mr.sumo.snr wrote:

> Have you ever used a 3rd party to sort out your visa?  I'm just interested
> to know how much such services run to in notoriously expensive Nagoya.

I haven't because its only about 50-60 minutes away (closer from August) 
and in terms of fares about 1700 yen or so, much much cheaper than from 
Iida.

 From my perspective 40,000 would appear expensive, since I don't have 
the costs of forgone income, and I don't have to use up my store of 
holidays etc. Especially since August last year, as I don't have either :-)

I don't know about Nagoya services. I'll ask around and see.

> I pay my man 40000yen on top of the cost of the visa/re-entry permit.

This is for processing at the Nagano city bureau?

> In fact I'd suggested to a local GEOS 'serf', who wanted to renew her
> re-entry permit only, to use my man at a cost of 10000yen on top of the
> 6000yen for the permit.  She eventually declined saying that since she was
> heading off to Tokyo anyway at some time in the future she'd pop to the main
> immigration office there.

There was a time when you were supposed to use the bureau allocated to 
your district. So for example an Aichi resident couldn't apply for a 
change of visa status in Fukuoka, without first changing alien 
registration etc. Whether this is still the case, or applies to re-entry 
permits as well I'm not sure. I'd suggest to her that it might be worth 
checking first.



-- 
"Oh don't give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit/ No, don't you give 
me none more of that Old Janx Spirit/ For my head will fly, my tongue 
will lie, my eyes will fry and I may die/ Won't you pour me one more of 
that sinful Old Janx Spirit"