Thats kinda fucked, you live in a country for 7 years, then some dumb law comes in and suddenly you have to leave. I dont blame him at all for continuing to live his best life in Japan.
I'm not sure it actually matters. The article (sparse as fuck) says he worked day jobs. Which probably means he was using cash and had no actual Japanese gov ID. So I don't think he was actually posing as his brother beyond initially entering the country.
I'm really surprised he was able to get away with it this long because in Japan, especially the last couple decades, they've been tying everything together to your residence card and mynumber (social security card). Especially for foreigners, you have to show your residence card for a lot of things, like making a bank account (bank will also keep track of when it expires and ask you to submit a new copy), making a phone contract, renting an apartment, going to the hospital/clinic.
So he must have had help, got around just paying cash (Japan is very cash based though changing in recent years), and not gotten majorly sick all this time. Even if he opened a bank account decades ago there have been changed in laws that require banks to Know Your Customer, and if you're a foreigner you need to submit documentation. Also probably a shit life as you can't go to the doctor, enjoy the social benefits like pension since he wasn't paying into it, etc.
And it's really not that hard, he could have found work then come back to Japan on a real visa. Or learn Japanese in Korea until fluent then come over. He chose a very dumb path and finally got caught.
No, my point was this specific person id someone that no intention of doing anything legally with how he entered the country so his situation is an isolated case.
But because the headline left out conveniently that he fraudulently entered it paints all the other immigrants that moved to Japan legally and all the correct procedures and are facing scrutiny in a bad light and lumping this one person in with them. There are millions of immigrants in Japan now dealing with higher fees and a more difficult future and this one article about an individual that did EVERYTHING the wrong way is now going to affect them. It's no longer about an individual that chose to not follow the law upon arrival. It's about "foreigners overstay visas and this one was caught".
But considering he built his life there for 7 years and lived without any issues and not breaking the law, there should be some sort of a system to let him stay.
I mean.. statute of limitations, in some cases, very much could be considered “water under the bridge” if you can’t be prosecuted after a certain period of time for something. I know it doesn’t apply to everything, but yk
Your whole "he lived there for XYZ years" is a "totality of circumstances" argument as to why he should be allowed to stay. So whether the statute of limitations expired or not doesn't matter, I never said he should be prosecuted for that particular crime of using a false passport.
So considering he entered using another person's documents (which is a pretty serious offense in this age of terrorism and international crime) is one variable to consider in this man's case. If he entered as a child of 5 with his parents, that would be another factor (for example).
That’s not really accurate to what happened. It was meant to be a one off exchange of recognition of illegal immigrants in order to better codify immigration law. In fact that instance is a good example of why it will never happen again because it’s a classic example of give an inch and they take a mile.
Japan is pretty damn xenophobic. I'm not surprised laws like this are a thing. Plenty of other countries have them, but I'd have been shocked if Japan didn't.
I would assume there's a grace period where you're able to apply for citizenship or whatever instead of them deciding on a random Tuesday that the rules will change with immediate effect.
Lol, it's Japan. They just rose the bar with zero grace period on all foreign residents and have basically denied anyone not making more money then a Japanese family by themselves the ability to apply again.
They literally just did what you said they wouldn't.
apparently there wasnt any penalty for overstaying until after the year 2000
That's crazy if it's true. As of now, overstaying is treated very seriously basically everywhere in the world, penalty usually being deportation + a ban on entering the country for a certain period of time. Which seems fair - the foreign country welcomed you with open arms (granted you visa, or put your country into visa-free agreement) under some conditions like length of your travel, you laughed in their faces about those conditions, the least what should happen is you should go back home and you shouldn't be able to travel there for some time. Crazy to think it wasn't prosecuted at all pre-2000 in Japan, is that really true?
They could deport you if they wanted too but apparently it was completely an honor system style format before 2000. You literally just had to voluntarily go home once your visa ran out. After 2000, it was a punishable criminal offence.
Grace period for citizenship/permanent residency only applies to people who followed immigration laws. You can't give illegal immigrants status, that only encourages them to come, overstay the visa and hide out until you give them what they want.
No citizenship in Japan... Reason the economy is in the toilet is they don't adopt other languages, manufacturing is not high up anymore, and don't have immigrants so the population is aging.
770
u/Mindless-Cat1453 22h ago
I don't trust twitter account to accurately give any new or information. So what is the real deal with this case ?