I just pulled up a scan of the passport that I’d sent them, and apparently I sent them the page showing my re-entry permit and the departure stamps from trips I took while in Japan–not my final departure stamp and my 3-year visa.

This is surely what caused the delay… and it’s all my fault. I still wish they’d mailed me a letter like this a little sooner, or even told my friend when he called back in December instead of saying I’d get my money after January.

I have to drive two hours to go back to my bank and get the certified bank stamp. I guess, to be safe, I’ll just submit everything again sans the pension book and just hope for the best.

I got a letter in the mail yesterday that was from the pension agency. I was SO EXCITED–it was finally coming!! Then I opened it up and read the title of the letter: “Inadequacies in the Claim for Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment.” The letter then says this:

“You submitted to us a claim for lump-sum withdrawal pament, but we cannot proceed with its examination because there are certain inadequacies as described in the items encircled below. We return your incomplete claim to you. Please correct the inadequacies and submit a complete claim to us. Please be sure to include this document in the new file you will submit.”

Then there’s a big list and the thing that’s circled is “Attach a copy of your passport or a stamp of departure affixed when you left Japan last.”

I am angry and confused. First of all, I SENT the passport photocopy already showing my departure stamp. Why it took them EIGHT MONTHS to apparently lose it and then accuse me of not sending it is beyond me.

Second of all, I don’t understand the wording of the letter. It says I submitted an incomplete claim and that I would need to submit a “complete claim”. But they didn’t return my bank documents or my pension book (only my original application sheet), so how am I supposed to submit the “complete claim” again? Should I just mail them the passport copy and assume they have all the other documents there in a file?

Finally, there is a phone number at the bottom of the letter. It says “For inquiries from overseas, call the Social Insurance Operation Center at +81-3-6700-1165.” It doesn’t say “Japanese only”. Does this mean I can call and ask all these questions in English? I don’t have a way to make international calls right now or else I would just call it and try.