Reentry paperwork redesign

[wagyl]

Looking at the Immigration Bureau website, I see that the embarkation/disembarkation card for foreign residents will yet again change design from July (pdf).
Instead of just ticking a box for "deemed reentry permit" you will now be asked to tick boxes to choose between deemed reentry permit or reentry permit by application. As usual the English is ambiguous: what they call special permission is in fact the one which you did not go to specially apply for, but is the one you got by default...

[Taro Toporific]

Looking at the Immigration Bureau website, I see that the embarkation/disembarkation card for foreign residents will yet again change design from July (pdf).
...

Arrrg. Why are they even concerned with "special permission" re-entry?

[wagyl]

Beats me. After all, whether you have the appropriate reentry permit becomes an issue when you try to reenter, not when you leave...

All I can think is that they want to keep statistics on the proportion of departures on deemed reentry permits compared to those on longer term, especially-applied-for reentry permits. Admittedly, checking people have the correct permit before they leave saves on messy paperwork trying to fix an avoidable problem later on, but when you are about to board your flight it is all a little bit late in the day to remedy things.

[Wibble]

Beats me. After all, whether you have the appropriate reentry permit becomes an issue when you try to reenter, not when you leave...

All I can think is that they want to keep statistics on the proportion of departures on deemed reentry permits compared to those on longer term, especially-applied-for reentry permits. Admittedly, checking people have the correct permit before they leave saves on messy paperwork trying to fix an avoidable problem later on, but when you are about to board your flight it is all a little bit late in the day to remedy things.

The change makes sense to me. They always ask first if I want to tick that box rather than looking through for my re-entry sticker, I assume many people don't understand the new system and don't realise they have to tick.
I believe the ticking is technically an application for an instant (special) permit and it could be refused.

[yanpa]

I believe the ticking is technically an application for an instant (special) permit and it could be refused.

That makes sense in a twisted bureaucratic way. I always assumed that the new system implicitly provided re-entry permits, but evidently they've just minimised the procedure.

Not that I understand why a re-entry permit is valid in the first place if you have a valid residency permit.

[Coligny]

Do we have record of people with the new gaijin/zayriu/whatever card jailed/deported/shot because they didn't tick the proper box on these flyers ?

Because, while not having a reentry permit despite the ridicule of it all, could more or less be considered a legitimate way of having a visa/status of residence cancelled.
Having the wrong checkbox in broken english ticked sounds more like a giant case of 'so what ?'
Feels like the design team for these is just trying to keep themselves busy/useful in time of budget cuts while still not really understanding what they are doing...

[wagyl]

I believe the ticking is technically an application for an instant (special) permit and it could be refused.

Maybe so, but if that is the case it is a fairly tortured interpretation of the word みなす

to consider as; to regard (as equivalent); to deem (as); to equate

and I start to wonder whether the bureaucracy is going further than the legislature directed them to.

The change makes sense to me. They always ask first if I want to tick that box rather than looking through for my re-entry sticker, I assume many people don't understand the new system and don't realise they have to tick.

Those who didn't realise they have to tick will maybe now know because it has become more prominent, but it still doesn't explain why they are so concerned about your reentry plans when you are leaving rather than when you are reentering (although, now that I think about it, they will be entering that status in the system and this makes reentry smoother).

[Wibble]

Not that I understand why a re-entry permit is valid in the first place if you have a valid residency permit.

I'm guessing part of the original idea behind the control was coming from the background of why do these people need to leave Japan? We gave them residency here, they should be working, not taking money elsewhere. It also gives them an easy way to control the movements of people with a suspicious entry/exit pattern without having to actually investigating anything.

Do we have record of people with the new gaijin/zayriu/whatever card jailed/deported/shot because they didn't tick the proper box on these flyers ?

Because, while not having a reentry permit despite the ridicule of it all, could more or less be considered a legitimate way of having a visa/status of residence cancelled.
Having the wrong checkbox in broken english ticked sounds more like a giant case of 'so what ?'
Feels like the design team for these is just trying to keep themselves busy/useful in time of budget cuts while still not really understanding what they are doing...

They seem to be quite good at exit immigration at checking that you meant to not tick the box, so I don't imagine many got caught out compared with the previous system. At the start they had stacks of multi language bits of paper explaining it all and with a place to stamp the date for a year's time. Don't know if they are still being that proactive.

The language of the new design is pretty terrible and won't do anything to solve what must be their biggest problem of people ticking for the special permit, when they are leaving permanently and leaving all their records open for another year and all those bills continuing to stack up.

I believe the ticking is technically an application for an instant (special) permit and it could be refused.

Maybe so, but if that is the case it is a fairly tortured interpretation of the word みなす

to consider as; to regard (as equivalent); to deem (as); to equate

and I start to wonder whether the bureaucracy is going further than the legislature directed them to.

The change makes sense to me. They always ask first if I want to tick that box rather than looking through for my re-entry sticker, I assume many people don't understand the new system and don't realise they have to tick.

Those who didn't realise they have to tick will maybe now know because it has become more prominent, but it still doesn't explain why they are so concerned about your reentry plans when you are leaving rather than when you are reentering (although, now that I think about it, they will be entering that status in the system and this makes reentry smoother).

They do seem very concerned about the type of reentry. I went through a period where the validity of my re-entry was less than a year and every time they wanted me to tick the box so I could have longer away. Maybe they were being kind, but there was plenty of time left on my multi-permit and I didn't want to have to go fishing through my luggage for my ARC.

[Coligny]

Those who didn't realise they have to tick will maybe now know because it has become more prominent, but it still doesn't explain why they are so concerned about your reentry plans when you are leaving rather than when you are reentering (although, now that I think about it, they will be entering that status in the system and this makes reentry smoother).

!? Maybe they fear to be sued if they don't let you back in while they should have and as a consequence your cat starve to death...

Maybe they consider it's one thing to screw up with tourist visa chronic jumpstarters but a different matter when it come to people more or less really living here... (Not that I consider Japan being rooted in any kind of reality...)

[Hijinx]

"such foreign national will no longer, in principle, be required to obtain re-entry permission at the time of departure."

They love to include the "in principle" in everything official here. They just can't quite to commit to any decision made here.

Japan: paralyzed by indecision