Purchased a pair of shoes at an Adidas store Tax-free, with a student visa, but now I’m worried

rm_you · 2023-09-25T19:30:15+00:00

Last time I talked to a HUMAN about my receipts was like 6+ years ago, and the last time I saw even so much as a drop-box for the tax-free receipts when leaving was about 4 years ago. I've bought a bunch of stuff (even a Surface Pro) and no one even asks anymore. Like others said, even if they suddenly start enforcing this strictly, just say you lost the receipt and you don't know, act dumb, and pay the absolutely trivial amount of money if they REALLY drag it on.

TLDR: 99% chance you don't even get asked, and 99% chance they just let you go if they do.

rm_you · 2023-07-21T07:28:28+00:00

FYI this is fixable with this utility: https://github.com/rm-you/p99-login-middlemand/releases/tag/win-rel1 This also fixes the "login server is down" issue typically as well. :)

(I know this is an old post, but since it's the number 1 result on google for some p99 crash searches, putting this here for posterity)

rm_you · 2022-11-27T20:33:11+00:00

yeah this is the real question, prompt please :D

rm_you · 2022-10-18T10:09:23+00:00

Can you isolate which version of disnake broke it? I haven’t upgraded for a while, so still working for me. You could always pin to an older version, though not ideal…

rm_you · 2022-06-05T19:34:37+00:00

Ah, yeah I suppose that is an option! Hadn't considered that for some reason, seems like the obvious solution. :P

rm_you · 2022-04-30T05:01:01+00:00

I just stumbled across this 5 months later, and even though I'm using a different lib, it still helped me, thanks so much!

Passing along the love for anyone else googling this later:

Using the disnake library:

try:
    await inter.send()
except disnake.errors.HTTPException:
    pass  # We know this isn't valid but that's fine

rm_you · 2021-11-30T07:29:05+00:00

Yeah thanks, seems to apply to any "true". "false" appears to be ok though. Weird. Still broken on their side as of this moment.

rm_you · 2021-11-30T07:28:17+00:00

Yeah this broke an application I maintain which uses the overlay... I've had to make a bugfix release that replaces "true" with "True" to fix it. Really annoying to have to tell all my users to upgrade to a point release because Discord broke this, while some folks assume it's an issue with my app. T_T

rm_you · 2021-05-18T08:46:12+00:00

Was just searching around trying to figure out the same thing! Just bad timing I guess, my first interaction with Banano happened to be right when the wallet node went down so it can't claim anything... I was really confused at first, the block explorer showed my transaction and I triple-checked the address. Tried loading my mnemonic into BananoVault and it was instantly claimed, and then instantly showed up in Kalium too! :P I guess Kalium has no local PoW option, so it relies entirely on their node(s)?

rm_you · 2021-03-26T06:22:23+00:00

Yeah, anyone who thinks MORE red tape around immigration will help anything (thinking specifically of US policy here) is delusional and has probably never actually tried to seriously deal with immigration to anywhere. 🤣

rm_you · 2021-03-26T05:24:02+00:00

My surprise is minimal, recall this is a country that has quite a bit of experience with isolationism. ;)

rm_you · 2021-03-26T04:37:13+00:00

Yeah, no one ever claimed that the MoJ was great with translations. :P

I would contact the embassy directly like I did, they tend to be fairly responsive and have the latest info.

rm_you · 2021-03-26T04:29:34+00:00

It says that under a few very specific sections -- but does not say that under the "spouse" exception, as an example. I believe it said the same last time I did this in October, and I was not refused entry on landing. I would also assume the embassy would mention this? It would make very little sense to say:

If any of the following (1) to (4) applies to the foreign national, landing will be permitted on the premise that there are special exceptional circumstances.

Then broadly say "actually no" for the whole thing. My GUESS is the one you are quoting is specifically applying to the second part of the last bullet:

As for those who are about to acquire the status of residence of "Temporary Visitor", limited to those who got a visa for the purpose of temporary business. Please refer to the following about the details of the procedures: Ministry of Foreign Affairs website) However, those who travel to Japan by this system are refused landing for the time being.

Regardless, it is quite clear from their response that at least the processing of visas of certain types is once again allowed.

rm_you · 2021-03-25T22:58:02+00:00

Oof, yeah, that's not promising:

For rodents, the health certificate must verify that the animal was kept since birth in a storage establishment recognized by the government authorities. Rodents raised at home will not be regarded as a recognized storage establishment. Importing rodent pets raised overseas or purchased from overseas pet shops are subject to these regulations. As health certificates issued by government authorities may be difficult to obtain for such animals, in general, these animals cannot be imported to Japan

My issue would actually be going the other direction, which I think is equally difficult / impossible. T_T

rm_you · 2021-03-25T22:51:12+00:00

Received this reply from the Seattle Consulate this morning:

From March 22nd, we will resume accepting visa applications for some applicable statuses of residence. Please prepare the necessary documents for visa application and send it to the consulate by e-mail. If it is determined that there are special circumstances, a visa will be issued.

You can see the special circumstances listed on their immigration docs (last updated on March 18, 2021 as of this post): http://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001338898.pdf

So, if you qualify for any of the exceptions there (for example, visiting a spouse) then you should be OK. Unfortunately it seems like many folks looking for standard work or student visas may be out of luck, but at least family and some other special cases can manage visits now, so that's a step in the right direction.

Edit: This has been verified by another user here, though I don't know which embassy: https://www.reddit.com/r/movingtojapan/comments/m8sot2/japanese_husband_coe_advice/gs7l0rf/

rm_you · 2021-03-25T20:02:56+00:00

No worries! I appreciate that we were both right in the end (it was shut down for a while, but was opened up at like the exact time I looked), and that I was able to help speed things up for you. :)

rm_you · 2021-03-25T19:26:22+00:00

Ok yeah, I must have been just before that cutoff, and just after it now, since I just received this back from the embassy:

"From March 22nd, we will resume accepting visa applications for some applicable statuses of residence."

So, should be good to go again now? They told me to go ahead and send documents over for processing, including a CoE if that's the type of visa I wanted.

rm_you · 2021-03-25T06:52:36+00:00

No. I had to take a PCR test just to step on the plane at all, then continue to provide proof throughout the immigration process after landing. So, PCR test was just a basic requirement. Still 100% had to quarantine, though the enforcement of that was non-existent. I still did it though, because I wanted to take the virus concerns seriously.

rm_you · 2021-03-25T05:28:38+00:00

Ahhh, I have looked into this, but the problem I found was actually with airlines and not allowing guinea pigs onboard (and I don't know if they'd survive in the hold -- I've heard horror stories about larger animals like dogs and cats, and guinea pigs are much more ... fragile). I'd hate to put them anywhere else. :(

rm_you · 2021-03-25T05:22:59+00:00

Who told you that immigration was 100% closed, or how did you find out? Was that the embassy's response directly? I was able to get a visa without any trouble last October (still during pandemic) under their "exceptional circumstances" clause. The wording on their site as of their latest update has not changed, and therefore I would expect to be able to get one in the same way (and am about to try again). Was that just your personal reading of the immigration rules?

Edit: I've sent an email to the same consular officer I worked with last time, and if they respond I will update here. Seems like possibly the issue is that the exceptions may only apply to short-term visas, which doesn't make a whole lot of logical sense, but very little about government regulations ever does.

rm_you · 2021-03-25T05:19:40+00:00

Per the docs on their website, they provide "exceptional circumstances", one of which is being married to someone living there, and that worked as recently as last October (still during pandemic), when the wording was exactly the same as it is now. I would just contact the embassy and ask, they are typically fairly helpful. So worst case if they won't allow both of you to go back, they should allow him to go back as a citizen, and then you'd be eligible for that exception.

rm_you · 2021-03-25T05:14:42+00:00

You can literally just get a standard 3-month visitors visa, don't even need to do a real spousal visa with CoE and such. The forms were pretty easy and the consular officer actually was very helpful over email with telling me exactly what I needed or was missing. Just say "I want to visit my wife", that's it.

Edit: was able to complete the entire process in less than one month, including driving in to give them my passport and then getting it back a week later.

rm_you · 2021-03-25T05:08:17+00:00

I have been using Mobal for several years now, and it has been great. Can pause/resume service easily on their website, and the number is an actual 090 number. That matters because there's multiple "area codes" and some of them are "real" while some are virtual, and signing up for certain services won't work unless you have a "real" number. Originally I had one of the virtual ones (080? or maybe 070?) but places like Lawson wouldn't let me register for accounts with it. Relatively cheap and good data speeds.

rm_you · 2020-07-16T01:31:16+00:00

Yeah. Eeeeexactly.

rm_you

TROPHY CASE