Immigration System in Japan

- Application for Extension of Period of Stay (在留期間更新許可申請) -

Foreign nationals residing in Japan with a status of residence may, in principle, stay in Japan only for the period of stay granted.

Therefore, if foreign nationals wish to continue an activity that falls under their status of residence beyond the period of stay granted, they must obtain permission to extend their period of stay without changing their status of residence through a certain procedure.

This procedure is called "Application for Extension of Period of Stay (在留期間更新許可申請)".

Only when the Minister of Justice deems that there are reasonable grounds to believe that it is appropriate to permit the extension of the period of stay, the extension of stay will be granted.

An "Application for Extension of Period of Stay" is accepted approximately three months prior to the expiration date of the current period of stay by submitting the prescribed documents to the regional immigration services bureau with jurisdiction over the applicant's address.

Please visit the website of the Immigration Services Agency. You can find the details of the application there.

Procedures of application for extension of period of stay (Working Visa)

Procedures of application for extension of period of stay, Flow diagram

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Note: On our website, we prefer using the term "Visa" instead of "Status of Residence," even though the latter is legally accurate in most contexts. We've made this choice because we understand that, in many conversations among foreign nationals in Japan, the term "Visa" is commonly used to refer to "Status of Residence." Our goal is to keep our website concise and friendly to those in need of information about the immigration system in Japan. Please see "Difference between Visa and Status of Residence" for more details.