Iranian student gets resident status in Japan after illegal stay+

MAEBASHI, Japan, March 12 Kyodo - The Justice Ministry granted a one-year residence status Thursday to an Iranian female college student who had illegally stayed in Japan for more than 10 years, ministry officials said.

Maryam Amine, 20, in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, has remained in the country
under a permit to stay in Japan as a foreign student after her parents and her
younger sister were deported in 2007.
It is rare for the ministry to have admitted changing a foreigner's status
under a stay permit from a foreign student to a resident, according to her
lawyer, Satoko Kitamura.
Amine is expected to work as a nursery school teacher in the prefecture from
April, Kitamura said.
The Iranian family entered Japan on short-term visas in 1990 and 1991 but
overstayed and then lived in the prefecture.
In 1999, the family reported to the immigration authority seeking special
permission to stay.
But the Japanese government decided to deport her father, mother and younger
sister, who was born in Japan.
Amine, who was aiming to become a nursery school teacher, advanced to a junior
college in Takasaki after obtaining permission to stay for two years as a
student.
She requested to change the status of the permit to a resident because she
cannot work under the status of a foreign student.
==Kyodo