Hello, this is Ito of IMS Legal Professional Corporation. The Olympics came to a close last week. With many athletes having attracted a lot of attention through their various accomplishments, the Olympics turned out to be more exciting than we had expected. The Paralympic Games will be held from August 24, so we can expect to see many more athletes in action. On the other hand, although vaccinations are being carried out, the Delta variant of COVID-19 is still running rampant and is rapidly spreading. Even with the declaration of a state of emergency and the implementation of measures to prevent the spread of the virus, infection rates are going up and we are thus facing a shortage of medical facilities.
Even under such circumstances, we have been receiving requests and inquiries regarding applications for Certificates of Eligibility for the "student" status of residence in time for October matriculation. In fact, last month, we completed up to 300 applications per day, although these numbers are gradually going down.
Changes to the Certificate of Eligibility Form
In March, there was a change in the format of various application forms following the abolition of the seal at the end of last year. Starting from then, applicants for the Certificate of Eligibility are required to include how many times they have applied for a Certificate of Eligibility on the very first page of the application form. We don't know why this was added, but it is quite confusing for applicants, and at times, we have asked clients to let us know the number of times they have applied for things at the Immigration Bureau, regardless of the type of application.
Although those that have experience dealing with or completing residency applications such as ourselves or employees at companies who are in charge of residency applications for employees of foreign nationality tend to understand the various types of applications that exist, I believe it may be difficult for applicants themselves to track the total number of times they have applied for authorization, renewal, and changes in status. In particular, since the application for a Certificate of Eligibility is filed to invite the applicant, in many cases, the applicant does not file the application their self. Thus, some people may not be able to grasp the number of times their applications have been filed or denied.
If an application is approved, the visa is usually pasted onto one’s passport when one applies for a visa in their home country, so that it is visible and able to be verified. However, it seems that the COVID-19 pandemic has complicated things due to withdrawals of applications and the return of Certificates of Eligibility. In addition, while you may be able to check the number of times your application has been denied by referring to your notices of denial, unless your it is a relative that applied for you, you may not have it readily at hand.
"I can't remember when I applied"
The other day, there was a person who had a history of staying in Japan as a mid- to long-term resident, but did not remember applying for a Certificate of Eligibility. Other applicants may find themselves in the same situation especially if the applications were made many years ago. In the case of this person and others like them, we compare their past record of visits to Japan and residency history to deduce the number of times they applied, and fill in applications based on this information.
For more information, please contact us below ↓
https://imsvisa.support/en/contact/
