A 3-Month Visa: In Japan, But Not Yet “Real”

I landed in Japan in January 2020 on a researcher visa — with a validity of just 3 months.

It sounds trivial. The visa was valid, I was in Japan, research could begin. But there was one consequence I hadn’t accounted for at all: a period of stay under 3 months means you don’t get a residence card (在留カード).

And without a residence card, administratively speaking, you barely exist.

What You Cannot Do Without a Residence Card

The list is short, but it happens to contain the foundations of daily life:

You cannot rent an apartment.
You cannot get a phone number.
You cannot open a bank account.

Picture that position: you’re a researcher at a national institute, working every day, yet in the system’s eyes you can’t hold a single one of the basic things that make living in Japan function.

Fortunately, I wasn’t alone. I shared an apartment with my senior from ITB — the same person who had introduced me to the NIMS-GRA program, the path that brought me to Japan in the first place.

We lived together for two full years, the entire duration of my Master’s. The lease ended exactly when the Master’s did — and only then did I move into a place of my own.

So if you ask who mattered most at the start of my journey in Japan, it’s one person: he didn’t just open the door of opportunity, he literally provided the roof too.

So How Did I Get Paid?

This is the part that always makes people laugh when I tell it. With no bank account, where was my research stipend transferred to?

The answer: it wasn’t transferred at all. It was paid in cash, in an envelope.

A national research institute, in one of the most advanced countries in the world, handing a researcher his salary in an envelope — because on paper, that researcher wasn’t registered as a resident yet.

Why the Visa Change Mattered

If you’ve read my visa change story and treated it as mere paperwork, now you know the real context. That status change wasn’t an administrative formality — it was the moment my daily life could finally begin. A residence card in hand meant a bank account could be opened, a phone number could be issued, and someday, an apartment could be rented in my own name.

The Lesson If You’re About to Go

Before departing for Japan, don’t just confirm that your visa is approved — confirm how long a period of stay it grants you. If it’s under 3 months, plan for the residence-card-less period: where you’ll live, how you’ll receive money, and how people will reach you.

A visa gets you into Japan. A residence card is what lets you live in it.

Check the Current Rules

Visa duration provisions and residence card issuance rules can change. Before building your plan, verify with the Immigration Services Agency (出入国在留管理庁). My experience is from arriving in 2020.