Does anyone have any experience with the UK visa exemption in Japan and extending your stay for a further 90 days?
I am travelling to Japan in December to stay with a friend for up to 6 months.
The plan is to extend my stay by a further 90 days once I’m in the country by visiting a regional immigration bureau which the uk embassy site states:
“A British citizen who has a British ordinary passport does not need to obtain a “Temporary Visitor Visa”, as long as the purpose of stay is for the activities permitted within the status of residence of “Temporary Visitor” and the period of stay is 6 months or less, as the visa exemption agreement between Japan and the UK will apply. In principle, a period of stay of 90 days”
The reason for this as far as I can find is that UK has a bilateral agreement with Japan that means they are A. Visa exempt and B. A uk passport holder Can simply extend the stay for 90 days without a reason beyond wanting to travel more etc and does not need to be a reason such as humanitarian crisis or health issues.
I have also found anecdotal evidence that this is the truth such as a video of a uk passport holder doing just that, extending his stay an extra 90 days.
My friend however is reading the Japanese version of this and there is 0 mention of this policy. The Japanese version implies the only way to get an extension is in the case of an emergency such as humanitarian, health or environmental issues.
How likely or unlikely is it to be accepted or denied?
Does anyone have any experience with this extension or able to shed any more light on this?
My second question then is in direct correlation to the first.
I have booked my return flight for six months later with the intention of extension in mind. If I was to be denied for any reason I can just move the flight to within the original 90 days but would this be an issue with immigration when it comes to entering the country to begin with?
I was under the assumption that I would just be able to say “I have the flight in 6 months as I intend to extend my stay but if I cannot I will bring the flight forward” if this came up during immigration process.
But I’m just a bit worried I’ve gotten a bit ahead of myself and shouldn’t have assumed this to begin with. At first it seems like a good idea but I’m truly unsure if I’ve made a mistake
Again any help or experience with this would be appreciated. Thanks
TL:DR how exactly does the UK visa extensions work and does your return flight need to be before the first 90 days is up to enter the country?