Re-entry permit question

[limitedability]

I quit my job with Nova (yay!) this past week and plan on returning home. I have some questions about those nifty re-entry permits you can get on your visas.


1) How difficult is it to obtain? I understand I'm to go down to the local immigration authority and ask for it. Is there anything else to it than this?

2) I don't plan on coming back unless I really have to, which is why I'm getting it. Is there a penalty for not using it?

3) I have 90 days to use it, correct?

4) My working visa expires in October... I want to come back to Japan next year. Will this complicate anything?


Thanks. Any help would be appreciated!

[spyder]

As far as I know, anyone can get one. All you need to do is buy the stamp from the convini. As for the date of expiry, I am pretty sure when I got mine I was able to choose the dates when I wanted to use it. So maybe if you know roughly the time you will be coming back, choose a date around there. I don't think there is a penalty for not using it, other than the fact that you lose the 4000yen or whatever if cost for you to buy it.

[Greji]

As far as I know, anyone can get one. All you need to do is buy the stamp from the convini.

That's essentially correct. However, what a reentry permit signifies, is that the government of Japan recognizes that an individual has a valid visa and thereby allows that person to leave country and return, without loss of visa status.

There are two types pf permits, a single entry which allows a one-time departure and reentry and multiple, which allows you to leave and return any number of times for a three year period.

The single costs 3,000 and the multiple costs 6,000 and like all government permissions, you must pay for it by revenue stamps. At Shinagawa, you buy a stamp(s) at the first floor convenience store and go up to the second floor and turn right and following the arrows.

Now, having said all that, it should be obvious that you must have a valid visa to receive a permit. If Nova has formally notified Imigrations of a withdrawal of your sponsorship (which is usually required of most companies) you may be out of luck, unless you can jump start a new visa.

[GomiGirl]

If you get a rentry permit it will only be valid for as long as your visa is valid. As soon as you leave Japan and hand back your gaijin card at the airport your working visa (and thus rentry permit) are cancelled.

You can renter again on a tourist visa at anytime. Sounds to me like you don't need a reentry permit if you plan to return on a tourist visa after your work visa has expired.

If you plan to leave japan and come back in on your working visa then you will need a reentry permit.

[limitedability]

Your guys' responses have been more than helpful! Thank you!:love2:

[Ptyx]

I will stress what gboothe already said.
Whatever you do, don't tell them that you're not working for nova anymore.
They will ask you and you should say you still work there without hesitations. Don't even try to explain your real situation, they don't care, they just don't want unemployed visa holders.
If nova has noticed them that you're not working there you're fucked and they won't give you a re-entry permit and ask you to do a formal demand for an extension of your current visa.

[Doctor Stop]

http://www.tokyovisa.co.jp/jpn/shinseisho/Re-entry.pdf

[sublight]

There are two types pf permits, a single entry which allows a one-time departure and reentry and multiple, which allows you to leave and return any number of times for a three year period.

A caveat on this: the re-entry permit expires when your current visa expires. Most people get the re-entry permit when they renew their visa, though.

[james]

i still think that it's a scam that after obtaining perm. res. that i still need to obtain a re-entry permit every three years for what is now my permanent residence.

[FG Lurker]

If you get a rentry permit it will only be valid for as long as your visa is valid. As soon as you leave Japan and hand back your gaijin card at the airport your working visa (and thus rentry permit) are cancelled.

If you have a re-entry permit you do not need to hand back your gaijin card at the airport. As far as immigration is concerned you are intending to return to Japan...

i still think that it's a scam that after obtaining perm. res. that i still need to obtain a re-entry permit every three years for what is now my permanent residence.

This has two sides though: You can leave Japan and come back anytime that your re-entry permit is valid. The way things are now you can keep your permanent residence as long as you come back to Japan once every three years to get a new re-entry permit. Compared to Canada this is awesome -- if you are a "Landed Immigrant" in Canada and are out of the country for more than half of one calendar year you lose your Landed Immigrant status!

[omae mona]

Compared to Canada this is awesome -- if you are a "Landed Immigrant" in Canada and are out of the country for more than half of one calendar year you lose your Landed Immigrant status!

Compared to the U.S., both Japan and Canada are awesome. There is no official policy AFAIK about the time a green card holder is allowed to be out of the U.S. Everything I read says it's up to the immigration officer processing you when you enter the country. They can decide on-the-spot whether you have effectively given up your residency by being away too long. General guideline / rumor seems to be one year, but a guy in a bad mood could confiscate your green card if you've been away for 3 months if he wanted to, I think.

[canman]

I have to go to f#$%cking Morioka, a shinkansen ride away just to have my permanent residency visa transferred to my new passport, and the re-entry permit as well. The permit will run out next year, and I would like to avoid the trip down there again, so my question, do you think they would allow me to get a new three year re-entry permit even though my old one won't expire for another year. We used to have our own small immigration office, but under the Koizumi gov't they decided to close it and force all of us to travel to either Aomori city or Morioka.

[FG Lurker]

I have to go to f#$%cking Morioka, a shinkansen ride away just to have my permanent residency visa transferred to my new passport, and the re-entry permit as well. The permit will run out next year, and I would like to avoid the trip down there again, so my question, do you think they would allow me to get a new three year re-entry permit even though my old one won't expire for another year. We used to have our own small immigration office, but under the Koizumi gov't they decided to close it and force all of us to travel to either Aomori city or Morioka.

You don't need to transfer the visas to your new passport. Take both passports with you when you travel and show both passports when you check in at the airport or leave/enter Japan.

When you next need to go to immigration (new re-entry visa) you can get your PR sticker transferred to your new passport.

[canman]

I didn't know that you culd do that. It is a hell of a lot easier carrying two passports than havning to cancel classes to run down to another city just to get the stamp put in the new passport.