KimJapan's big news :)
 

Nope, not getting married (already did that), not pregnant (already did that too).

The 3 of us just became permanent residents of Japan...the same as getting a US green card.

We never need to get another visa to stay here, we can work at any job, and basically have all the benefits of being Japanese without being Japanese. It means our residence status no longer is dependent upon our place of employment. We are free!

Congratulations ! Sounds pretty much like my situation since a few years now in Geneva.

Super. We look forward to your insider reports.

Congratulations Kim! Here's a toast to you and your family ((B))

(I don't know how to do a sake cup)

I also want to say Congrats!

I am new to this board and do not know your history. Are you US citizens who feel in love with Japan and want to live there (long term wise)?

I appreciate all the help you have provided! It has been invaluable!

Congratulations, Kim! I've never mentioned this before but I am in my 4th year of an intensive study of "Tale of Genji" -- we're on page 662 of the 1100 page book so we have a way to go. As a result I have become fascinated by Japanese culture and history. Was in the country just once for a month two years ago and can't wait to return -- we want to go as a class soon (there are 8 of us plus two teachers).

kampai!

kim, omedetoo gozai-masu.

perhaps a celebration in takayama during the spring festival? :-)

That is wonderful, Kim!

Kim:

Congratulations as kuranosuke says. It must be a joy and relief to finally get what you've wanted. All the best for you and your family!

Aloha Nui Loa!

Congratulations - having finally received my green card here in the US I understand the relief. I was so happy to feel free from the INS!

Thanks everybody. We are so relieved to be free of immigration.

Theresa...you are right, we are American, have lived here for 10 1/12 years. Came first on a 2 year contract at a technical college, had a surprise baby, stayed 4 more years at that school, then was fired because 6 years is the limit on foreigners there (most places have a term limit for foreigners). But, our daugther was happy here, child care was reasonably priced and very good, and my husband had a full time job with a visa, so we were fine. 4 more years passed, and we decided we'd like to stay on but be free to choose any job and not have our staying depend on a visa sponsored by a company/school. So we decided to try to become permanent residents.

We heard that it was quite difficult to do, and the most applications were denied, so we decided to forego doing it ourselves and hired an immigration lawyer to help us. The whole process took 5 months.

We didn't exactly fall in love with Japan, but it has become our home. We are comfortable as part of a community, and our daughter is Japanese in every way except looks and passport. It works for us, at least for now. Our dream is to own our own business...right now we are thinking cafe/Asian goods retail combination kind of place. Asian goods are really popular, and Kanazawa really lacks coffee shop/cafe kind of places that have cool atmosphere.

Gloria...come to Kanazawa! It's not the land of Genji, but it is really nice.

KJ - Congrats - I was trying to write it in Japanese as I have installed the fonts on my PC but it goes in as gobbledegook (sp?). I hope to hit Kanazawa in a future trip so hopefully your shop will be open.....

Congratulations Kim.

although, I first thought from the heading that you might be having another child. My next thought was that now we'll have to deal with everyone telling you that you can't travel with a baby!

Glad you are free to live and work as you like now! Keep us updated on the future Kanazawa Hot Spot!

Congratulations, KimJapan!! Great news!

(And thanks for all your help with my recent trip to Japan. It helped so much, and I hope to post more soon!)

Kim, now I can say I know an American resident of Japan. Well, I feel like I know you in a way.

Congratulations to all 3 of you!

What other differences does this make in in the way of job/income/living, etc.? You can apply for and be hired for any job there now. And you can own a business as you want to. Anything else? Will you pay different taxes now, etc.?

Hi Kim,

Thank you for the background information - very interesting!

Glad everything has worked out for you and your family!

Theresa

My congratulations to you also Kim. Another goal reached in your life's journey.

Gwen

Congrats, Kim. You live in a lovely city and I hope you & your family continue to have a happy, fulfilled life in Japan. All the best.

emd of course you can say you know me. We were always residents in the way you use the term resident to mean you live somewhere. But we were only permitted to work at the job that was indicated on our visa. We are teachers, and even changing schools involved a change of visa. We were not allowed to engage in other types of work, could not get a loan for a longer period than our visa was good for, needed a Japanese co-signer/guarantor to rent a house, have a credit card. We have always paid Japanese tax, and are subject to US taxation as well if our income exceeds the foreign income exclusion (which we never do).

Now, we are free to work anywhere we like, including our own independent enterprise without trying to get a business visa (difficult if there is no business, and there is no business if we don't have the right visa...), we can get a house loan if we want to. In some prefectures, we can even vote in local elections if we live there.

Basically, the only thing we can't do is vote in national elections and many local elections. In every other way, we have all the rights of a Japanese citizen. It offers security, as until now, all jobs we have had are required by immigration to have a written contract, which specifies a starting and ending date, typically one year. What that means, is every year, you are at the mercy of your employer, who can arbitralily choose to not renew your contract, cut your pay, do anything they like. Last year, when my husbands father was dying, his boss told him if he went to see his dying father in America it would reflect badly on him and his contract would not be renewed 2 months later. So, my husband's last contact with his father was a telephone call to his almost unconscious father where he said goodbye to him. I still cry about that. That is the kind of thing that we don't want to ever happen again.

Oh that's awful. Then this new status is very very significant in terms of your freedom. I am very glad the grip of the work contract will not be so tight anymore. I am spoiled as I have been self-employed for awhile now, but I do not think I could tolerated what you have gone through for several years to get to this status. I know it has a lot of meaning for you on many levels.

So even more congratulations!

Kim-- I loved kanazawa when we were there. It was one of the places I want to return to and spend more time in -- I was only there for 2 days.

Congratulations KimJapan, to you and your family, for your newly restored freedom! So, you keep your U.S. passports, or have both, or what?

We have US passports and are visa free, unrestricted, permanent residents of Japan. The only way we could get "more Japanese" is to actually become naturized Japanese citezens, and Teaghan might actually do that when she is grown up.

Sorry, this is off-topic. KJ, my son is moving to Tokyo for a couple of years. He is a computer animator and needs a laptop, do you have any websites that I could investigate?

Thanks. And my apologies to the rest of the forum.

I'm not sure I understand what you are looking for...a place to buy a laptop? If so, it's best to buy in person.

There are many shops in Tokyo that offer English language operating system equipped laptops, if he wanted to buy it in Tokyo. If it is important for him to have personal support in Tokyo, than buying in Tokyo would make sense, and from a specialty shop rather than a discounter.

There is no problem with bringing a US laptop and using it in Japan, either. The only issue might be support...should a "foreign" machine need service, it may or may not be covered by warranty (check) and there may or may not be someone/someplace easily found who can offer service. Most people have repairs/upgrades/service done at the shop where they bought the machine.

I use a Mac...there are stores in Japan as well as the online store. I use a Mac because it very easily switches between Japanese and English as well as mixes the two language without crashing. When I used a Windows machine, it was always crashing on me...guess it wasn't bilingual. For Windows, as in the states there are a multitude of shops.

I've only been reading this thread for a few months in preparation for our trip to Japan, but I have to say CONGRATULATIONS! You are clearly so caring to all of us who ask questions, and your wisdom reminds me of Maribel in Barcelona, for anyone who travelled there. So I wish you all the best. We'll think of you when we're in Kanazawa in early April!

I really hope you enjoy Kanazawa. Maybe we'll meet you somewhere! My husband is easy to spot...the tall foreigner guy who walks everywhere while reading a book. Early April is a lovely time to be in Kanazawa...you'll likely see cherry blossoms...at the very least, plum blossoms. Where are you staying?

Congratulations KimJapan! It is good to hear when someone's life become less (instead of more) complicated!

And thanks for all the advice you provide on this board.

Congratulations Kim! I had similar experiences in France before becoming a resident -- it's a great feeling to be free =)