Louise Bremner <dame_zumari@yahoo.com> wrote:
> <mtfester@MAPSON.netscape.net> wrote:

>> > Whenever when anyone mentions gaigin crime figures, there's usually a
>> > lot of hand-waving about a third of them being visa offences, so they
>> > shouldn't count.
>> 
>> > I've always thought that was a poor excuse, but I've also had my
>> > suspicions that getting chucked out of the country could be masking
>> > real crimes - if there's a gaigin charged with a string of offences,
>> > maybe just sticking him on the first plane back home is a more cost-
>> > and time-effective way of dealing with him.
>> 
>> Yep. I lived in Japan in "violation" of several visa offenses....

> Um.... Is it alright to admit that here?

No, no "admission"; I was working on a tourist visa on the advice of the
guy at immigration (my company didn't apply for a renewal early enough, I
was leaving the country for vacation, etc.) Later, I got a marriage visa, so 
I had 3 valid visas, at a time when you were only supposed to have one.

>> ...but OTOH, everything I did was sanctioned by the people who issued
>> visas. Had I crossed any number of other lines, I could have been chucked
>> in  the fashion you suggest.

> That was my understanding too.

Yep; "path of least resistance" is a universal phrase in beaureaucratic circles.

Mike