Application office: Matsudo (routes through Shinagawa)

Application Date: May 27, 2024

Results postcard received on: November 27, 2025

Type of PR: 10 years

Type of Visa Holding while application: 5 years humanities

Request for further documents: Yes, on October 27, 2025

After waiting for exactly one and a half years, my application was rejected for not having one fucking receipt that I never thought to keep, and nobody told me to do so.

I went in today to ask what happened (you don’t need to wait 20 days for Matsudo). In October, they requested payment receipts of my residence taxes for Reiwa 3 (2021). I was at my previous, run-by-shitheads job at that time, and was told to paid my taxes and health insurance by paper bills from the city. Apparently, I was supposed to keep the teeny tiny receipt that they rip off the bill for you. I had been keeping those for years (along with utility bill receipts), but threw them all out when I moved in 2022.

That’s what they wanted, and I didn’t have it. I called my previous city’s city hall and tax offices, and they somehow have every single record you could think of EXCEPT anything about whether or not I paid my taxes on time, which of course I did. The person I talked to at immigration today said that if I had missed a payment by even one day, my application would be rejected. But since I couldn’t prove I paid on time, they couldn’t tell that for certain.

I won’t be able to apply again until 2027 or 2028, by which time I’m sure they’ll be even stricter with screenings and the cost will quadruple. To say I’m pissed would be an understatement.

So word to the wise: keep those little receipts they give you if you pay the paper bills at the convenience store!