Quote:
Originally Posted by Xlll
Even so, I hear working visa allows you to only stay for a minimum of three years in Japan, which I'm planning on staying longer than that given duration. What visa do I need to work and live in Japan at my leisure, or does this particular visa has a limit to it as well?
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The longest work visa available is the three year work visa. After your three years is up, you can have it renewed for another three and so on. I have heard that even getting the three year visa could take you two to three years of working in Japan and applying for it over and over again.
The visa you will need to live and work at leisure as you put it, would be permanent residency status. This is the one step down from actual citizenship and from what I have read, just as difficult to get as actual citzenship. The thing is, you are going to need like over five years of working and living here before they will grant it to you. And even then, you would probably need a very good reason for living in Japan whether it be a spouse, business or child.
As for me, I am a foreigner and will always be one even if I lived here the rest of my life. Auburn hair and hazel eyes mean that even if I was fluent in Japanese and lived in at a Shinto shrine as a monk, I would always be on the outside in a way. I have only lived in Japan for eight months now and probably only be here for another ten to eleven.