i have a friend who is in the middle of an escalating crisis over their japanese visa and their rights as a foreign resident. their board of education has been trying their hardest to convince my friend to voluntarily give up their work visa the second they become unemployed (which is happening in 39 days) because they think its what my friend should do. but my friend thinks that they dont have to do this - and would rather not - because this person already made plans to stay in japan a little bit longer after JET. this is causing many people to get quite angry at my friend. as the days go by, more and more people are getting involved including other boards of education, other JETs, the prefectural office, and immigration. its become quite the spectacle with both sides claiming that they are right and the other is wrong. my friend has been doing some research on this convoluted issue, and id like to share their thoughts on why they think everyone else is wrong and needs to calm the fuck down.

first of all, the visa belongs to my friend. it is illegal for anyone, whether they be from the board of education or prefectural office, to try to confiscate it or force them to change it while my friend is still employed. secondly, the sponsor of their work visa, aka the town that employs them, cannot legally revoke their visa until 90 days after the termination of employment. because of this, my friend would really appreciate it if everyone could stop threatening them with deportation. thirdly, the school that my friend wants to attend for a couple of months after JET has confirmed that it is perfectly legal for them to attend school slightly-less-than full time for up to six months on a work visa. and lastly, even if my friends visa status gets revoked (which must be after 90 days), as long as they havent committed any "highly malicious" crimes while in japan, immigration will not immediately arrest, detain, or fine them. the immigration bureau of japan clearly states that the individual will be given a "departure grace period" of up to one month to get their affairs in order before they leave the country on good terms.

of course, since my friend is not a lawyer, there is a sizable chance that theyre completely wrong with their interpretation of the laws and might just get deported tomorrow. but that being said, the people at their board of education and their higher-ups who are getting increasingly angry with them are not lawyers either and might be just as wrong as well. this truly is a game of everyone thinking theyre right until proven wrong.

i cant speak for my friend, but in my personal opinion my friend is a nice, well-intentioned individual who is not deliberately trying to commit crimes and cause trouble. this person is merely trying to enjoy the multiculturalism of living abroad in an amazing country while trying to be a productive (yet temporary) member of japanese society and would rightly appreciate everyone around him to calm down about this issue.