You might be fed up with the news about corona virus, which is spread now over most nations on the earth. Today I will just pick up visa related issues among them. I already announced some but I think I had better review them again in order you not to misunderstand.
1.
Foreign residents in Japan whose visa expires in this month, your visa is automatically extended one month. This special treatment is for avoiding immigration office to get crowded. Tourist visa
and 30/31 days visa for leaving are not included.
2.
If you have difficulty to enter your own country, please consult at immigration. You might get one month short term visa.
3.
Certificate of Eligibility, COE is valid 6 months instead of 3 months in general. You don’t need to rush for coming to Japan. Please watch the situation well.
The above are official announcements.
Followings are some unofficial information I received from some of our followers. I have not confirmed it officially.
1. Japanese embassies in some countries stop issuing tourist visa.
2. Many international flights to Manila are cancelled. The president only declared lockdown of Metropolitan Manila domestically but it affects international flights, too.
The situations are changing day by day or even time by time. Please try to get the official and correct information.
*****
Some inquired:
Immigration takes more time for visa procedure than usual due to corona.
My answer:
Not really. They are just slow as usual. Immigration is running their jobs just like same as usual so far now.
Actually, my office received 3 COE and 5 post cards in the last week. The number is just as usual.
Working visa holders, your company might confront with difficulty because of corona. Tourism, hotel, restaurant, manufacturing, education etc. I guess all industries receive damages more or less. If you are sacked by your company because of slow business, you might get a job hunting visa. In order to get a job hunting visa, you need to get a letter from the company to certify the company forced you to leave.
In order to keep yourself away from Corona, one of effective ways is avoiding crowded place. If you need to apply visa for any reason, don’t hesitate to hire a lawyer for this occasion. Well, honestly speaking, we, lawyers don’t want to go to Immigration now, if it were not our business.
Anyway, stay safe everybody. Happy Sunday!
