Pre-Arrival Information

  Orientation Handbook

1) Initial Registration
All non-Japanese staying in Japan must register within 90 days of their arrival in Japan. For this registration, you need to fill in an “Application for Alien Registration" and submit in person along with two copies of your photograph taken within the last six months (each 4.5cm x 3.5cm in size) to city hall. You also need to bring your passport with you when you register.
Your alien registration card will take about two weeks to process. We would recommend that you apply for a Certificate of Alien Registration to the City Hall in advance and show it to Higo Bank to open a bank account, as well as a postal savings account if necessary.

2) Application for Changes
After you receive your alien registration card, if there are any changes due to moving, marriage, etc. in the following items, you should go in person and notify the office of the city where you live and make an application to register the change within 14 days: your address in Japan, name, nationality, occupation, status of residence, authorized period of stay, or name or location of your place of employment or office.

After your Certificate of Alien Registration has been issued, you are required to carry it with you at all times and to present it to immigration officers, immigration security officers, police and other officials when requested.

With the status of residence of "College Student," you are permitted to stay in Japan for a maximum of two years. If you need to remain in Japan for more than two years, you need to extend your period of stay.

When you wish to leave Japan for a short period of time, you are expected to notify the staff in the academic section of the faculty you belong to. It is extremely important for you to get a re-entry permit from the relevant regional immigration bureau before leaving Japan.
If you go out of Japan without getting this permit first, you will be required to obtain a new visa. You should be aware that if you come back after the permitted period you will have to complete the procedures for re-entry all over again. Therefore, you are strongly advised to come back to Japan within the permitted period.
If you are absent from Japan for a short period of time, you should carry your Alien Registration Card when you leave and re-enter the country.
Also, you are advised to inform your academic advisor and your academic section of your return as soon as you have returned to Japan.

Note: Japanese Government Scholarship students must pay for the traveling expenses of any trip they take out of Japan. If you are out of Japan from the first day of the month until the last day of the same month, you will not be given your stipend for that month, regardless of the circumstances. Please inform the International Student Office in advance if you are not able to sign for your stipend at the beginning of the month.

Your visa status will be "College Student." Therefore, if you wish to engage in part-time work, you must obtain permission from the regional immigration bureau before you can start such activities. Please apply for it at the International Student Office. Japanese Government Scholarship students, however, are expected not to spend their precious time engaging in part-time work unless it is deemed necessary, because the stipend they receive each month has been calculated to meet school related expenses and other necessary expenses.