Visa Expiry Bank Trip

    After more than 10 years in Japan, I've worked for a number of companies. Some of them were huge multinational corporations and others tiny language schools where I might be the only non-owner employee. Most of the companies that have employed me for more than a year always seem to request that I get a new bank account at a bank that that company has preferential standing with at some point.  That means over the course of these years I've accrued a few bank accounts and luckily the Japanese banks at which I have these accounts don't seem to have monthly maintenance fees so common with similar accounts in my home country. Whatever small amount of money is left in any of those accounts opened to accept payment from companies that I no longer work at remains in place and I have never had any issues with this aspect of any bank where I have an account before.

    As the time closed in on my Visa renewal date, my husband and I gathered appropriate forms and went to the immigration office to start the process. About a week after that, I received this not terribly kind letter in the mail from the smallest and newest of the banks that I've had to get an account with in Japan. The letter sounds almost accusatory to me, though I'm not entirely sure how it is intended to be read. It seems a little weird to me and I don't really see any reason why it's required. This tiny bank is unlikely to have so many foreigners who start accounts and then leave the country that the excess of inactive accounts is taxing them personally. This is not a large nor popular bank. While it is possible that other kinds of jobs that cater to foreigners may use this bank, I've never heard of any larger language schools using this and I have never received a letter like this before in my life despite having renewed my visa several times in Japan and having a number of accounts at different banks here. No other bank felt that my visa expiry was a reason to send a letter or demand a personal appearance.


TLDR: Show us your new Gaijin Card or we're shutting down your account.

    A week after I received this letter, my postcard from immigration office came in and I went to retrieve my new Gaijin card. Armed with my card, the letter they sent me, my account book and signature stamp, I marched into the bank on my next morning off and let them make copies after looking over all of my materials. The whole process took less than fifteen minutes. While I find this tedious and extra, I also look forward to them reminding me when to update my Gaijin card next, should I happen to forget.