Hello everyone.
I am a foreign student whose visa expires in November of this year.
As the spring vacation is coming up, I am going back to my country for 2 weeks in Europe. My understanding is that because I am leaving less than a year, I don’t need to go to the immigration office. So anyway, I go in the special lane, get the paper on my passport and leave Japan. After that I am planning to go to Vietnam and South Korea. In total I will be away from Japan around a month. Between each trip I will return to Japan. Do I need to get the special re-entry permit each time ?
Is it allowed to go to many different countries, coming back to Japan in the middle, in such a short amount of time?
Thank you for your answers
3 comments
You can go to as many countries as you want.
And technically yes, you would get Special Reentry Permission each time you leave Japan, but this isn’t a big problem because you just leave the airport anyway.
The official English name “special reentry permission” can be a confusing term, especially now that this “special” permission is now over 10 years old and the norm when leaving/coming back to Japan. The Japanese term is みなし再入国許可 which means assumed reentry permission, as in the permission to re-enter is given as is for short term departures.
You’ll need to fill out the form each time you exit Japan if you want to re-enter.
If I remember correctly, they staple the paper in the passport on the way out, and remove it on your way in. So I don’t think you could use it again even if you wanted to.
The special re-entry permit is just checking a box “I am returning to Japan” on an exit immigration card. It’s not nearly as formal as you’re imagining it.
Edit: this is what the exit immigration card looks like https://www.pref.iwate.jp/_res/projects/default_project/_page_/001/007/164/disembarkationcard.jpg