Former administrative officer explains the reasons for the delay in the examination of status of residence and the actual target number of days for examination.

February 11, 2026

Residential status examination processing period

When applying for a status of residence (visa), many people are most concerned aboutHow long does the review process take?"This is the point.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (Immigration Bureau) provides the standard for each application."Target number of days for review."The following is a list of the most common reasons for this. However, in practice, the review is not always completed within this time frame.

"Structural Reasons" for Delayed Review

During my 35-year career at the Kyoto Prefectural Government, I was involved in the reception and examination practice of administrative applications for a certain period of time. From that experience, I can tell you that there are two "factors that cause delays" that cannot be avoided in the administrative field, no matter how clear the target number of days is set.

Concentration of applications and limited processing capacity

In administrative procedures, the concentration of applications at a particular time of year physically exceeds the processing capacity per staff member. ThisA "clerical traffic jam" ensues.Then, even if individual documents are not incomplete, the waiting line for screening becomes long.

Serious resource shortages

in recent timesSerious labor shortageis no exception, not only for private companies but also for public offices. The current situation of having to scrutinize a huge number of documents with a limited number of staff affects the examination period.

Particular attention should be paid from "January to March".

Especially in immigration bureaus,Busiest season is from January to March every yearThis will be the case. Due to graduation, employment, and a dramatic increase in renewal applications toward the end of the fiscal year, many cases take longer than usual to be reviewed.

To all applicants: Don't rush, prepare well in advance.

Even if it is taking longer than expected to get the results of the review,Please be assured that there is nothing wrong with your application.

In many cases, it is not an omission on the part of the applicant, but solely due to administrative congestion on the part of the administration.

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