The Justice Ministry may renew for another year the temporary resident status of a 13-year-old Thai orphan living in Japan with her adoptive relatives, sources said Monday.
It will again reject a petition filed by Mevisa Yoshida and her supporters to make her a permanent resident, citing her failure to meet the right conditions, the sources said.
Mevisa, a first-year junior high school student in Arakawa Ward, Tokyo, has been living in Japan with her Thai grandmother and her grandmother's Japanese husband since February 2003.
Her temporary resident status was under a category for "designated activities," which allows a person to stay in Japan for a specific reason and is issued on the assumption that the person will leave. It expired Oct. 6.
The ministry might grant Mevisa the visa status of "designated activities instead of permanent status," the sources said.
Mevisa came to Japan after her mother died of an illness in Thailand in 2002.
Her father was killed in a traffic accident in Thailand just before she was born.
Her grandmother adopted the girl in 1997 in accordance with Thai law. The grandmother's husband also adopted the girl after she came to Japan.
In July, authorities extended Mevisa's residency status for three months, just before her visa expired. Then Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa indicated the ministry would grant her long-term residency out of humanitarian consideration.
Mevisa's past applications for permanent residency have twice been rejected because she did not fulfill the requirements, including being adopted under the age of 6.
