2020 APFS General Meeting held

The 2020 Annual General Meeting was held on June 7th at Itabashi City Cultural Center. Due to the spread of COVID-19, many votes were cast by proxy or in writing, and although the venue was finally reopened on June 1st, there were restrictions on the number of attendees, creating a completely different atmosphere than usual.

The general meeting began with a report on the activities for fiscal year 2019, including trends in new consultations and the status of ongoing consultations. It was reported that many of the new consultations were residence-related, especially those related to imminent changes and renewals of residence status (including refugee applicants). In ongoing consultations, it was explained that it remains difficult for irregular residents to obtain zaitoku (resident status), but it was reported that in March of this year, the son of an irregular resident family that APFS had supported for over 10 years was granted zaitoku (resident status). However, it was shared that the parents had voluntarily returned to their home countries before obtaining zaitoku (resident status), and that strict judgment by the immigration bureau continues.
Following this, a financial report on the 2019 fiscal year was given, followed by a proposal for the business plan and budget for 2020, in which it was reported that no events have been scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that financially, membership fees from April to June have already decreased. Participants shared the view that they would need to be creative and innovative in order to maintain their activities and finances in 2020.