PR - Successful Application!

[Teflon]

Spot on. I will happily pay the 6000 yen for peace of mind.

Same here!

Also, does having the re-entry permit obviate the need to fill out those annoying departure cards that they staple to the inside of your passport? Frankly, I fly enough that that alone would be worth the 6000 yen.

Answered on page 6 of this thread by adamu.

Okay thanks, so the short answer is yes, we still need to fill out those cards. I should have guessed considering how much the bureaucracy here loves paperwork.

[RetireJapan]

Also, does having the re-entry permit obviate the need to fill out those annoying departure cards that they staple to the inside of your passport? Frankly, I fly enough that that alone would be worth the 6000 yen.

I am tempted to NATURALISE in order to avoid all that stuff

[Deep Blue]

Yes: https://www.retirejapan.com/blog/immigration-stuff/

The information presented on this page is incorrect

"There are no negatives to permanent residence. It is better than any other visa"

This is untrue, there are some advantages to PR but there are also disadvantages like losing the right to sponsor helpers & parents to live in Japan. You also lose your ability to avoid "exit tax" if you switch to PR from certain visa types.

These are the two main reasons I won't take permanent residence in Japan and the advantages (cheaper loans etc) are not important to me.

[adamu]

This is untrue, there are some advantages to PR but there are also disadvantages like losing the right to sponsor helpers & parents to live in Japan. You also lose your ability to avoid "exit tax" if you switch to PR from certain visa types.

These are the two main reasons I won't take permanent residence in Japan and the advantages (cheaper loans etc) are not important to me.

Yes this is mentioned on the wiki True if you have HSP status. You can even get it "permanently". But also, as mentioned on the wiki, you lose everything if you lose your job and can't find an equivalent after 6 months (in reality I'm guessing they'd give you Long Term status - subject to the Exit tax - but not much luck for your dependents).

[Deep Blue]

This is untrue, there are some advantages to PR but there are also disadvantages like losing the right to sponsor helpers & parents to live in Japan. You also lose your ability to avoid "exit tax" if you switch to PR from certain visa types.

These are the two main reasons I won't take permanent residence in Japan and the advantages (cheaper loans etc) are not important to me.

Yes this is mentioned on the wiki True if you have HSP status. You can even get it "permanently". But also, as mentioned on the wiki, you lose everything if you lose your job and can't find an equivalent after 6 months.

The exit tax one is huge too for anyone who may consider leaving Japan in the future and doesn't want to get shafted with a massive tax bill.

[OwenM]

Just to follow up on this for anyone doing an application with Shigaku Kyosai. I ended up submitting my pay sheets for the months of February through July. I also attached an explanation from nenkin which explains that data is only shared once per year (in February) between the kyosai and nenkin. This seemed to be enough for them to approve my application. Not bad only took about 6 weeks in total to process my application.

[Roger Van Zant]

I just got back from getting my five-year multiple re-entry permit.
They were a little surprised I wanted a multiple one, and kept asking me if I was sure that was what I wanted.
It cost 6000 yen.
They give you two spaces on the form to write down the next two times you intend to depart from Japan.
I filled out the first one with my imminent departure date to the UK, and left the other one blank.
It was all pretty easy, and took about fifteen minutes all in.

I would hate to lose my PR if Japan suddenly closed the borders again, for whatever reason, and I find myself stuck outside the country with just the free, single-use re-entry permit.

[beanhead]

I would hate to lose my PR if Japan suddenly closed the borders again, for whatever reason, and I find myself stuck outside the country with just the free, single-use re-entry permit.

Understand your feelings. My hope is that the Japanese authorities learned their lesson with the Corona debacle for permanent residents. It is just my wishful thinking though. For the cost of 6,000yen for peace of mind, it certainly seems worth the effort to get the multiple re-entry.
(I haven't actually done it myself since the old days when any re-entry cost money and required that damned stamp).

[jane doe]

They want proof of pension payments. The screenshot from Nenkin.net as instructed on the Immigration website was NOT considered adequate.

The document is 年金記録に係る「被保険者記戀会臼答票」 及び 「被保険者記録照会(納付Ⅰ及び納付ⅡI)」 中原人のみ (※ 管轄の年金事務所で入手出来ます。 詳しくは年金事務所にお尋ねください。)

I am interested to know more about this document. I may want it for an overseas immigration application, not to present to Japanese immigration. I am thinking the cryptic formula might not be acceptable as proof of income. It sounds, or looks from your example like it doesn't actually list sums of money the pension service pays out, is that correct?

Also, am I right in understanding from what you said that you can print it out directly in English, thereby maybe not needing an official translation into English?

[Teflon]

They want proof of pension payments. The screenshot from Nenkin.net as instructed on the Immigration website was NOT considered adequate.

The procedure has changed, but you can still print out your record from the Nenkin web site. You have to navigate to the following page:

       トップページ ▶ 年金記録を確認する ▶ 月別の年金記録を確認する

Then you can select the tile on the right with the printer icon that says:

       印刷に適した画面を表示します。
       印刷する

This will load the page that should be printed (either as paper or pdf depending on your needs). You will need to blackout all references to your pension number per the immigration guidelines. That's it!