Osaka Immigration Office

Immigration in Kansai

We went to apply to renew my visa and apply for permanent residence. It took around two hours on a Monday morning in May. It was a totally different experience from when we lived in Kyushu. Some things we noticed about Osaka vs. Saga Immigration: The Huge Difference in Size. Saga Immigration takes up one floor (or less) of a building and is essentially one room for all the staff and 'customers' about the size of a small teachers' room. Osaka Immigration has an entire building. The first two (large) floors are waiting areas and staff helping people, including a convenience store which sells revenue stamps and has a photo booth and copy machine. All other floors must be full of the staff going over all the submitted applications. The Service. Applications and documents were checked over for anything that might be incomplete in Saga. In Osaka, the clerk didn't notice that the bank book copies (and probably other documents) were not in our packet, it was my husband who pointed out that we were supposed to show them those documents. In Saga, they copied any supplimentary documents that they wanted, like the entire contents of our bank books. In Osaka, they directed us to said copy machine, where we had to pay for the one sided copies. Local Culture. My husband commented that the staff in Osaka spoke quickly and it wasn't kind to all the non-native Japanese speakers they were supposed to be helping. People in Kansai are stereotypically friendly, but it was just business-get-it-over-with at the office. In Saga time is a lot more relaxed and clerks were kind, but not in straying from business kind of way. Noise. I'm more and more sensitive in government offices these days, but Saga was very quiet and not big enough to need to take a number. In Osaka, there is a number system and nonstop announcements that it's someone's turn. It left us fatigued and I can't immagine the stress to work there all the time. Location: Osaka Immigration is a one or two minute walk from the station exit with detailed directions available on their website. On the other hand, Saga's office is around ten minutes from the station.