Lovely day at immigration...

" Someone fed you a line. Immigration office is for people coming into Japan. Not leaving, no matter how you slice it."

I'm doing it from memory so perhaps I screwed something up. I remember my buddy had to go to Osaka to answer questions for himself but I thought his story was about his wife. Either way, one of them had to answer questions about why they wanted to live in the other country... But that doesn't sound as good so I took a stab at the correct memory...heh.

"Why didn't she just get a re-entry permit?"

This was another memory deal. Maybe she probably didn't have a passport at all. Either way she had to fly to Tokyo and talk to immigration there and was denied whatever it was she needed because the guy said she was Chinese, not Japanese.

 

Basically Japanese immigration has nothing to do w/ any other foreign countries immigration, and vice versa. In fact the policy is that at the US Embassy employees aren't even supposed to give out advice on Japanese immigration issues (like getting visa stamps reissued when you get a new passport, etc.). They might point you in the right direction, but these are literally polar opposites. When Debido somehow found time to not add establishments that hate white people to his fucking list he tried to give his US passport to Japanese immigration. They refused, as they cannot take it (it is property of the US government).

I would have to LOL at that. She's not going to get very far w/o a passport. But, I have a friend who was apparently 3rd generation Korean or something. Nobody knew. He tried to leave the country and didn't have his paperwork sorted out so they wouldn't let him leave. I don't think it's necessarily fucked up when someone decides to immigrate to Japan and has kids (even a few generations) but there's a decent chance (if not excellent) that his ancestors were dragged here. As much as you, Yakumo, and myself want to bitch about how rough we have it, it is a cakewalk... easier than our home countries even, no matter how you slice it.

 

Probably for the best. They could have fucked him on reentry and ended up trapped in his own personal version of The Terminal. Not something I'd want to go through.

 

I don't quite follow. Can't imagine a Chinese trying what? As someone that's been to immigration way more than they need, I can assure you they try (and succeed) with all kinds of things. They even have Chinese speakers working at immigration in Tokyo...but not English speakers. Not strong ones anyway.

I guess that's what the immigration desk on the way out is for. Anyone else think its' weird that the US doesn't have this? At least my port of embarkation doesn't. The flight attendant checks your passport to make sure it's valid and that's it... no stamp, no nothing.

 

Paper pushers in such positions are sadly dangerous. They can make or break things on a whim! That kind of "power" is pathetic as frankly it blows one way or the other on their mood swings.

You went to them with all the information as per request, you presented it in an orderly fashion, he just seems to have gotten up that morning with a stick up his ass!

Hope things work out for you.

 

Looks like my case was assigned to a lady in the end, really nice gal as a matter of fact. I had to go down there to answer some questions but she didn't seem to think there would be any problems.

Full speed ahead...