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wangta wrote:I am thinking of taking a short trip outside of Japan, to maybe China or Korea when I have a little time off. The trip would be around 3 days or so.
I am not up with re entry regs these days - will I need to get a re-entry visa from Immi or has that been scrapped now as long as I take my gaijin card with me and have it when I come back? Thanks.
Mock Cockpit wrote:Even if you only have the old gaijin card you don't need a re-entry visa.
GomiGirl wrote:Mock Cockpit wrote:Even if you only have the old gaijin card you don't need a re-entry visa.
Really? I was just scolded on my last trip to Thailand this month as I have PR (old ARC) and my rentry had expired. The guy said I was on a "Special rentry" and ticked a box on the embarkation card. He said it was only good for one time.
He also reminded us that both Husband and Child (both PR and both on Zairyu cards) were going to have their rentries expire soon too.
I am totally confused.
Anyone care to decipher the new rules?
Japan’s immigration control reform has proved to be fraught with pitfalls that could cause unwitting foreign residents to be expelled or face other serious problems.
The immigration control law was revised in July 2012, primarily to bolster the crackdown on cross-border terrorism-related activities. However, during its first year in force, the reform has caused various unexpected quandaries.
In January, a woman from Myanmar married to a Japanese man lost her permanent resident status after temporarily returning to her home country, because of a paperwork problem related to the reform.
Previously, foreign residents who left Japan for a temporary overseas stay were required to obtain prior permission for re-entry if they were to maintain their resident status. The reform has abolished this requirement, in principle, if the overseas stay is less than one year. Now, foreign residents only need to indicate their intention to return to Japan by ticking the appropriate box on the embarkation form submitted to passport control upon their departure.
However, the paperwork presents a pitfall.
The form filled in and submitted by the hapless Myanmar woman was one she had obtained previously, so it did not have the necessary box to tick.
When she submitted her travel documents and showed her return ticket to passport control on her departure, it was not pointed out to her that she needed to indicate on the embarkation card that she was planning to return.
When she arrived back at Haneda airport in Tokyo from Myanmar, the woman was denied re-entry. Thanks to her husband’s intervention, she was spared deportation and later regained her permanent residency.
Nonetheless, the couple emphasized that immigration officials should remind foreign residents of the risk they face if they do not fill out their embarkation form properly.
In another case, a foreigner who was staying in Japan to undergo vocational training was refused re-entry after inadvertently omitting to tick the necessary box when temporarily journeying overseas, according to the Japan International Training Cooperation Organization.
Noting that the change was intended to “enhance convenience for foreign residents,” an immigration control official at the Justice Ministry said that immigration bureaus across the country have been instructed to give foreign residents a reminder.
However, the ministry has no plans to revise the embarkation form or take other steps to prevent similar paperwork problems.
Meanwhile, the immigration control reform has apparently caused misunderstandings on the part of local governments about how to treat foreign residents.
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chibaka wrote:Info on the new re-entry procedure is here http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_1/ ... t_3-4.html including the check box
wagyl wrote:chibaka wrote:Info on the new re-entry procedure is here http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_1/ ... t_3-4.html including the check box
You forgot to add "As featured in the post three above this one, made 16 hours before!!" in blinking text in a lurid colour, in a starburst in a different but clashing lurid colour.
chokonen888 wrote:Shit, I don't remember that box on my last form. (prolly an older form) but I wasn't hassled at all upon coming back. Wonder how much pointless work they have created by including that shit. (just think how many hours are going to be wasted, arguing with FG that didn't check the box and try to return)
chibaka wrote:This farking obsession with useless paperwork is annoying. If they really wanted to make life easier, why not just stipulate that FG must return before status expires? Being refused entry due to not ticking a box is ridiculous.
Samurai_Jerk wrote:chibaka wrote:This farking obsession with useless paperwork is annoying. If they really wanted to make life easier, why not just stipulate that FG must return before status expires? Being refused entry due to not ticking a box is ridiculous.
It really is fucking silly because it's completely meaningless, does nothing to enhance security, and is very easy to overlook. At this point I can't even understand the need for the embarkation/disembarkation card. Everything is computerized so they can get all the info they need with my passport and ZRC. Plus the security and money questions only need to be on the customs card.
chokonen888 wrote:while I read it to interpret to mean one box for PR visa holders and the other for reg visa holders, the bitch (what an attitude!) at immigration made me fill out a new form with the box that seems to be for PR visa holders...no idea how that makes any sense but we'll see if I get sent to the gulag upon return...
omae mona wrote: Special Re-entry Permission is the new bonus we got beginning in 2012 that allows us to leave the country for up to 1 year just by checking this box, without having to go to the damned immigration office and buy an expensive permit. Most of us want to use this checkbox almost every single time.
The non-special one, "Departure with Re-entry Permission", means you're using the old system. You can only use this if you have purchased a re-entry stamp and have it in your passport. Why would anybody in their right minds do this, given the free option above? Only if you think there is a risk of being out of the country longer than 1 year. Remember they emphasize there are no do-overs; if you choose the free option at first but find yourself stuck outside of Japan for over 12 months, your residency status is toast. There is no way to extend it.
omae mona wrote:Why would anybody in their right minds do this, given the free option above?
Wage Slave wrote:omae mona wrote:Why would anybody in their right minds do this, given the free option above?
I forked out for the permit because they no longer stamp anything in your passport except entry and departure stamps. The fact you live here and have permission to enter is encoded in your status on your ID card. So, for my first trip out of here with a new passport the only thing stamped in there would have been a departure stamp. Although ID cards may carry weight in some countries and quarters they don't in others, not compared to a passport anyway. To avoid possible problems claiming sales tax back off shopping or snags at check in/departure gates I decided to get one just to show, in my passport, that I live here and can re-enter.
Should something very unforeseen crop up I could also stay out longer than a year too of course but the chances of that are very remote.
Wage Slave wrote:An interesting idea. I suppose though that if they knew a little then a bare exit and entry stamp would tell them that this person has some kind of status. If they are a bona fide visitor, then there should be a stamp/sticker saying exactly that.
Wage Slave wrote:Japanese Immigration officials ask to see my card but not anyone else. Everyone else wants to see a passport. As it happens I have a brand new passport this year so until I got a re-entry permit there was absolutely nothing in it relating to Japan.
It might not matter and certainly that is the view from the immigration people. You have an official and impressive looking ID card which no-one is going to question. I'm not so sure.
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