Disabled Laws For Registered Foreigners

[-Rudel-]

Hi guys, It has been a long while since I've posted.  A lot has changed, and I mean a lot!  I'd tell my story, but it doesn't belong in this section. I'll just say, that I'm a quadriplegic now with 100% retirement benefits from the VA.

My wife is interested in moving back to Japan to make her life less stressful.  My family has no means to support me either so it seems like a good idea. So far.

But, there is no VA for spinal cord injury therapy, and there's not much out there for SCI patients anyways.  J-Workout is a great option and I'm currently attending the same based therapy here.

ProjectWalk.org - Fettleibigkeit und deren Folgen für die Gesundheit -
脊髄損傷者専門トレーニングジムのJ-Workout（ジェイ・ワークアウト）株式会社

The VA housing grant, believe or not, covers overseas housing builds and/or modifications.  My wife and I found this nice chunk of land that's in our budget along with building a house.

http://sumaism.net/item/detail04.aspx?iNo=46247&LNO=47339/50081/44285/46247

I found some useful websites dealing with disabled laws, but not quite detailed as I thought.

Laws on Disabilities "The 38 Selected Japanese Laws Related to Persons with Disabilities"
http://www.nginet.or.jp/index-eng.html

If you're thinking what I'm thinking, staying in America is my best option, but if it's making her life stressful then...uhg!

Now...my wife is my caregiver also and can't work because of it.  We also have an 11 mo old son.  So we're definitely worried about pensions and allowances toward a foreign registered alien with no job that paid into the Japan system. 

I guess my real question(s) is if anybody has some insight on Japanese websites regarding laws and help for the foreign disabled.

Thank you guys...

 

[Glenski]

What do you mean by a foreigner who paid into the pension system? If you don't pay into it for 25 years uninterrupted, you cannot collect.

 

[-Rudel-]

A visa holding resident...correct, I can't receive. But there are allowances, but I need more information, other than what I found.

 

[Mike Cash]

Your wife should contact the appropriate sections at the city hall where you plan to live in order to find out what sort of help (if any) is available. I believe part of the visa thing is that a person be able to provide for themselves and not place a burden on the Japanese taxpayer. Of course, your VA income will help to offset that and will be a consideration.

You are in a very unique situation that none of can do anything more meaningful about than to offer up pure speculation and most sincere best wishes. Consultation with the city hall, perhaps followed by consultation with an immigration attorney (if that becomes necessary) would be your best immediate course of action.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

I wonder if FrustratedDave can give any .......

input on daily care in Japan available for you?? I would think your wife will need lots of professional care helpers available to save her burning out. You should have a home care aid at least once in the morning and once at bedtime seven days a week. You would need RN nurse and doctor care once in a while to deal with bed sores and UTI that mare come up once in a while( also might need a catheter tube change every 30 days.)
How about availability of a wheelchair van to transport you or getting one you can drive? Building a home that can handle the weight of a heavy electric wheel chair and having extra wide doors and ramps and an maybe elevators might be a challenge in Japan?? I sure hope some members here can give you some info to help.

PS::: Please don't let all the negativity get you down, I guess we just want you to be prepared for everything so that you will be better ready to tackle & solve it.

Uncle Frank

:?

 

[Glenski]

What is your visa status right now? If you let your previous visa lapse (or left the country without a reentry visa), you'll have to start from scratch again.

You may not even get the visa again. There are a lot of factors working against you:

medical condition that precludes work
wife that isn't working at the moment
child who will require an income to attend school and live
no place to live, let alone receive care

I'm not trying to paint a black picture here, but you need to consider whether immigration will even let you stay first. After that, determine the possibilities of medical care, because if your wife has to work to bring home the bacon, who will take care of you and your child during the day?

Best of luck.

 

[-Rudel-]

Everyone has valid points, thank you. My wife's mother has been going to the city hall trying to get information for us. We'll she what she turns ups. VA income is helping out greatly, along with SS.

I just received my visa 1 1/2 years ago, with 1 1/2 years left. When I go back, I have to explain my situation. I received it while in America, but applied as I was transferring out of the military. The military brought me back over, as the accident happened just before I got out. I can still bring home the bacon on American income no problems.

We've done on our research on vehicles and housing, so we are cleared their. My wife is an RN for 18 years now. Her mom will help take care of our child. I'm mostly independent only needing help to wash and dress my lower body. Everything else I can do, even drive. I sit in a manual chair most of the time. I'm a low level (c7/8) neck injury, with full arm and wrists use. Just no finger movements.

We are seeing if the military health insurance, Tricare will let me use on-base facilities. I think they should, since all other active duty with Tricare can. I'll have to ask a few retirees I know living abroad.

Glen, as Mike pointed out, I may just have to show up in person when we visit next month and talk to city hall about my situation. It's definitely a huge task at hand.

 

[Mike Cash]

Off the subject, but in the future I plan to hold these posts of yours up as examples for text-speak morons who can't be bothered to write in complete sentences and use punctuation and the shift keys.

 

[undrentide]

What you'll need is the ﾂ身窶佚個湘｡ﾅ?Qﾅｽﾃ椎ｽﾃｨ窶卍? (shougaisha techou / identification booklet for the physically disabled) to get supports from the local government - welfare benefits, cost assistance for a device/prosthetic and daily living expenses, discount on transportation costs, tax relief, etc.

Terms and conditions vary depending on where you'll be living, I believe, here's an example of Meguro-ku (Meguro ward), Tokyo.
障害に関する手帳 目黒区
http://www.city.meguro.tokyo.jp/kurashi/shogai_fukushi/techo/sinntaisyougaisyatetyou/index.html
Since the alien registration ﾅ?Oﾂ坂?伉人窶徙ﾋ弯ﾂ鞘? is listed up as one of the necessary documents - in case of the person is foreign national - to get the booklet, foreigners should be able to get the booklet.

 

[-Rudel-]

Thank you Undrentide,

The example you provided is a lot better than what I read on the Okinawa prefecture website. Possibly 'cause there are to many Americans as it is...haha

So it does appear I should rate something, according to the book. I need to get a Physical Disability Certificate proving my disabilities. It's called Shintai Shougaisha Techo.

Thank you again...

Off the subject, but in the future I plan to hold these posts of yours up as examples for text-speak morons who can't be bothered to write in complete sentences and use punctuation and the shift keys.

My typing is coming from my two usable thumbs too. Not to mention, the psychologist said I have a mild traumatic brain injury, just because I could not spell the word 'world' backwards as soon as he blurted it out.

Thanks for the laugh! Haha

 

[Glenski]

I just received my visa 1 1/2 years ago, with 1 1/2 years left. When I go back, I have to explain my situation.

You didn't answer an important question. Did you get a reentry permit before you left Japan?

We've done on our research on vehicles and housing, so we are cleared their. My wife is an RN for 18 years now. Her mom will help take care of our child.

That's good, and it's nice to know you have some income from the military, but will that actually be enough to live on for the 3 of you? If your wife is a nurse, will she work as such (she would be in high demand, you know), which means your mother-in-law would be saddled with taking care of your child every day. Quite nice to offer initially, but it gets old for the ... uh...older people. Be very well aware of this!

Glen, as Mike pointed out, I may just have to show up in person when we visit next month and talk to city hall about my situation. It's definitely a huge task at hand.

Best of luck to you.

P.S. I echo Mike's sentiments about the quality of your typing! Seeing other posters with their Internet-ese abbreviations not to mention the misspellings and poor grammar really gets to me.

 

[-Rudel-]

I didn't receive a reentry permit. Right after my surgery, I was flown back to the states on a military plane. Even my wife didn't get an entry stamp on her passport coming into the U.S. Both errors can be taken care of at the consulate before our trip. I'm pretty they would understand seeing me in a chair.

With the crappy yen rate these days, it's definitely going to have it's toll. We are living comfortly now in the states as I did in Japan the past 5 years. The last 4 years my wife has become a homemaker. As you said, nurses in high demand had a stressful factor in her decision to quit. My wife says we will most likely take our son to a Hoikuen, where in turn she can work at a day-care for the elderly. I will do my own therapy and do on-line college courses to keep busy. Her mom works too, so she's like a back-up if needed or when she wants.

There's not much we haven't thought of yet. I think we'll be ok, and will see how life plays out when we make our final decision.

I'll leave the abbreviations & shortcut sentexes for my phone. I feel your eye pain. I'm surprised how well my grammar is considering I was always a "D" student in high school english...haha. Must have been the tests.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Glenski]

I wouldn't count on any sympathy with regards to a reentry permit, but I do hope they take pity on you. Typically, no REP means your visa is invalidated.

Better make triply sure a hoikuen is willing. With some, you have to get in line months in advance. As for mother-in-law, my own gladly took care of our kid from 2:30 to 6:00 when my wife got off work Mon-Fri, but it was a severe drain on her after just a week. Have the talk. If you plan to keep your child later than regular hours, you will have to shell out more money.

 

[-Rudel-]

I'm not to confidant in anything good coming out of the consulate anyways. I hope some pity comes out of it, considering that it was a Japanese national that caused my quadriplegia; but who knows.

The Hoikuens shouldn't reject our son. He is on my wife's family register, has a Japanese full name, and a Japanese passport. If they don't allow him, even with a long wait, we can raise he'll with the company or city hall.

But, my wife working won't be long hours. It's more of a 10am-16 job. And that's not even counting in "Okinawa Time."

 

[nyouyaku]

Hi guys, It has been a long while since I've posted.  A lot has changed, and I mean a lot!  I'd tell my story, but it doesn't belong in this section. I'll just say, that I'm a quadriplegic now with 100% retirement benefits from the VA.
My wife is interested in moving back to Japan to make her life less stressful.  My family has no means to support me either so it seems like a good idea. So far.
But, there is no VA for spinal cord injury therapy, and there's not much out there for SCI patients anyways.  J-Workout is a great option and I'm currently attending the same based therapy here.
ProjectWalk.org - Fettleibigkeit und deren Folgen für die Gesundheit -
脊髄損傷者専門トレーニングジムのJ-Workout（ジェイ・ワークアウト）株式会社
The VA housing grant, believe or not, covers overseas housing builds and/or modifications.  My wife and I found this nice chunk of land that's in our budget along with building a house.
http://sumaism.net/item/detail04.aspx?iNo=46247&LNO=47339/50081/44285/46247
I found some useful websites dealing with disabled laws, but not quite detailed as I thought.
Laws on Disabilities "The 38 Selected Japanese Laws Related to Persons with Disabilities"
http://www.nginet.or.jp/index-eng.html
If you're thinking what I'm thinking, staying in America is my best option, but if it's making her life stressful then...uhg!
Now...my wife is my caregiver also and can't work because of it.  We also have an 11 mo old son.  So we're definitely worried about pensions and allowances toward a foreign registered alien with no job that paid into the Japan system. 
I guess my real question(s) is if anybody has some insight on Japanese websites regarding laws and help for the foreign disabled.
Thank you guys...

As a US veteran, I believe you have access to the military base medical facilities in Japan and all over the world. Perhaps living to close proximity to a US military base when you are overseas is the best option as it is also makes the paper work and administrative hoop jumping less complex.

 

[nyouyaku]

I'm not to confidant in anything good coming out of the consulate anyways. I hope some pity comes out of it, considering that it was a Japanese national that caused my quadriplegia; but who knows.

The Hoikuens shouldn't reject our son. He is on my wife's family register, has a Japanese full name, and a Japanese passport. If they don't allow him, even with a long wait, we can raise he'll with the company or city hall.

But, my wife working won't be long hours. It's more of a 10am-16 job. And that's not even counting in "Okinawa Time."

You said it was a Japanese national that caused your quadriplegia. Would you be willing to share with us what happened?

 

[-Rudel-]

This thread is long over due for an update...

We visited the Japan Consulate in Atlanta, GA and had our passports corrected with proof of medical records. What a relief.

Our next step is visiting our home town again, visit the city hall, housing agencies, and consulate.

My wife's mother has been very helpful. We've got a wheel-chair van locked on for purchase, and found an apartment complex for wheelchair bound people.

Nyouyaku, I'll have base access for sure, but I'm not planning to live close to the craziness. The national crashed into my car at an intersection. In Japan it's very common to run red lights; even after the 4 second wait.