There and Back Again: A Hafu's Tale*



The meeting with the lawyer went really well. He said that the paperwork looks very  good, and seems to think we're a shoe-in for the visa. He said we're probably looking at receiving "long-term residency" (I'm not sure how long long-term is, but I guess we'll see!)
 
He also explained that it would grant us permission to live here, and freedom to do... basically, whatever! Unlike a teaching visa, where you can only teach, or a working visa dependent upon a particular company, or even a missionary visa restricted to purely religious activities - our visa/residency will permit us to live here and do pretty much anything anyone else can do (Wow!).

So our lawyer said to "plan on coming back to Japan around February 20th". It could be a little later (or even a little sooner), depending on how quickly Immigration processes our C of E. Once they DHL it to us, we would then take it to the nearest Japanese Consulate in the US, and their website says we could get our visa in as soon as 5 days!

So whoever's out there praying for us: Keep it up! IT'S WORKING!

God is SO good...


* "Hafu" is a slang term for someone who has one Japanese parent.

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