"Dear Lifelines; I am a Hong Kong citizen with a British passport. I married a Japanese national in 1992 in Hong Kong. Three years ago, my husband was transferred back to Tokyo and so I came to Japan on a spouse visa, which is valid for three years.
Eighteen months ago, our second son was born. I had become so busy that I completely forgot that my visa was to expire in December 2002. I realized only in January and immediately tried to renew the spouse visa.
However, we were not allowed to renew it at the Immigration Office in Otemachi and were asked to report our case to another office for illegal overstay.