Name: Three More Years... そろそろ永住権？
Uploaded: 2020-03-24T09:26:07.000Z
Duration: 8 min 24 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

My name is Michaela and today is a very good day,

Past simple

I'm a very, very happy person because today I got my visa.

For those of you who don't know what a visa is,

usually when you travel abroad as a foreign citizen

as a non-passport holder to a certain country,

if you plan to stay long-term, you need a visa.

If you're planning on coming to visit Japan

just for a few weeks, the good news is that most countries

do not require a visa just to come and visit

on which country you're from, so that should be fine,

but if you plan to study, if you plan to work,

and I did high school, I did working holiday,

And I've renewed my visa like a billions times,

but it doesn't make it any less stressful

when visa renewal season comes around again.

the more I have to lose and every year that I stay here

and things get easier and my life feels more comfortable,

the stronger the fear becomes that that could be taken away

I know it's an irrational fear and as long

as I do my paperwork, everything should be fine,

but between submitting the application and getting it back

in the mail, it took a total of one month and during

that month all the bad thoughts kind of enter your head,

what if I made a mistake on my application,

what if they just decide they're tired of renewing my visa,

and leave everything behind and say goodbye

'cause I'm clearly not gonna open it yet.

So some people have asked me why I haven't applied

for permanent residency yet if I have been here

for over 10 years, and to qualify for permanent residency,

if you're married or if you're working for a company,

you can fast-track to permanent residency,

I think within five years, but because my history is

a little more complex than that and I've done a ton

of stuff and I've changed my visa status so many times,

permanent residency for me would take 10 years.

Wait a minute, she just said she's been here for 13 years.

That's right, I would've actually had my ten years

that you guys might wanna know if you're planning

on staying in Japan long-term if you're also aiming

of those consecutive years and it actually restarts

the counter, so because I did working holiday

it actually canceled all the years before that

and my cumulative 10 years began when I became

a language school student, which was actually

my third time and my third year in Japan.

So, that was fun to learn, I think working holiday is

a really, really great opportunity and a really great way

if you're thinking of staying for up to 10 years,

it actually doesn't count, so that might not be

an option for you, just letting you know.

and I'm very, very excited because it's a big deal,

it's a big deal this time, and I'll tell you why.

It basically congratulates me for successful renewal,

thank you Ona-san, Ona-san is my visa lawyer

and a lot of people might argue that you don't need one,

but I think I need one because I've been here

for a long time, I have a lot more to lose

and I appreciate her advice and she helps me make sure

She has been amazing because she's got tons

of experience with helping foreigners get their visas

and she's given me tons of insight on how

to make my applications look better and how

to ensure that I pass and continue living in Japan.

I'm gonna put her information in the description box

she's saved me, it's nice to have support

from someone who knows how immigration works,

because she's the one who's always telling me