[makeitdouble]

Yes, the country needs to be both competent and strongly willing to court new comers and permanent residents in the first place.

On your experience, it really feels like a PITA. It won't help, but Japan and France are basically the same. You'll see procedures listed as typically taking 2~3 months, check back every now and then, and low and behold a year and half later you have absolutely no idea of what's going on, if your submission has been forgotten or is contentious. There's no recourse as long as you haven't been refused, so it's limbo until something happens.

People are right to bitch about these lengthy and utterly frustrating procedures, I just don't see a way out of it short of being rich, famous or finding a loophole that lets you force a government agency do something in a timely manner without getting a target on your back.

To note, France had much progress in the last decades, in that bullshit requirements were made illegal a few years ago. At least you can check everything needed on an official site and not be subjected to petty additional requirements when dealing with the local entity (yes, that was a thing, probably to make it extra hard for specific portions of the population to properly file procedures)

[shiroiushi]

><but Japan and France are basically the same. You'll see procedures listed as typically taking 2~3 months, check back every now and then, and low and behold a year and half later you have absolutely no idea of what's going on,

When did you have this experience in Japan? In my experience, immigrating to Japan is a breeze. Even during Covid, it took about 2 months to process my work visa, and from there everything was fast and easy.

PR is pretty slow, though: my coworkers who have applied are reporting wait times of about 9 months.

[makeitdouble]

That might be the difference between the types of visa.

The standard spouse visa was around 4 months (during covid as well) when it should have been pretty quick according to the clerk receiving it. Tried PR at two different times, first time I moved abroad after half a year, before it finished, second time was a year and half from now and it's still pending with no update.

On any of the visa I applied for I'm meeting the criteria on multiple standards (e.g. I'm both a spouse and father of a national, and employed locally) and never got a rejection, so it's just plainly taking a huge amount of time. I got used to it though.

PS: also it's hilarious to write about your romance with your partner, detailing your dates, attach Disneyland photos etc. and imagine officers in their suits reading all of that with straight faces.

[lifestyleguru]

The contrast to red carped rolled out for Arab, Chinese, or Russian billionaires is staggering.