What is the special period?
If you apply for permission to extend the period of stay or apply for permission to change the status of residence (hereinafter referred to as an application for permission to extend the period of stay, etc.) by the expiration date of the period of stay (duration of stay) indicated on your residence card, and the expiration date passes before a disposition is issued, you will not be illegally overstayed for two months from the expiry date of your stay. This period is called the special period.
If you go to the Immigration Bureau and apply for permission to extend your period of stay on paper, a stamp will be stamped on your residence card indicating that the application is in progress. However, what should you do if you apply for permission to extend your period of stay via online?
Things foreign nationals should be aware of during the special period
In preparation for such cases, the Immigration Services Agency has made it known on its website that you should always carry your residence card , as well as the e-mail “[Residency Application Online System] Notification of Application Receipt Number”, which is issued when you apply for permission to extend your period of stay online.
However, there have been cases where police officers mistakenly arrested a person without knowing the rule in above.
For this reason, our office issues the following letter to those who have been requested to apply for permission to extend the period of stay or apply for permission to change the status of residence during the special period, and we ask that he/she always carry the letter along with the email “[Residency Application Online System] Notification of Application Receipt Number” and present it in the event that the police ask him/her to present his/her residence card.
Residence card number expiration information inquiry
By the way, regardless of the special period, our office asks for the residence card number and period of stay from all those who request it, and at least checks whether the card is not a counterfeit through the Immigration Services Agency’s Residence Card Number Revocation Information Inquiry. (If we can meet in person, we use a counterfeit detection app.)
If you enter your residence card number and period of stay and press the inquiry button, it displays “Not expired” when valid.
So, I was wondering what would happen to a residence card that entered the special period after applying for permission to change status of residence, and when I inquired about it, I was told that it had not expired, even though the period of stay on the residence card had already passed.
If you look closely, a comment is displayed as “*even though the expiration date written on the ticket has passed, if “Not expired” is displayed in the inquiry result column, there is a possibility that you are currently applying for residence“.
I felt a little relieved that the systems are connected appropriately.