand, the branch offices under Tokyo Immigration handle COE applications/residence-related applications for areas under their jurisdiction. You can try out the branch office if your address falls under their jurisdiction, it’s on their website (https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/about/region/tokyo/index.html). I don’t recall any scrutiny on my address when applying for COE on both occasions. I guess branch offices may be unfamiliar with this visa but I doubt they will refuse processing it? We did our first COE at Shinagawa, I certainly am glad not to return again. The waiting time was horrible, especially when picking up the residence cards.
Thank you, perhaps we will try one of the other branches next time as Shinagawa is a pain, especially collecting the residence cards. We don’t mind the submission for COE but it would be much easier if we could do the change of status and pick up of residence card on the same day. Even if it means waiting for a few hours, it would cut the process down by 1 trip at least, and you have to spend many hours just waiting to pick up the card at Shinagawa anyway.
As tax season is here, and as it’s my first year on this visa, is it the norm to get some mail from the tax office at this time of year, as some have written about receiving? It seems some people have received tax documents while others haven’t. I believe submitting a tax return is a requirement for this visa, in which case, how do people handle it, especially as so few seem to have a MyNumber id which is required for the return? Or has Benjamin solved the issue in his Jan 23 post?
Just wanted to say thank you, this blog has been a lifesaver for me with my own visa struggles, and your calm advice gotten me through several sleepless nights. I have been about 8 months behind you every step of the way, just got my second year approved.
I had been working and living happily in Japan for many years, but my non-renewable contract expired, I couldn’t find a new visa-providing employer, and I also couldn’t leave Japan because of my elderly cat. And, I didn’t really want to leave. If it hadn’t been for the long-stay visa I don’t know what I would have done. Wish they would just create a retirement visa for Japan. Or a visa for people with beloved elderly pets who depend on them!
Hi Paul, previously I received a letter to file my tax return. I visited the tax office nearest my home to submit an exemption form. Link is below. If you have not, maybe visit the nearest tax office.
https://www.nenkin.go.jp/shinsei/kokunen/kanyu/tokuteikatsudo.files/tekiyojogai.pdf
Example here.
https://www.nenkin.go.jp/shinsei/kokunen/kanyu/tokuteikatsudo.files/tekiyojogai.pdf_rei.pdf
Thanks Benjamin. I haven’t received anything from the tax office in the mail yet so I guess I’ll keep waiting. I submitted the same forms you linked to above when the National Pension Office sent their forms to me, but didn’t realize they also can be used for the tax office. I’ll fill out another copy and wait for the tax forms in the mail before going to the office. I was expecting that people on our visa would be using the online system and a MyNumber id to do taxes, but it seems that’s not happening. Thanks for the info, much appreciated.
Hi, just completed our 2nd extension for this visa. Received the postcard 1 month after application. Went back to the immigration office with our revenue stamps, took a queue number and after slightly under an hour, our number was called. We gave our forms with the revenue stamps to the officer and apparently our residence cards were ready, so after less than 10mins, we were off with our new residence cards.
That’s great news! Less than 1 hour is also very good! We are currently deciding whether to apply for our 4th COE. Our travel plans for the next year mean we won’t be in Japan for as much this year so not sure if it’s worth the hassle of applying again as we can most likely fit within the 180 days on a variety of visitor visas and we haven’t really needed the residence card as such for many things.
Thanks for all the helpful info! My first visa ended 2 weeks ago and I’m hoping to apply for a second one. I’m planning to return to Japan in early May for about 3 weeks to visit my partner, then leave for around 2 months before coming back again to apply.
My only concern is whether re-entering in May could be an issue since it’s still fairly soon after the visa ended, I’ll have been out about 3–4 weeks. I’ve seen some people here say they re-entered after just a few days and were fine. There’s no cool-off period on this visa, right? I asked a Japanese immigration lawyer and was met with a slightly unhelpful “maybe you’ll be fine, maybe not”. (In my case, I had also maxed out the 180-day tourist limit before getting the first visa.)
To be honest, I think the immigration lawyer is correct in his answer. Although the immigration officers generally have little to no experience with this particular visa as most of us will just do it ourselves. Without actually applying no-one knows. Whilst most of us in the comments and who have applied for this visa multiple times have been successful, we each have different situations in terms of how long we’ve waited between coming in and out and how long we’ve been in Japan throughout that visa. I recall one commenter was questioned a lot when he applied for his second COE despite having been out for 3 months in between. No-one knows what others exact circumstances are either. Some may apply with ¥500,000,000 in the bank, others with exactly ¥30,000,000. Some may max out the 180 days, the full 6 months followed by 2 months grace period for renewal and the other 6 months without leaving Japan at all during that time, others leave regularly. So it really does depend on your individual circumstances and the officer who reviews your application, how they see your activity.
The way I always look at it, is that it’s intended as a tourist visa and if the officer viewing your application has reason to believe that you are basing yourselves here then they can, and will, ask further questions. Again, just my opinion, but if you are bordeline on the ¥30m mark and never leave Japan during the year of having the visa, then you will be under more scrutiny than someone who have ¥200m and leaves often for extended periods of time. There’s nothing to say you can’t apply for it multiple times (we have recently applied for our 4th COE for it) but we also have only done 1 extension and have always spent at least a few months out of Japan during each year. So I think that helps (although obviously have no actual idea if it does or not).
The only people who can give you an accurate answer are the people who do the approval each time, but that will differ. I personally think that if you maxed out the 180 visitor visa, then did an extension and then are looking to come straight back, it would raise alarm bells for me if I were looking at the application. If I were you (and this is just my opinion based on my thoughts of how this visa works) I would wait until you come back in July/August time and apply for the COE end of month one. Then do the change of status September/October time. I think if you’ve maxed out the 180 days visitor visa, done a full year on the long term tourist and then only spend 1 month out before applying for a new COE it would raise questions for me.
Just my 2 cents worth
Thanks for the helpful insights! Yes, to be clear, this May trip is just as a regular tourist for a few weeks. As you advised, my plan is to reapply in late August or September with the help of an immigration lawyer after having been out of the country for a while. The lawyer felt I was a good candidate based on finances. I did spend a few months out of Japan in the first year, and also to clarify the 180 days I maxed out before this visa were not consecutive 90-day stays with a visa-run in between. They were lots of shorter trips throughout the year.
My immediate concern was more whether there’s a risk of being denied entry as a tourist for this May trip, like if there was required a cool-off period similar to the digital nomad visa, but I’m glad to hear others were able to re-enter the country fairly soon after their visas ended. Hopefully everything works out.
Ah yeah that makes more sense. I wouldn’t think you’d have any issues coming in for a short trip as a tourist, but I’d maybe just have a copy of your flight out just in case they ask.
My memory failed me. I was so sure that we need bank statements and insurance after the COE approval, not so. At any rate, I asked them, and one thing I heard was that they are more strict now, but still not written in the stone, maybe you get lucky based on your nationality and person handling it. I am just going to apply for it and head to Bangkok. If it comes through before my trip I can decide if not I move on. But if you submit for the visa and travel after then your application may become invalid, not sure about that!?
The only time you need the statements and insurance after COE approval is when you apply for the extension.
Im not sure what you mean in relation to your point about travelling after you submit for the visa as you have to travel to another country to submit the visa for application and at that point they keep your passport whilst they process it so you can’t travel anywhere.
Hi there. I was delighted to have found your blog with regards to this subject last year and the information had been very useful in my application. I had applied for the visa directly at the Japan embassy of my home country. My extension application in Japan had been smooth and I am now in my 8th month of living in Japan. I will be applying for the second visa once my current one expires in November 2025. I was thinking of applying for COE since I am in Japan and will fly back to my home country for the visa application. What will your advise be as to how soon should I submit my COE application? Is 2 months ahead of visa expiry too early? Once again, thank you for posting about this visa and any advise will be very much appreciated.
I’m glad the information has been useful for you. The COE usually takes about 1 month for approval and it lasts for 3 once it’s approved so I don’t think 2 months before is too early.
Thank you so much for this resource – it really does make such a difference. We’re retiring in a couple of years time and intend to make use of this visa.
Do you mind me asking quite a specific question?
I was wondering what sorts of proposed activities were acceptable? For ourselves, we are looking to go skiing during the winter months, spending some time improving our Japanese and also exploring some of the southern islands like Okinawa.
We are also currently looking a purchasing a holiday home in Japan and we will no doubt be doing some home improvements as well.
Are things like improving Japanese and just hanging out in your holiday home likely to be acceptable activities? Or will we need to put down something else?
Thank you
We didn’t really put any details as to what we were doing. We just said tourism and travelling around Japan.
Hi Wylie, Thanks for posting these articles–super useful! One question I had for you was your decision to buy property in Japan. How do you feel about that decision given the increasing anti-foreigner policymaking in these times? I ask because there’s the risk that your ability to enter the country could be hampered if, for example, the government decides to do away with this visa or reduce the 90-day visa on arrival for tourism to a lower time frame.
We don’t feel any differently from when we bought the property. I personally can’t see them getting rid of the visa as it is attracting high value tourists who are more likely to be spending in the country and the type of tourists they want to attract. There’s also not many people on that visa type to warrant stopping it. We no longer actually use this visa any more due to our circumstances, but I also don’t have any concerns about any rising foreigner resentment. We don’t see this on a day to day basis on our situation.