Working visa was forgot to be cancelled?

[akatsuka]

I got a 3 year working visa last year in Japan only to work for one hellhole of a company. After much thought I decided to quit and the company made it hard for me, forcing me to pay for my visa amongst other things. I just wanted out. They threatened to cancel my visa but at that time I just didn't care, I just wanted out of that company.

I returned back to my native homeland for a while before ending up yet again in Japan - for a holiday to visit friends. Turns out my visa didn't get cancelled and it's still valid. I look around for jobs and I find a decent job who have employed me. I just need to get a proof of resignation from my old hellhole evil company.

Now the Hellhole evil company are ignoring my emails and phone calls requesting this letter. Is there anything I can do legally to get this resignation proof so I can show my new company?

[Wage Slave]

No, I don't think there is anything you can do to force them to write a letter confirming you resigned. They should, but if they refuse, I don't see you have much leverage.

Why does the new company need it? In the circumstances I would try to talk to them rather than the old company.

BTW the visa always belongs to you and NOT the company you were working for. Charging someone for a visa is not acceptable. It's probably illegal as well.

[wagyl]

There is no mechanism for cancelling visas at the request of employers. It is yours, unless the Immigration Office determines that you are not following their rules.

I think the fact that the OP was charged for the visa is a bit of a red herring: I think anything he or she does to try to get it back will be a huge effort and he or she should forget all about it. About proof of release from the previous employer: if the new employer's paperwork requirements are not satisfied by a long absence from Japan and the OP's statement that he or she hasn't been paid for all that period, maybe (although this is only a guess on my part) the Labour Standards Bureau can be of help in getting confirmation that the OP is not an employee of the previous company. My guess is that the new employer is worried about insurance and pension being duplicated, and this is why it has this paperwork requirement. Some details about the Labour Standards Bureau are found in this thread viewtopic.php?f=17&t=31044 If you go there, it may be worth asking them about the charge made on you for your visa, but I am not as certain as Wage Slave that they might not have included that in a contract as part of a penalty for non-completion of the contract (although whether that is a valid contract clause is the next question).

[yanpa]

Did you inform Immigration about your change of job status? Also, did you come back to Japan by re-entering on the old visa?

[wagyl]

Did you inform Immigration about your change of job status? Also, did you come back to Japan by re-entering on the old visa?

The OP will I am sure answer, but I wonder how question 1 helps this topic. I will guess that he did not, because otherwise immigration would have calculated that he had spent the three months or six months or whatever the period is, not engaged in employment in Japan in the limited field allowed by his visa, and would have cancelled the visa. What they don't know won't hurt them, and certainly doesn't hurt the OP.

As to question 2, my guess from the OP is that he did not know his visa was still valid, and tried to enter on a tourist visa, to be told by the Immigration officer at the entry point that he had a valid working visa, welcome back home. Although, since we are talking about within the last three years I suppose he had to have been away less than a year to get the automatic reentry, so maybe this is a valid question. Did he also bring his old Registration Card with him in this situation? On second thoughts, you raise interesting points.

[wagyl]

Did you inform Immigration about your change of job status?

The OP will I am sure answer, but I wonder how question 1 helps this topic. I will guess that he did not, because otherwise immigration would have calculated that he had spent the three months or six months or whatever the period is, not engaged in employment in Japan in the limited field allowed by his visa, and would have cancelled the visa. What they don't know won't hurt them, and certainly doesn't hurt the OP.

Related to this particular point,

《Those with status of residence for employment (with exceptions), international students, and trainees》
For those who stay in Japan with status of “Professor, Highly Skilled Professional, Business Manager, Legal/ Accounting Services, Medical Services, Researcher, Instructor, Engineer/ Specialist in Humanities/ International Services, Intra-company Transferee, Entertainer (limited to those who engage in activities related to the status concerned based on a contract with a public or private organization in Japan), Skilled Labor, Technical Intern Training, Student, or Trainee”, please notify the Minister of Justice by reporting to Regional Immigration Bureaus, mailing to Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, or using the “Immigration Bureau’s Electronic Notification System” through internet within 14 days of the day when change was made to the name or location of the organization including employer, educational organization, etc. which the foreigners belonged to, when the company bankrupted, when the employment contract terminated, and when the foreigners moved to another company through concluding another employment contract.

【Attention】
With the new residency management system introduced, reasons for revocation of status, deportation, and penalties have been newly established as following.
○Penalties
Have submitted a false notification or have violated the obligation to submit a notification relating to any of the notifications required.

http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/keizi ... 0331-4.pdf

I don't know how best to advise you in this situation.

That said, it looks like the old employer also failed in its obligations

For organizations accepting mid and long term residents who stay in Japan with status of “Professor, Highly Skilled Professional, Business Manager, Legal/ Accounting Services, Medical Services, Researcher, Instructor, Engineer/ Specialist in Humanities/ International Services, Intra-company Transferee, Entertainer, Skilled Labor, or Student”, please notify the Minister of Justice by reporting to Regional Immigration Bureaus, mailing to Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, or using the “Immigration Bureau’s Electronic Notification System” through internet within 14 days of the day when the organization commenced and/ or terminated acceptance of the mid and long term residents (except organizations required to report on employment situation of foreigners based on the Employment Measures Act).
As well, for educational organizations accepting international students, please notify the Minister of Justice on the status of acceptance of international students as of May 1st and November 1st every year by reporting to Regional Immigration Bureaus, mailing to Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, or using the “Immigration Bureau’s Electronic Notification System” through internet within 14 days respectively.

[akatsuka]

Thanks for your replies.

In regards to your questions - yes I did inform immigration status of my resignation and my intention to leave Japan. I then left Japan within the 3 month notice period. I assumed my old company informed immigrations too, but seeing how things are, maybe not.

When I returned to Japan last month (within a year of leaving), I tried to enter on a tourist visa only to be asked for my residence card. I showed it and the officer let me back in Japan on this working visa as he said it'll be cut if I enter on a tourist visa. Maybe he was just in a good mood.

I will speak to my current company updating hem that I can't contact my old company, but I don't want my new company and old company to speak to each other if possible - just because my old company will use any opportunity to bad mouth me. I wasn't a bad employee at my old company - they just lied about the job position and many other things...

It is illegal for a company to charge you for your visa as a way of forcing you to not resign. I tried to fight it, but it'll cost me more in legal fees than just giving them the visa money so I gave up legally.

Thanks for everyone's help. Not sure how to move forward but fingers crossed!

[Salty]

Just to add a bit... I changed jobs several times, and was never asked to show proof that I had resigned from my former company. As a HR manager, I never asked anyone to show proof either.

[omae mona]

Thanks for your replies.

When I returned to Japan last month (within a year of leaving), I tried to enter on a tourist visa only to be asked for my residence card. I showed it and the officer let me back in Japan on this working visa as he said it'll be cut if I enter on a tourist visa. Maybe he was just in a good mood.

I'm curious - did you fill out the re-entry embarkation/disembarkation card when you left Japan, and was it still stapled into your passport when you returned?

If the card was there: then it sounds like the airport officer just followed rules. There's nothing different about your exit and re-entry than any other visa holder who temporarily left.

If the card was not there: sounds like they let you through on the "this gaijin forgot to use the card when he left, or he accidentally lost it during the intervening 11 months, but he obviously intended to re-enter all along" exception. It's nice to know they are forgiving of these mistakes, even if - in your case - it was intentional! Note you would have had a very different treatment if you came back after 12 months, since 12 months is the max for みなし再入国許可, which is the status you returned on.