I just went through my visa renewal process. It has not been smooth. I always hear about other people’s experiences and how difficult it is for them. Mine has never been smooth either.
Every year there’s a new drama. This year I thought things would be smoother. I had everything ready. I got all the documents that I needed. I learned from my past few years of renewal. This time things would be different.
Guess what? It wasn’t. I go early in the morning to the immigration office. I am behind three people. I think this will be smooth. Go in, submit, and go straight out. But I was wrong. I had all the right documents. But. There’s always a but. One of the documents didn’t have the date written. This was one of the documents from my company. If it was any other country, you could have just written the date by yourself and submitted it. Not in Japan. They insisted that the date needs to be put on there by my company. Not me. So, I had to go back to the office, get that date and then go back the next day.
I submit my documents. The wait starts. I was anxious. I needed something extra for this renewal. I have been getting only a years length of visa. This time I needed at least three or more.
The wait is over. I get the confirmation via post. I decide to go to the immigration the following day. This time also I am there early. I also needed to pay ¥4000 for the visa process. But you can’t just pay by cash. Why do that? They have to make things difficult. You have to pay with revenue stamps. I didn’t know you could get them at immigration. So I got them from the convenience store. They only had the ones worth ¥20. So I had to buy 20 of them.
I go early to immigration. No one is there. I am number one. The thirty-minute wait starts. The immigration opens in thirty minutes. As I am waiting happily and preparing the papers I need. I realize I dropped 13 of my stamps. I dropped them off on the way here. I look for them frantically. But they are nowhere. They are gone. Gone with the wind.
The immigration opens. I go in. I submit the papers. They tell me about the revenue stamp. I explain the situation. I had to buy ¥2600 worth of stamps again. I do that. Done. I am ready to get my visa.
I get it. I check the card anxiously. And guess what? They gave me only 1 year again. I have no idea why. I was supposed to get 3 or more. It didn’t happen.