I'm currently renewing my visa (residence permit, 在留許可) in Japan. While I've submitted my application 3 months ahead of its expiry, the Immigration Services Agency (出入国在留管理庁) appears to be overwhelmed with applications.

This post reflects my personal experiences and does not contain any form of legal or financial advice.

This is the closest I've felt to becoming "unbankable" especially since I'm paying for rent with a bank account that I could potentially lose access to.

Financial institutions in Japan want you to submit your new visa status before your original visa expires. If not, these financial institutions won't let you use their services, citing "Anti-money laundering" and "Anti-terrorism financing" laws. If the Immigration Services Agency won't renew your visa before it expires, you're most likely fine under immigration law.

What's not fine is that financial institutions don't usually "know" how to deal with this case or provide sub-par user experiences, especially when your visa doesn't carry the examination stamp (更新審査中). My administrative scrivener (行政書士) applied for a visa renewal using the Immigration Services Agency's online system¹. As proof of application I've received an email receipt stating that the Immigration Services Agency currently processes my application.

My visa renewal application is taking a long time and will likely not finish before the original visa expires. I want to share my experiences here with you as things are unfolding:

SMBC Bank

SMBC Bank asked me to physically print out (ha!) the email receipt and bring it to my nearest physical location:

（前略）最寄り⽀店窓⼝にて、「在留 カード」と「⼊管庁からのメールのコピーまたは スマートフォン画⾯」をご持参のうえお⼿続きをお 願いいたします。

Going to a physical location is inconvenient especially given that in all other cases I can just submit a copy of my residence card using their online banking interface. Thinking about how extremely hot it is right now in Tokyo also bothers me, and SMBC Bank's physical locations have narrow opening hours.

SBI Shinsei Bank

SBI Shinsei Bank states that they let you submit your email receipt (申請受付番号のお知らせ) via their "Power Direct" interface or via mail. They'll then extend the usable period for your bank account by 2 months:

パワーダイレクトまたは郵送で（中略）をご提出いただければ、弊行で管理している在留期間満了日を２ヶ月延長すrことが可能です。

I couldn't find the submit button in their "Power Direct" interface. I've printed out the email receipt (ha!) and stuffed it in an envelope that they've previously sent me when requesting my newest visa information.

SBI Securities

SBI Securities (SBI証券) is the most "cautious" here, as I've learned calling their support line. First of all, they'll restrict your account 10 days before your visa expires. Then, they don't accept any kind of email receipt to give you the same grace period as SMBC Bank and SBI Shinsei Bank. Your application for renewal can go through on time and SBI Securities still restricts your account.

Visa applications might get more expensive

While browsing the webz to find out how long my visa application might take, I've stumbled on a Immigration Services Agency public comment page proposing visa application and renewal fee increases.²

Currently, my visa application costs JPY5,500 in government fees. This may blow up to at least JPY10,000 for a visa with under 3 months duration and up to JPY65,000 for a visa with at least 5 years duration. For me this may mean a tenfold increase in fees after the government recently already bumped up the original fee of JPY4,000 to JPY5,500.

What's your experience with visa renewals?

Please reach out to me if you want to share any similar experiences with visa renewals and banks in Japan.