John W. wrote:
> On Mar 8, 12:29 am, sensyujin <iamsoluc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> What are the REAL requirements for becoming a permanent resident in
>> Japan?
>>
> You might contact the Japan Law Society (formerly Kansai Foreign
> Lawyer's Association):
> 
> http://www.gaiben.jp/
> 
> They might have resources that can more proactively help you.

I am a member.  *Caveat:* I am not a bengoshi or a gaiben, nor do I 
portray one on daytime television, but I provide investigative, 
forensic, and other data gathering services to many members of Japan Law 
as well as NichiBenRen, and all of its local chapters.

Frankly, that group, and the Japan Law Society group on LinkedIn are 
extremely diverse and there are a lot of members trying to broaden their 
services or to find a niche to get into.  You do not necessarily want to 
be someone's test case to see if they can really handle a new service.

Although you can apply for eiju any number of times, making a good first 
impression is important.  I'd recommend that you cross reference any 
name or office you find through gaiben.jp with the list of immigration 
lawyers in the phone book.

You may also not need a bengoshi.  A lot of the work can be done by a 
competent shihoshoshi for far less cash and the shihoshoshi will get you 
their pit bull bengoshi of a only if your reception by Immigration 
indicates you need them.  I have a shihoshoshi I use regularly who 
charges me JPY 5,000 per case for what a bengoshi used to charge me JPY 
30,000 per case for ... and the docs I receive are exactly the same ones.

BTW, I do not have eiju.  I have lived here over 20 years and have never 
particularly felt the need ... and I have a home loan and a home that 
Fuji / Mizuho never had any problem lending for.  My latest three-year 
visa expires this year and I _may_ accept the recommendation of the guy 
at Immigration and make an eiju app this time.  But I still have six 
months to decide.

-- 
CL