Currently, due to the influence of the covid-19, in order to reduce the congestion of immigration, those whose expiration date of residence from March to June will be accepted for Extension / Change application until 3 months later.

However, this is very easy to misunderstand,but the period of stay has not increased by 3 months

I would like to delve into this story here.

(This is my estimate as of April 19th, and the immigration information may be updated.)

〇Counter congestion mitigation measures

Normally, extension and change applications must be applied by the end of the period of resident status.
However, we are now able to apply even if the period of resident status exceeds 3 months in order to prevent foreigners from rushing to the immigration counter.
For details, please see the Immigration Announcement PDF (← click here).

However, this is a misleading syntax.

Actually, the period of stay has not increased for 3 months.

It only means that you have a special period of three months for extension/ change applications.

Let's take a closer look.

〇A concrete example

For example, what happens if one whose period of resident status is May 10th wants to apply for an extension?

First of all, due to the Counter congestion mitigation measures, extension (change) applications are postponed until August 10.
Therefore, if one applies for extension by August 10, it will be accepted specially and the examination will proceed.

However, this person's period of resident status has not been extended from May 10.

I have to say that this person is in the same condition as the overstay from May 11th.

As a familiar issue, what happens if a police officer questions this person on June 16th?

The police officer recognizes this person as an overstay because the residence status was expired until May 10th, and there is no stamp of "applying".
Therefore, it is expected that it will not only end with the questioning but will probably take one to the police box or police station.

When an administrative scrivener contacted Immigration for this matter, the immigration officer said that.

"Originally, overstaying occurs when the period of resident status expires, and the immigration is not involved in what the police will do."

It really feels like a Japanese government office.


And if this person has something to leave Japan on June 10th?

If this person is applying for an extension/change, a special period will be granted and the period of resident status will be extended until July 10.
(To be precise, it will be extended until the day after two months of the special exception period or the date when the application result is notified.)

However, if the person does not apply, he/she will leave Japan with overstay.

In other words, at this time, even if it is a special re-entry permit、the person will not receive the re-entry permission and the residence status will be taken up.

What's more, the record of being overstayed remains the record of the immigration.


As the measure to ease the immigration counter, it is possible to wait 3 months before submitting an application, that is,
the immigration is saying "don't come to the immigration office to apply", however they have NO responsible for overstaying.

Immediately, the Immigration Bureau should give an official opinion on this matter, I think.

〇 The 3 months grace period is longer than the 2 months special period

Let's consider the same example above.

Originally, this person has a "special period" until July 10th if he/she applies for extension(change) before May 10th.
During this period, the period of resident status has expired, but one can legally stay in Japan and can carry out activities with a status of residence.

On the other hand, the grace period for extension/change applications is currently 3 months.

This means that this person will be able to submit an extension application until August 10.
It will be called "a special acceptance"

However, even if the application was accepted on August 10, there is no "special period" for this person.

It can't be said that this person's status of residence is extremely unstable, because of the overstaying status and no "special period".

An administrative scrivener inquired about this issue at the Immigration Office, and they said that.

"Please stay home"

In the view of the Immigration, the situation is "overstaying" and there is no "special period", so it is the same treatment as losing the status of residence,
and the person can do NOTHING during the judgment of the application.


Even during normal times, the results of the application may occasionally appear after the "special period" or period of resident status expires.

For example, this may occur when the judging period exceeds the "special period" of 2 months, or when the application for change from a short-term is made and the deadline for the short-term is exceeded during the judgment.

At this time, it is possible to go back to the past and avoid the situation of overstay after "the special period" or period of resident status.

First of all, from the last day of the "special period" of the original status of residence (or the date of expiration of the status of residence) to the day when one is notified of the result (= the day one goes to immigration), it is regarded that one had virtually stayed with a status of residence of "specific activity".
Therefore, the changing is made twice and the application for extension is permitted, such as "original resident status →  specific activity → original resident status)".

t's strange that you need to apply for change twice even though one has applied for an extension once.
At this time, of course, the revenue stamp requires 2 sheets of 4000 yen, which is double the price of the original.


Although no official opinion has been given yet, if the above person applies for an extension on August 10, it will be legally accepted.

However, let's assume that the notification postcard came and went to immigration on September 1st...

This person could NOT stay in Japan with the original residnet status from at least July 10th to September 1st.
After all, this period will be thought of as one's staying “specific activity”, it would be possible that one must change application twice (That is a prediction).


Of course, it is understandable that there was a situation to alleviate the congestion of the immigration counter as soon as possible.
However, regarding the treatment of overstays and the treatment of "special period", the Immigration Bureau should promptly give an opinion and dispel the unstable resident status of foreigners.

〇For short-term visa, be careful

The above-mentioned overstay situation is the same for the person with a short-term visa.

Those who have a short-term visa are certainly allowed to extend/change for three months, but again, the period of resident status has not been extended.

It is still okay if one applies for something, but if one is just going out of Japan, one should be careful not to exceed the period of resident status.

If one mistakenly thinks that this three-month grace period is a grace period of resident status, and if one simply leaves Japan with overstay, the record will be left and one will receive a negative evaluation at the next time of one's entering Japan.

In this case, one must go to immigration first, and extend the short-term visa (currently by 90 days it can be extended), and then one can leave Japan.

〇In the case of "change", there is NO grace period

So far, I have only considered an extension, but what about changes?

The Immigration Bureau said that one will have three months grace period to change, but if one does not have a new resident status, one can do only the activities of the old resident status.

For example, let's say that one who has "Engineer / Specialist in Humanities/ International Services" establishes a company and tries to change to "Business Manager / Administration".

This person cannot operate the company as a manager unless one is applied for the change and it is permitted.

The application may be postponed by the grace period, but since the resident status has not changed, only "Engineer / Specialist in Humanities/ International Services" activities can be done.

Therefore, in the case of a change application, it means that one should ignore the counter mitigation measures and submit an application promptly.

〇Then, what can we do now?

I would like to describe each possible pattern below.

1. Apply for an extension in Japan

Using the three-month grace period will destabilize one's resident status.

So, best of all, one should apply as usual before the expiry date.

At a minimum, a judgment of an extension application is about one month, so one should submit an extension application by the period of resident status + 1 month.

If do so, there is a high possibility that one will get the result of the judgment within the "special period".

2. Apply for an extension, but one must leave Japan

If one's resident status is nearing the expiration date and unfortunately one must leave Japan, first one must apply for an extension and then leave Japan.

For an expired period on May 10th, an extension application will be suspended until August 10th.
However, one should not leave Japan during this time from 5/10.

If one applies for an extension before May 10, the period of resident status will be extended until July 10 by the 2 months "special period".
During this time, one can leave Japan with re-entry permission.

The important point is that the current special treatment is that the immigration permits the result of the application of the person who left Japan with re-entry permission after applying for an extension can be got by a proxy in Japan.
For details, please see "3" of the Immigration PDF (← click here).

Therefore, if one leaves Japan after applying, one's proxy in Japan will be able to receive the residence card on one's behalf, and the extension will end legally.

If one must leave Japan, be sure to apply for an extension before leaving Japan.

3. Apply for change

Any change application should be submitted immediately.

4. Short-term visa

Even one with a short-term visa can apply for an extension or change for 3 months grace period, even if the period of resident status has expired.

However, if one simply departures and the departure date is beyond the period of resident status, one should apply for an extension as soon as possible.

Please do not leave Japan as it is. A record of the overstay will be kept.

Extra. already leaving Japan with re-entry permission, but can NOT return

This person loses one's resident status when it was expired.

There are many countries that have already refused to land in Japan, so there is no remedy for people leaving there.

Unfortunately, the resident status cannot be extended at the Japanese Embassy.

In this case, there is no choice but to start over from the application for a Certification of Eligibility, receive a COE again, and enter Japan with a new visa.
This is the story after the landing refusal was over.


In particular, if one has only one year left to apply for a permanent residence, the number of years of continuous residence in Japan will be reset to 0 when you lose your resident status.
Therefore, it will be a ridiculous situation to start over 10 years from the first.

Regarding this, after returning to Japan, saying that one could not return due to the influence of the covid-19 and one lost one's resident status against one’s will, one can apply for a permanent residence. Perhaps it might be a special consideration.
However, this is a perfect hopeful observation ... At this time, one should never apply for by one's self but consult an expert.

〇Conclusion

The handling of "special periods" and "special acceptance" and "grace period" are very complicated and difficult for even professionals.

I think that it is impossible to say that foreigners must understand these situations in this emergency.

Moreover, the immigration policy itself is inconsistent with the immigration law system, so it is expected that the resident status of foreigners will be extremely unstable.

We haven't got the official opinion of the immigration yet, so we can't say for sure, but we hope that the immigration will be prompt and give they opinion.

And, in the current situation where no opinion is given, it ends up being that one should go to the immigration office and submit one's application as soon as possible.

If you do not want to go to the Immigration, please consult your local "administrative scrivener"/lawyer as a specialist.

Of course, I also make applications for you, with wide range from normal application to only receipt of residence card in the Immigration.