The original question was from an american.

And iamsen either had a passport number or temporary papers (i.e. lost the passport). Even they should have an issue number.

Based on that letter you scanned, your application was received on May 20. So you have until July 20. As it is now nearly June 20 you should be receiving a notice from immigration fairly soon - if...

As I said in #2, the type of degree doesn't matter much. Wether someone will hire you (and subsequently sponsor your visa) is another question.

Japan Immigration cares that you have *A* degree, they don't seem to care too much about *what kind* of degree you have.

Getting a job with an unrelated degree is a different question.

Japan does not have a "resident, not working" visa. Best you could do is something that does not require company sponsorship and has no restrictions - AFAIK that's a spouse visa.

Or you could get...

Yes, and no.

Yes, you can change from Tourist to Working (any kind) while in Japan.

No, you cannot work while waiting for approval. You can start to work on the date printed on your new...

Open your passport and find your Working Holiday visa. Is there a small (1x3cm) stamp near it that says "Application" and a date in the middle? If yes, you can either stay until the application is...

This process has been well-flogged in the past.

The validity (or not) of your passport does not affect your visa in any way. Plenty of people have presented the old (with visa) passport and the...

Your current spouse visa is valid until it expires. Same with the renewal. An application for another residence status (like PR) which is declined will not affect your current status in any way.
...

You can apply for PR at any time you wish - there is no need to wait for your present visa to come up.

The told me to apply at the same time I renewed, but it wasn't either-or. The spouse visa was...

Correct. I have Canada and UK passports, even changed my ARC from one to the other.

I signed up for the automatic gate, which is (in theory) even faster that the citizen's line.

Downside is, on the last two trips the time required for someone to come over, turn it on and boot...

In the above case of spouse -> PR, the spouse would be supplying financial info, usually in the form of last year's tax return anyway.

You need to show sufficient income to renew any work visa or, for that matter, to pay your taxes, so it's not like you are telling the government anything they don't know already.

Changing from spouse to PR is fairly easy (takes 6 months but no excessive paperwork) and there are no downsides. Not even any fees until it's approved. When your spouse visa comes up for renewal...

Thread started May 18, detailed reply made on May 21. Hardly qualifies as "kinda old".

Guess what Japan immigration is no longer putting in passports?

Something else just occurred to me - if you travel on the old, expired ARC it's possible the airline won't let you board the plane. This is a big "maybe" but they really don't like things to be out...

To clarify the visa point - you will have a spouse visa, which contains absolutely no restrictions on where and what you do here. Your US company is 100% not responsible for anything on the Japan...

I doubt I would actually do it, but it serves to drive the point home.

I do the same. "You will accept from me the same identification you accept from Japanese people. Your name, employer and photo will be on the internet, along with the title `Racist` within the hour...

Perhaps the immigration office would not mind putting it on paper then, with letterhead and hanko?

fact: there is written policy that the old ARC is good until 2015. But:
fact: the old ARC has an...

Mine says, in big red letters, "Renew within 30 days starting from ____" (why they don't just say "Expires" is a mystery).

Immigration might accept it expired under certain circumstances, they...

Ignoring raccoon-san for a moment, the original question asked if an expired, old-style ARC was usable.

From Immigration's website, the old card is equivalent to the new card until:

- the...

Renewing mine at the Tokyo embassy required the old passport, the short form, a bit of money and only 3 days. Plus a little bit of snapping at the counter staff who didn't understand the meaning of...