Illegal Entry
QUESTION
I’ve been granted the permission of permanent-resident. However, this permission from the Minister of Justice was issued based on false documents and reports, which my husband and I created. I was separated from my Filipino husband with whom I have one child. I visited Japan, depended on my Filipino friend with sightseeing visa, and was engaged with a Japanese, 10 years ago, while carrying out illegal employment. I was deported back to my native country since I surrendered to the Immigration. My fingerprints were taken at that time.
Although I could not re-enter Japan in accordance with the Japanese Immigration Law, I decided to go again using an assumed name because I wanted to precede my marriage life with my Japanese husband. Then, after we requested the broker in Manila to acquire the marriage certificate, passport and the Japanese visa of the assumed name, I came to Japan. Although my passport was a forged one, I went out and re-entered Japan without problem until November 20, 2007 when the Fingerprint Identification System was introduced at the airport. However, I could not leave Japan because I was so scared that my illegal entry will be exposed by this system.
The term of validity of my passport has already passed, however, I could not renew it since the presentation of the Residence Card issued from the Japanese Immigration is an indispensable condition according to the homepage of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo.
On the other hand, I received the notice from the Immigration Bureau on the other day. According to this notice, it was indicated that the “Alien Registration Card which I keep must be changed to the Residence Card by July 8, 2015. So, I am just worrying about the state of “No way of getting out of its present fix.”
– Anonymous
ANSWER
Your case is a complicated issue, which includes many legal problems. Let me explain the solutions on how you should correspond and carry it out from now on.
1. Marriage annulment
What you should accomplish first is take the measure of marriage annulment. As you know quite well about the Philippine Law, there exists a system of “Marriage Annulment”, but not the “Divorce.” Under this situation, you must first annul your marriage record with your ex-Filipino husband in order to form marriage with a Japanese husband. According to the notification announced from NSO, those who would like to annul one’s marriage must plead his/her petition to the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in order to annul his/her marriage, and obtain the decision of it from RTC. Surely, this procedure is always required to perform at RTC by a Filipino lawyer in the Philippines, not Japan. As far as I know, it usually requires about six months – one year and six months for the decision from filing the petition.
Here, the most important thing is to not get a forged document after you are deceived by the dishonest trader who is performing recommendation business in the neighborhood of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, or a Filipino fixer in the Philippines. In fact, it will be cleared whether it is the genuine one or not since the Japanese Immigration Bureau is always making sure it to NSO whether it is forged or not via the Japanese Embassy in the Philippines. If RTC makes a decision, the judgment concerning this determination is supposed to be notified to NSO via LCR, and the marriage record currently kept at LCR and NSO is also supposed to be corrected by each agency.
Then, if you request for your record of marriage from NSO, a document entitled “Advisory on marriage” should be delivered in which you can find the fact of marriage annulment with the former husband there, and it proves that you are made an “unmarried person” by this notice.
2. The required documents for surrender and reporting your illegal entry to the Immigration Bureau
Your case is “Illegal Entry” specified in Article-24, paragraph 1 of the Immigration Law without any doubt. On the present Immigration Law, there are the 40 items of the deportation reason, which carries out the deportation from Japan, stipulated in the law so far, and the “Illegal Entry” has been positioned on the top of this article since the Immigration Law was legislated. It means that the “Illegal Entry” is the most vicious case in the deportation reason. Therefore, under this reason, those who come under the “Illegal Entry” are, “as a rule”, supposed to be deported to his/her home country by force. However, even if he/she come under the case of “Illegal Entry,” there also exist those who can be granted the resident permission without carrying out deportation.
Now, what and how should you do in order to reside in Japan lawfully with your present Japanese husband without being deported by force? The only way is that you would be granted the “Special Permission for Residence” from the Minister of Justice after you would surrender and declare your situation/background. Yes, you surely have to prove yourself that you are the person who comes under such requirements and conditions based on the law, of course. Let me explain the important thing on how you should do it in detail.
a. Creation and making up the documents
It is absolutely necessary to create and make up the documents which you do want to substantiate and prove before you would surrender to the Immigration. There are so many cases, wherein documents are not being prepared before the surrender, but I never recommended to my client to do so. Because, all deportation cases are always progressing by the pace of an officer of the Immigration Bureau, and there is a possibility that the advantageous information for you may not be fully taken into consideration. Then, you may ask for fair and proper decision that should be performed by the officer-in-charge based on the written documents, which you must put the advantageous information for you beforehand. The officer in charge will create and make up the “Written Statement,” which your situation/background must be filled in, at least 3 times or more after he/she would investigate, examine and hear from you. In that case, an official will quote the contents of your written document if you have already submitted it, which you substantiated and proved beforehand. This becomes advantageous to you, as you know. For your information, these documents are consisting of “Written Declaration” specified by the Immigration Bureau, “Written Statement,” “Petition” and others. Our office always incorporates “School career,” “Work experience,” “Marriage history,” “Entry/departure history,” “Criminal record, ” “Deportation history,” “Family status,” “Special situation that should be considered” and etc. from the time when you were born into these documents.
b) A lawyer’s role
A good lawyer must understand you and your family, and can create the documents, which are for substantiating and proving that you have sufficient conditions to be granted the “Special Permission for Residence.” So, it is just “soothing” that he/she follows you to the Immigration Bureau or encourages you.
That is, according to the Immigration Law, no one has the right to be with you at the Immigration Bureau. Therefore, no one will admit to enter the room or sit together with you by the authority while the Immigration Bureau is executing your deportation procedure since persons other than you (Ex. lawyer etc.) are exactly “fifth wheel.”
Again, it is not a problem whether a lawyer follows you to the Immigration Bureau together or not.
3. Surrender and declaration to the Immigration Bureau
As you are anxious about it, the official of the Immigration Bureau can search and detect easily the fact that you entered a country illegally. For example, if the fingerprint identification is carried out at an airport, it will become clear immediately, and when you would be arrested by the police in accidents, such as a violation of traffic regulations, and are handed over to the Immigration Bureau, the official will become clear by fingerprint identification easily.
Besides, the correspondence and measure by the Immigration Bureau naturally differs from that the case where the fact which becomes clear your illegal entry after being caught, and the case where the fact which becomes clear it by your surrender. If possible, it is better if you willingly surrender to the Immigration Bureau by yourself. Especially, the point I want you to care about is that the deportation procedure is an administration procedure, but not a trial. Therefore, you, who entered a country illegally have to prove and explain by yourself, and a lawyer is impossible to be you and cannot enact it instead of you.
For your information, the official of the Immigration Bureau will investigate, examine and hear on all things focusing on investigation of the fact, which you entered a country illegally. In the investigation/examination process, the official sometimes requests you to carry out the “Statement for the Correction of Family Register” at the Family Court in order to make legal relation with the present Japanese husband. That is, it is a legislative action, which corrects the name and birth date indicated under the assumed name on Japanese husband’s family register. The Family Court can originally receive it, but it may not receive sometimes by the Family Court since it is very vicious contents like your case. And, the Court instruct you that the priority may certainly be given to the investigation and examination by the Immigration Bureau. So, you must follow and correspond to the directions by the Family Court and the Immigration Bureau.
In addition to this, the official of the Immigration Bureau will report to the Minister of Justice (or Regional Immigration Bureau Chief) based on the proofs collected and accumulated by leading through the investigation, examination and hearing. After judgment, the Minister of Justice (or Regional Immigration Bureau Chief) will inform the decision in the light of an administration precedent and a judicial precedent in about two weeks after he would have finished the determination whether the “Special Permission for Residence” should be given or not to you.
4. Acquisition of passport, which indicates your real name
When you would be granted the “Special Permission for Residence,” the “Residence Card” is supposed to be delivered from the Minister of Justice (or Immigration Bureau Chief). Then, you can apply for passport issuance to the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo attaching this Residence Card issued from the Immigration, and obtain your passport with your real name.
5. Correction of family register
Except for those who corrected the family register in the process of deportation procedure, those who unfinished the correction of family register must state the family register correction to the Family Court with the required documents, such as a husband’s family register, your passport, and a residence card. If this statement would be accepted, the assumed name described in your husband’s family register will be corrected to the real name.In this way, you can reside in Japan as a lawful resident.
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