A Peruvian man detained for two years by immigration authorities for overstaying his visa has been released on parole, his lawyers said Friday.
The Nishi-Nihon Immigration Center, in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, paroled Mario Arriola Giraldo, 42, who had been detained since June 2000.
In 1993, Giraldo visited Japan with his wife, Sonia, and his eldest daughter on a short-term tourist visa. But after the visa expired, the family continued to stay in Tatsuno, Hyogo Prefecture, while working illegally. Two more daughters were born to the couple in Japan.
In January 1999, he filed a request with the Kobe branch of the Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau seeking special residential status to take care of his family, but his request was rejected, according to the lawyers.