Step 2: The Immigrant Song

The next step for the permanent residency application is the examination of the beneficiary’s status. Along with various documents, the applicant will need to submit the health examination record and a police record.

Health examination record can be obtained at designated clinics, located in Tokyo, Kobe, and Okinawa. The procedure includes blood test, x-ray test, and the reviewing of vaccination records, and took about 50 minutes all together.

Police record, on the other hand, appears to be far more serious than the medical check-up. Also known as the criminal record, the document, which can be obtained at the police headquarters of your local prefecture, will be handed over to the applicant sealed. Although I am sure that I have no such record, what if my childhood pranks, such as climbing the stationed train, or trying to smuggle back VHS porn for my buddies when I was 16, were considered radical…

I was all concerned, but the whole procedure took about 5 minutes, which basically was to hand in the application form and have them take fingerprint scans.

After all documents are ready, the final interview session at the embassy can be booked.