Here we go again...

[yanpa]

Via JapanProbe:

Hi
Just got out of the immigration detention center.
This has been an interesting read and I have learned a fair bit. Thanks for all the information and advice.
Seems like some well meaning but not fully informed friends of mine have donated some money to help me. I have just found out about this and will send it back as soon as I can. I do not need the money and certainly would never ask for it.
Am happy to answer any questions but will say this in the hope of clearing a few things up
1. I have not overstayed my visa and my ability to live in Japan is in no danger
2. I never got any money to work as an interpreter, was never offered any and never asked for any
3. I am not associated with an activist group of any type
4. I love Japan and it seems that most of you do too! Good on you for that
Michael

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Why is it that one of the first things previously bluster-filled gaijin emancipated from the control of Japanese cuntstabulary authorities feel a need to do is state loudly their love/liking for/fondness toward Japan?

Spineless...doesn't show a great belief in your convictions (the convictions in question being the ideas you hold dearly, not the ones handed down by the judiciary).

[Level3]

I find those claims pretty incredible as well. I am ready to believe Immigration can fuck things up - but to this level?!
I am also going to keep in mind that because of privacy rules, Immigration can never tell their side of the story.We will only get MQT's side of the story. And it's going to have to be a very good one to explain why he was kept in detention for 2 months if he didn't break any rules at all. As with CJ, if completely legal immigrants who broke no rules are subject to being locked up or deported, we all need to know exactly what happened and how we can avoid the same fate.

But just judging from that statement, I assume there will be no satisfactory explanation, and no explanation or accountability at all from his fundraising fan club.

[GomiGirl]

Update from Japan Probe:

Hi guys

1. I have never overstayed as I have a “live” application for an extension to my visa application. There is nothing in the rules to say that visitor visas cannot be extended it is just not normally done. My passport was stolen and I could have perhaps been carrying the receipt for my extension application if I had thought to. I was carrying my ARC which was to expire on Dec 2012. You will note that the new Zairyu cards expire on the same date as the visa to avoid confusion with the 2 different dates that the ARCs brought.

I missed a “reporting date” in Tokyo because Immigration sent a letter to an old address and never emailed me as they had agreed to do. So their computer told the Police my period of stay had elapsed. Thus the confusion and the investigation. It is getting cleared up but the wheels of Justice move carefully and slowly. I have another hearing about this on Nov 22 as the case officer from the Tokyo immigration office never turned up in Osaka for the one next week. Basically I was being held waiting for that hearing but have now been released.
2. Yeah I intend returning the money to those who want it and will pay pal it back so if some of you have donated please be patient. I will need to gather email addresses for 120 or so people. I have zero idea why my fiancee or I were never consulted about it. Just good intentions from my concerned friends I guess and no harm done. It seems to have created quite a hornet`s nest as access to exact was difficult as you can neither telephone nor be telephoned not even write letters while being investigated by Police
3. Eido I never intended to do any interpreting voluntary or otherwise. My wife was going to do some. As a volunteer. Neither of us were ever going to be paid anything. We were sent train fares (which was volunteered by them never asked for) but this money has been returned to the Canadian documentary company some time ago.Unfortunately they failed to say that in their You Tube vid so I will get that sorted out
4. I do do some social media related work but online and pay tax in New Zealand (we have a reciprocal agreement with Japan). Lots of people are getting paid from work done in other countries while on visitor visas in Japan.
As you have suggested who would be stupid enough to go to Taiji or work in Japan without a valid visa.

Hope that this clears a few things up but am happy to answer any other questions.

Michael
PS The law now says foreigners must carry a passport or a Zairyu card. Alien Registration Cards finished July 7 and even it is had yet to expire you still need the new Zairyu card or you are committing an offence if you do not have your passport.

Can somebody confirm this please as this is news to me...

[Yokohammer]

This from the MOJ website:

By what date must the Alien Registration Certificate be changed to the Resident Card?
・ For a certain period, until the new Resident Card is issued, an Alien Registration Certificate will be deemed equivalent to a Resident Card for the purpose of residence notification or procedures at Regional Immigration Offices. It is not necessary to immediately exchange your Alien Registration Certificate for a Resident Card.
・ A new Resident Card will be issued at a Regional Immigration Office when permission to
extend period of stay, etc., is granted.
・ Permanent residents aged 16 or older are required to change to the Resident Card no later
than July 8th, 2015*, whereas permanent residents under 16 years of age must do so by July 8th, 2015 or their 16th birthday, whichever comes first. *Note: Residents with the status of Designated Activities with a period of stay of four years or five years are also required to change to the Resident Card no later than July 8th, 2015.

"Equivalent" sounds pretty, um, "equivalent," dunnit?
And "It is not necessary to immediately exchange your Alien Registration Certificate for a Resident Card" is pretty clear, I think.

So who's making shit up?

[GomiGirl]

Then his claims are bogus...

[Yokohammer]

There's a nice pdf file that explains the whole thing on the MOJ website ... available here (link in upper left corner):

http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_1/en/index.html

[Samurai_Jerk]

So who's making shit up?

The MOJ, obviously. They're spreading false information so they can arrest and deport us. It's a fucking conspiracy!

BTW, I like how he keeps mentioning his valid ARC. As has been pointed out in this tread before ...

IF YOU ARE HERE ON A TOURIST VISA YOUR ARC IS NO LONGER VALID NO MATTER WHAT THE FUCKING EXPIRATION DATE IS!

[wagyl]

Yes well there are one or two incisive minds at JP asking pertinent questions.

He seems less aggressive about criticism than other fellows who have had run ins with Immigration, but I don't know how clear the answers will be from someone who is a bit loose with terminology ("reporting date"??) and who regards the betrayal of trust of those supporters willing to donate to his cause as "no harm done."

[GomiGirl]

Source

Alien registration certificates for mid- to long-term residents will be deemed, for a certain period, to be equivalent to the resident card. Mid- to long-term residents are asked to keep their alien registration certificates until a resident card is issued since the alien registration certificate will be deemed, for a certain period, to be equivalent to the resident card in legal procedures at Regional Immigration Offices and residential procedures at municipal offices after implementation of the new residency management system. Mid- to long-term residents will be asked to exchange their alien registration certificates for a resident card when filing an application or notifications involving the issue of a new resident card at a Regional Immigration Office, or can exchange the certificates for a card at their own request at a Regional Immigration Office.

Period in which an alien registration certificate is deemed to be equivalent to the resident card:
The period in which an alien registration certificate is deemed to be equivalent to the resident card depends on the resident status and age of the foreign national as of July 9, 2012.
Please take note that the period may end before the next confirmation date written in your alien registration certificate.

So if you are not on a proper long term visa then all ARC's became invalid on July 9th 2012. But if you are on PR or working/long term visa you have until July 8 2015 or your visa renewal - whichever comes first.

[wagyl]

Largely correct, but if you are not on a proper long term visa your ARC was invalid anyway, regardless of 9 July 2012. Otherwise, correct.

[GomiGirl]

if you are not on a proper long term visa your ARC was invalid anyway, regardless of 9 July 2012.

And regardless of any validity date printed on the ARC itself. Right?

OK - I think we have the story sorted now despite what spin MQT tries to put on it.

[wagyl]

Yep, that date was when you must renew your ARC, not when it was valid until, if you get that distinction.

If we are being precisely pedantic, the right to stay in Japan was not determined by the ARC, but by the expiry date of the status of residence recorded on it. However, to prevent ARCs getting too old, much like a passport, there was a renewal date on it. An ARC which only records an expired status of residence was just a pretty souvenir of your life in Japan, it did not grant you any right to be here.

[Level3]

The expiration date on the old ARC has nothing to do with the validity of the visa. The law says you're supposed to turn in your ARC when you leave Japan without a reentry permit (leaving "for good" as a resident at least) If you left "for good" but didn't turn in the card because you still had a valid reentry permit, it's not like they can do much. Seems like a loophole, but it closes itself.
If you change your mind and come back while the reentry and visa are still valid, it's like you never left. Keep using the ARC. If you come back AFTER your visa expires..you'd have to be stupid (ignorant of the law) to try and use the illegally retained ARC as valid ID.

My first crappy analogy is that trying to use a "valid" ARC without a visa is the same as claiming you can still use the gym you haven't paid dues at for 12 months because you still have your Member's Card. The more severe analogy is that if your driving license has been revoked (for drink driving, parking tickets, whatever) for 1 year, you can't keep driving during that year just because the license expires 4 years from now and you still have it in your wallet (even though you were legally bound to surrender it to the Court, you just told the judge you "lost" it )
The second is more clumsy, but perhaps more apt.

Well, don't hold your breath for a straight explanation. You don't expect him to say "Yup, I was working in Taiji for a fee plus expenses, all in cash!" do you?

If he plans to stay in Japan (especially if he wants PR), he will never openly admit to any violation of immigration law, such as working for pay without a visa, or not turning in his ARC if he had started doing visa runs, or just doing visa runs. He would be stupid to do so, just to satisfy criticism from people to whom it is pretty obvious what probably happened. The only people that matter to him will be the credulous social media "friends" (willing to part with cash for him) he has gained through this. They are not the type who demand solid explanations or evidence. Just warm feelings and rainbows and unicorns.

He could just say this for the rest of us FG with real jobs, "What happened to me is almost certainly not going to happen to anyone who has their visas in order [and hasn't had their passport eaten by their dog, etc.]"
Admit the truth without literally admitting it and reassure us we don't have to worry that this is some sudden change in Immigration policy.
That's all we gaijin need to hear. The rest we can figure out.

And yes, we're all just jealous. People like this often end up millionaires.

EDIT: There is another loophole or 2 in the ARC rules. No hints!
I want to see if he comes up with it himself.

[wagyl]

EDIT: There is another loophole or 2 in the ARC rules. No hints!
I want to see if he comes up with it himself.

Mate, it is not about loopholes.

イ） The ARC is a document which records that you have a legal right to be conducting certain activities here.

2. And if you no longer have that right, that document can also indicate that you do not have a legal right to be conducting those activities here anymore.

(c) Alternatively, if you have not taken the effort to keep the notification up to date, that document can appear to indicate that you no longer have that right.

My money is on option number (ii).


Of course, it is all far from clear whether Mr Todd is claiming that he was not working and was just sightseeing here on a short-term entry, and whether the 90 days had elapsed or not. In those cases, ARC is completely irrelevant.

[legion]

Basically the immigration boys ground him down and made him into a good gaijin. It's a kind of Stockholm Syndrome.

[Level3]

EDIT: There is another loophole or 2 in the ARC rules. No hints!
I want to see if he comes up with it himself.

Mate, it is not about loopholes.

Your post is right and oh, I know it isn't really about the specific loopholes. (You didn't hit on what I was thinking about though..we'll see if Todd does.)
It's about the details. Just as with Christopher Johnson, we will never hear Immigration's side of the story
The irony of the privacy laws is they protect people who lie just as much as those who are innocent.
(Though in CJ's case, he insulted so many prominent gaijin, some of them were probably in positions to unofficially ask contacts in Immigration about his case and drop hints. Go nuclear against Immigration? Leaks will happen.)

We'll only get Todd's version of this story.** Again, just as with CJ, the devil is in the details. If his story fits the rules and seems reasonable and consistent over time, then OK.
What he says, what he doesn't say, and how he changes his story will reveal at least some of the truth to anyone with half a brain and a passing knowledge of Immigration rules.

Todd seems a bit more level-headed and intelligent than CJ (but then, who isn't?) or has perhaps read everything about CJ since he got released.
But his story at this point just has way too many convenient excuses and coincidences for me to swallow.

And I'll just keep in mind that this guy is probably a very nice guy, and people who said they have met him, like him.
Sounds like it's more "charisma". Social smarts. Could be genuine, could be manipulative.

** Though it seems perhaps there are some people who knew him before and seem to have grudges, seems to be about paying money for whatever services he's offering and finding him completely unqualified at best. They are giving background info about Todd.

[yanpa]

Can it be... CJ?

[GomiGirl]

This summary fairly well depicts this story thus far:

Source Japologism

November 11, 2012 at 9:44 pm

So the interesting twist in this is that if he is denying all knowledge of the fundraising, then if the money was raised under dubious/false pretenses, any potential legal liability (wire fraud?) for the misleading/false statements used to raise money would fall to the other people helping him.

The sad thing is that this might actually be a case of immigration extending mercy — based on the number of hearings (two 異議ありs to the 認定 and 判定 phases and one 特別に在留を許可する事情あり, namely, marrying his fiancé who went to bat for him, all separated by a few weeks of waiting in detention) he went through, according to the standardized flowchart, he probably got to the 在留特別許可 endpoint, which doesn’t mean you’re innocent… it means you got special permission to stay become the MoJ had mercy on you — to a person that was obviously in the wrong regarding his status/situation (it’s not common, but it happens). What could have been an educational lesson regarding the process for avoiding deportation even though you messed up has again turned into a “the reason I was in there is because immigration and the cops finally realized they’re incompetent and I was 100% innocent.”

Anyway, we may never know what really happened, or the play by play involved in the hearings, but the pattern for damage control towards the outside gaijin internet social media world has been well established by now. For future visa screwup people, here’s the PR template pattern to follow (we’re currently on step 6 or 7) that’s been tried, proven, and incrementally improved upon:

1. “Japan is horrible! Look! Here’s what happened! Not my fault! I’m innocent! I’m a victim of the system! I know everyone will believe me because Japan isn’t like the civilized West and everyone knows they all hate foreigners! Haven’t you read the Amnesty reports? It happened to them, so it must be happening to me too!”

2. “What? My story’s not plausible? Boy, you all that actually live in Japan sure know a lot about immigration procedures. Can’t pull one over on you guys like those back home that can’t understand Japanese and have never lived in Japan. Anyway, thanks for helping me get my story to be more believable. Okay, try again. This is what happened. Ignore the first story. In the fog of war, the initial story is often inaccurate to nobody’s fault.”

3. “What? My passport can prove if my new story is true or not? Okay, try again. This is what happened. And my passport was stolen. And my lawyer told me not to show my passport talk. Can’t prove or (more importantly) disprove it this way!”

4. “Hey! I got out! I’m still in Japan! That doesn’t mean that showed mercy or granted a special exception (which is possible and accounted for in the formal procedures). It means that everything I said earlier must be true!”

5. “What? Some of the claims are still don’t add up? I didn’t say any of that! People were making things up about me for my behalf! They weren’t authorized to say anything about me and knew nothing! Even though I gave them permission to speak on my behalf by giving them access to all my personal accounts! Throw them under the bus! So here’s what really happened!”

6. “Please oh please believe that I’m super special and unlike any foreigner in Japan you’ve ever met in that not only was I renewing a Visitor Visa (very rare, but hey, technically possible! Can’t prove I’m lying!), I also have an ARC card for a Visitor Visa (also very rare. But technically possible! Can’t prove I’m lying!) Oh yeah, and immigration also screwed up and lost and messed up all my paperwork (also rare. But technically possible! Can’t prove I’m lying!) Oh yeah I forgot to mention that my passport was stolen until after it was pointed out that the passport could show what really happened! (Unusual. But technically possible! You can’t prove I didn’t “lose” my passport!) Oh yeah and despite my multiple periodic communication with people giving me updates and trying to give me things and help me, they somehow totally forgot to mention a huge fundraising drive raising thousands of dollars for me! (Technically possible! Can’t prove I’m lying!)

Lightning can technically strike in the same place! Not just twice, but three or four or five times apparently! True!”

7. “What? You still want to see latest paperwork from the detention center and police and MoJ? Some of the things I just personally said and can’t blame on poor communication by someone else still aren’t possible?! Hey, look, if I say I’m giving the money back, would you please go away and stop asking me questions that are hard for me to answer and might dig the hole in my reputation deeper? I’m running out of excuses! All I want is to not accept or admit responsibility for my mistakes! If I give back the money and deny all knowledge that any of this happened, you can’t ask me questions any more! The point here is that I’m a white collar English speaking expat! Japan should make immigration policy and rules for us more like guidelines, not laws, so we have freedom to live well off without letting red tape like ‘visas’ and ‘statuses’ and ‘qualifications’ stifle us! Japan is not fair!”

8. “I don’t like what comes up when you search for my name anymore. The web is only for promotion. Never criticism! I hereby order you to remove everything about me or I’m sue you! For Libel!”

9. “Oh wait, in order to sue for libel more evidence might come out establishing whether I was telling the truth or not? Suing for libel is actually hard and time consuming and not cheap? And you’re not falling for the bluff? Uh, I change my mind! I’m suing you for copyright infringement! DMCA all the way, baby! That way I don’t need proof or a legal process!”

10. “Despite the DMCA even more stuff about me is on the net than ever! Why didn’t anyone tell me about the ‘Streisand effect’⁈ Not fair! Everybody in Japan that hasn’t had something bad to them is a liar or apologist or loser! This is a personal matter, even though I reached out to you and broadcast it all! Respect my privacy, stalkers! I hate you all! From now on I’m hanging out only with other people who hate Japan. That way they’ll believe my stories. Hello, debito.org!”

[Coligny]

Might need to print this if I want to become PR consultant sumdayz...

[wagyl]

For those following the story, the protagonist is given a platform to state his case.

Two things concern me: does anyone honestly think that a renewal date on an ARC gives you the right to remain here after the status of residence noted on it expires? If that is the case, why are we all getting extensions to those status of residences?

Secondly, it looks like his ticket out of Japan was for long after his original 90 day entry had elapsed.

I start all of these stories with an open mind and then see how the protagonist reacts. Somehow, it doesn't surprise me that someone who states that working on a visitor visa is OK because lots of people do it, also seems to take the view: "Sweet! My ARC expires three years after my visa! I'm going to keep using this document which displays on its face that I am here but my visa has expired, a document that appears to all the world to say that I am an overstayer" and then gets surprised when the police pick him up.

As the protagonist presents to me, I get the strong feeling that he has an optimistic view that he can be loose with some rules because other people are not getting caught, but then finds that he has no adequate answer when he does get investigated. This time, he paid a pretty heavy price. He also states that he had a readdressing issue preventing him from getting information from Immigration. I can readily believe that a change of address or a correction of address mid-application would screw things up with Immigration. I doubt that Immigration send out e-mails, even if requested to. A word of advice to everyone: you do not direct Immigration what to do*.

I will not comment on the chronology of a passport theft which prevented him leaving Japan with such timing that it required him to get an extension to his short term entry permit. Life is full of little coincidences. I would have been interested to be in the Immigration office that day when he was applying for an extension without a passport, maybe it happened differently, I don't know.


* A non-Japan related tangent, but the Brazilians are very refreshing in their honesty in their approach to visa applications. They are strictly reciprocal, and tell you as much up front.

To issue or to deny a visa is a sovereign act of every country. The kind of visa and its validity are also a sovereign decision.

Anyone who behaves in a disrespectful way shall be denied a visa.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to make sure his/her application is filled in correctly.

For the rest of the things you knew in your heart of hearts about the granting of visas but never thought you would see in print: Consulado-Geral do Brasil em Tóquio. On the other hand, if you are pleasant to them, they bend over backwards for you.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I've always loved the way Brazil doesn't take shit from anybody.

[Taro Toporific]

....We'll only get Todd's version of this story.** Again, just as with CJ, the devil is in the details...

Well, here's CJ's take on his buddy Todd Q...

(1) Twitter.png

..

For more fun read CJ's never-ending tweets at: twitter.c0m/CJgl0balite

[wagyl]

And it doesn't stop there....

Michael, with friends like these...

Much as I really want him to be a good guy, because he has tried to be very reasonable in the face of a bit of a sudden onslaught from the attack dogs of the internet, I'm going to be getting out the popcorn.


Highlights include CJ telling us that MQT is a taxpayer, whereas MQT clearly stated that he believes paying tax in NZ absolves him from paying tax in Japan.

Guys, guys, all of you, ones I regard as friends and ones I regard as enemies, if there are still hearings and decisions to be made about your immigration status, do not talk to the press, do not answer comments on blogs. No good will ever, ever come of it.

I would also like to hear what Jackie Bigford (who set up the Free Michael fundraiser) has to say about all of this too.

[yanpa]

Ooooouchhhh... Shovel... hole... dig deeper...

Michael Q. Todd, a former immigration lawyer who says he helped 400 Japanese settle in New Zealand,

Can't quite put my finger on it, but I sense a certain irony somewhere in that sentence.

considers himself an "ideal citizen" of Japan

So he's claiming he has a Japanese passport now?

OK, the above is seen through the lens of an intrepid Asia war reporter so get pinching that salt...

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Wasn't CJ an acronym for "cock jerker?"

Talk about hyperbole, too...100,000 deported? He gives the Japanese bureaucracy waaaaaaaaaay too much credit for its abilities. The only way Japanese immigration officials could ever deport 100,000 people would be if they were actively trying to deport 100 million.

[yanpa]

British Member of Parliament David Anderson told the House of Commons last year that Japanese embassy officials in London refused to meet him and lied about the case of businessman Simon Robertson. Robertson, who says he employed 18 Japanese at his real estate agency in Japan, says he was detained at Narita, coerced under duress into paying officials 40,000 yen, abused by guards in a windowless cell under the airport, and deported back to London without his passport. The official Parliament hansard also shows that a British foreign office official complained about Japan's delay in returning Robertson's passport, which is British government property.

That would appear to be this case:

This relatively simple debate has been complicated by the fact that it has spread across the world, as it involves an international airline. I am raising this issue as someone who has for more than 30 years acted as a representative for people in many forms of conflict and dispute, many times doing so in times of direct conflict. What I have found during those years is that there are always at least two sides to every story. I am here tonight to present one side of this story-that of my constituent, Mr Simon Robertson. He is a 38-year-old young man who had visited Japan five times before he went there in February. I wish that I could make part of the case for the Japanese immigration service and for KLM, the airline involved, but because they have not given me the relevant information I am hard-pushed to do that.

...continues...

Reading the above link, I don't see any indication that Mr. Robertson "employed 18 Japanese at his real estate agency in Japan" - dunno where CJ got that from - but do get the impression that Mr. Robertson was keen to stay to the maximum length of multiple short-term visas, also there is the suicide of a Ms. Yuuko Abu mentioned. Read into that what you will.

Not that I'm doubting that Immigration has its nasty side, but so far I haven't heard (from reliable or at least plausible sources) of any cases of reasonably bona fide visitors/residents [*] being (mis)treated in this way. Has anyone else? I would certainly be interested to know.

[*] I.e. people not taking the piss on multiple short term visas/overstaying etc.

[wagyl]

It appears that Michael Q Todd is not entirely happy with Christopher Johnson's efforts and has asked for it to be removed.

It also appears that Michael Q Todd does not need any help, he can look after things in that department all by himself.

[yanpa]

Need moar popcorn...

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

It appears that Michael Q Todd is not entirely happy with Christopher Johnson's efforts and has asked for it to be removed.

It also appears that Michael Q Todd does not need any help, he can look after things in that department all by himself.

Michael Q. Todd is an ex-lawyer. I would hazard a guess that honesty is not one of his finest character traits (not that I'm a fine one to talk, but...)