Japan to allow up to 10,000 arrivals daily from April 10

They need to stop quarantining people and get on with booster vaccines.

But it still does not apply to foreign tourists.

This is good, though families should not be lumped in with those who have no connections to the country at all

Japan needs to either fully open or at least allow families of residents to come until then....

...though families should not be lumped in with those who have no connections to the country at all

I wish people would stop spreading and/or believing misinformation about families being denied entry.

Immediate relatives of a Japanese citizen or permanent resident are currently allowed to get a visitor's visa and enter Japan.

Yes, "distant relatives" can not enter, but a non-resident foreign spouse, child, sibling, parent, or grandparent of a citizen or PR can enter from any country, but they do need to get a visa.

I personally know of 2 non-resident foreigners who have entered this way in the past couple months.

But if you have a short-term resident visa (like an English teacher or student), then no, your family can not visit you. Sorry. But you are free to go visit them (depending on your home country entry requirements) and come back to Japan. (And notice I mentioned "your home country", because for a J-citizen or PR, Japan is their "home country" and this allows their foreign family to come here).

Far too little for far too many people!

Who is the Japanese government protecting by keeping these restrictions in place?

Not the millions of Japanese at risk of contracting the virus from the millions that have already been infected in Japan!

Meanwhile businesses are continuing to close down and economic poverty is a real problem...

Woops, this is a mistake in my above post:

But if you have a short-term resident visa (like an English teacher or student), then no, your family can not visit you.

Actually, if you have a long-term resident visa (like a teacher or student) then yes, your immediate family can visit you too.

This week almost 5 million Brits have the fastly spreading virus. That’s only the Uk. Is it wise?

my most urgent question is, who are the 10000 allowed? do they have a lottery, or pay large entry fee or do you have to have connections? Two years ago, 19,000,000 foreigners entered japan in one year.

I want to visit my sick mother, I seriously worry I will stuck overseas.

Actually, if you have a long-term resident visa (like a teacher or student) then yes, your immediate family can visit you too.

And note, it must be a "long-term resident visa". Many regular foreign teachers and students are not classified as such.

Rodney

Its true that a lot of Brits have it, but if we had anywhere near the amount of testing they do in the uk here in Japan I think you’d we are not far off the UK numbers here - we have a similar number of people dying of it as they do in the UK

The simple fact is, these border controls are pretty much useless at controlling the spread of the virus.

I am interested in the point above about visas for close family members to visit. My wife is Japanese but I don’t have a spousal visa - I typically just renew my work visa (professor status) each three years. Would that be enough to allow my family to visit or should I change to spousal or PR status?

Sweden, Denmark, the US, Malaysia, the UK and many more countries now all have zero Covid restrictions but Japan still has?

WHY?

Completely agree that families of Permanent residents should be given special dispensation to come into the country. My mum has been waiting to see her grandchild for two years, surely family is more important than getting students over?

Nihon ToraToday  08:55 am JST

I am interested in the point above about visas for close family members to visit. My wife is Japanese but I don’t have a spousal visa - I typically just renew my work visa (professor status) each three years. Would that be enough to allow my family to visit or should I change to spousal or PR status?

I'd get a spousal visa or PR if you can. It's a good insurance policy in any case. Not sure about the visas for close family to visit though.

You need advice from an immigration lawyer. Your family will need their own visa regardless of your status.

Save your money, just do a 5 minute google search. All the information you need is easily available in English on Japanese government websites.

Nihon Tora

Just communicate with the embassy and then provide the required paperwork and everything will be ok .

There's no need to hire a lawyer.

A phone call to the embassy yes.

Nihon Tora,go for a PR.

Don't go for a spouse visa.If you ever break up with your J wife while on a spouse visa in Japan,you are screwed.

With the exchange rate being in foreign tourists favor to visit Japan iam surprised Japan doesn't open up the borders completely .

I definitely wouldn't say the borders being closed to tourists was an effective measure anyway.

It's possible that many tourists will flock to visit Japan in the near future as its obvious this ancient culture of Japan is rapidly disappearing and circling the drain.

Immediate relatives of a Japanese citizen or permanent resident are currently allowed to get a visitor's visa and enter Japan.

And fast track at the Japan Railpass window?

I want to visit my sick mother, I seriously worry I will stuck overseas.

If you can pass a PCR test before the flight to Japan, you will get back in. You may have to quarantine on reentry, but they'll let you in if you have a visa already and fill in the reentry form. You will not be stuck overseas.

Note that if you are triple boosted and want to fast track through immigration, you need a phone with NFC and a My Number card to install the Japanese app. You'll have to use a paper certificate otherwise. My phone's a Huawei from 2020 but doesn't have NFC, so I couldn't even install the app. I'll be taking my son's phone (Redmi 9T).

This week, people are reporting wait times of 1.5 to 7 hours to clear immigration due to the PCR test on arrival. Don't expect to get a connecting flight, and arriving back in the morning might be advisable if hoping to travel on on public transport on the same day. Such wait times are likely to increase if they are going to let more people in.

Nihon Tora,go for a PR.

Don't go for a spouse visa.If you ever break up with your J wife while on a spouse visa in Japan,you are screwed.

Getting PR directly can be hard.

But if you've been married for 2+ years, then get the spouse visa first. Then you need to have a spouse visa for only 1 year (while also living in Japan for that year) at which point you should be married 3+ years, and then you can relatively easily switch that spouse visa to PR. I did exactly this (over a decade ago)

My wife is Japanese but I don’t have a spousal visa.

I got screwed over with my divorce, forced to leave. Get a Permanent Resident Visa. Some paperwork and a Japanese guarantor, and if you have been here a little while, it only takes half a day.

Nihon Tora

I am interested in the point above about visas for close family members to visit. My wife is Japanese but I don’t have a spousal visa - I typically just renew my work visa (professor status) each three years. Would that be enough to allow my family to visit or should I change to spousal or PR status?

If your wife is Japanese, then she probably has your surname, which means your close family members (like parents/children) are actually her close family members. So they should be able to apply for a family visitor visa through her at the J-embassy in their country.

But to sponsor them yourself, you need a long-term visa (such as a spouse visa) to do this, or PR status.

Moskollo

Completely agree that families of Permanent residents should be given special dispensation to come into the country. My mum has been waiting to see her grandchild for two years, surely family is more important than getting students over?

Again, stop believing this false claim.

Close family of PRs can currently visit Japan from any foreign country. They just need to apply for a family visitor visa at the J-embassy in their country.

So if you are a PR, your mum can visit you at any time (once she gets the visa... and assuming she can get a flight).

Getting PR directly can be hard.

I've been in Japan continuously for well over 10 years now and married over 3, so I think I should be able to get PR if I want it going on some of the other comments. Some good points re spousal vs PR that I hadn't really considered. I'll have to check about whether or not I'd be able to get a visa for my family members with my current status although in any case I'm not sure they would want to go through all the trouble getting through the border controls.

changing from a work visa to a spouse visa or applying for PR should seek legal advice first. I am not talking about visiting family members who would need the same visa as anyone else.

Application for PR usually requires 10 years of continuous residence.

No need to get "legal advice". All info is online in English via MOFA.

And J-immigration is pretty straight-forward. Just be sure to give all required docs (and I recommend being superfluous with your info and marriage narrative. I've found that they think more info means more credibility).

And again, getting PR status is hard if done directly from a work visa, but if you first have a spouse visa for just one year you can easily convert this to PR (but you need to be married for at least 3+ years total and live in Japan with that spouse visa for one of those years to get PR.)

I was on a spouse visa, went in to get it renewed, and it was the immigration officials who suggested I switch to PR. Proof of employment was all that I needed (being self employed, of my brochures sufficed), waited about a week until they called that it was done, and that was it. Now I don't have to wait in the "foreigner" line at immigration. The citizen lines are usually shorter and faster.

 I'll have to check about whether or not I'd be able to get a visa for my family members with my current status 

Again, if your wife is Japanese, then your family is her family. So they can enter via her.

Japan, why? Infections are rising in Japan. And rising around the world. What changed your mind?

@Luddite: Apart from 7-8 countries, there is no quarantine now if you are triple vaxxed, and its NO problem to get a booster. My city is awash with Moderna.

Back on topic please.

“Japan effectively imposed an entry ban on nonresident foreign nationals in late November”

Never tired of reminding it: Japan imposed an entry ban on nonresident in February 2020, including seven months in which it was applied to residents as well, and with the exception of three weeks in November 2021 (in theory, but in practice it made no difference because nobody could receive the visa and enter the country in that short period of time). It is now and by far the longest running ban on foreigners outside China/North Korea, only one in the G7, and wildly unjustified when there have been 50,000+ positives per day in the country for months now, and with a testing limited capacity (or will).

zichiToday  11:38 am JST

As of March 1, foreign residents, business travellers and foreign students are allowed to enter Japan – but the borders are unfortunately still closed to tourists.

The article already states that information:

The latest move reflects the growing need for entry among returning Japanese nationals and foreign visitors, including students who wish to stay in Japan. ****But it still does not apply to foreign tourists.

I have left and returned to Japan 8 times the past two years, but never had difficulty re-entering. I have never heard of Japanese nationals having difficulty re-entering, so I don't understand the first quoted sentence.

divindaToday  08:43 am JST

Actually, if you have a long-term resident visa (like a teacher or student) then yes, your immediate family can visit you too.

And note, it must be a "long-term resident visa". Many regular foreign teachers and students are not classified as such.

Where do you get this information? Every foreign student I've come across has a Student visa ranging from 6 months to 2 years. Every foreign teacher has a visa for 1 year (renewable) or 3 or 5 years. None of these are considered "Short term Visas" which both in Japan and EU (Schengen) means maximum 90 days.

Where do you get this information? Every foreign student I've come across has a Student visa ranging from 6 months to 2 years. Every foreign teacher has a visa for 1 year (renewable) or 3 or 5 years. None of these are considered "Short term Visas" which both in Japan and EU (Schengen) means maximum 90 days.

Apparently, long-term resident is different from non-short term stay. According to japanvisa.com:

The Long Term Resident Visa is aimed at a very special and narrow category of individuals. It includes people with Japanese ancestry, Indochinese refugees, and the spouses and children of Japanese nationals remaining in China after World War II.

Teachers stay under a type of working visa students stay under a type of general visa.

Visa categories/types

https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/long/index.html

I have never heard of Japanese nationals having difficulty re-entering, so I don't understand the first quoted sentence.

Japanese nationals are allowed to enter of course but still within the quota

How about eliminating the pre-departure PCR? It's expensive and in some places hard to get with the MOFA form.

How about eliminating the pre-departure PCR?

Isn't that the most important measure regarding infection control when travelling?

@fish10 as long as you have a pcr test with the required information the government form can just be attached and signed by anyone human or animal. I had mine signed by a Turkish Airlines staff because despite the PCR in English from a French hospital printed and stamped and signed by the doctor she said “they only care about the government form signed”. The time before, coming from a different country, I had gone through the pain of visiting the Japanese embassy with my government-stamped PCR in English with QR coda and all and they just attached to it the Japanese government form ticking the corresponding cases and writing ‘yes it’s a government issued PCR’ in Japanese. Last time I left on a Sunday and the embassy being closed before I got the PCR results I just printed the Japanese form, ticked the right cases and signed it myself to ‘certify’ it said what it said.

The important thing is the PCR itself, although of course Japanese don’t think the same or they would get tested regularly too, since the virus is abundantly present here.

Oh just OPEN UP already …..

I caught Covid in Japan yet I I’ll be made to wait at immigration (on my way back) for a test that I know will be negative-it is a colossal waste of time and money

Thanks Japan....

For being so welcoming, kind and open.

What goes around comes around in this case, I hope.

@louisferdinandc

Love your posts. Keep stating those facts and condemning the crap Japan keeps churning out.

I got a fever after getting Pfizer. No idea whenit started as I didn't feel anything bad in particular just checked my temp when I got home from work, roughly 28 hours after the jab.

My temp was 38 deg on a thermometer with a normal reading of 36.4

With moderna I had a 39.8 fever on a thermometer with a normal reading of 35.4

It may have rose higher but I took meds at that point.

That was first jab I don't remember having any side effects with the second

Yes, "distant relatives" can not enter, but a non-resident foreign spouse, child, sibling, parent, or grandparent of a citizen or PR can enter from any country, but they do need to get a visa.

Please tell me more about this. The MOFA site only says "Spouse or child of a Japanese national/permanent resident.", so I assumed parents of a PR can't enter.

https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page22e_000921.html

Ken

Its not true that if you break up with your spouse you lose your Japan visa but ofcourse you cant renew it once it expires.

Zichi

Iam not having issues with my residency status.

But thanks anyway.

I will try to go to Japan this summer to visit relatives, but all the paperwork is such a pain. I will have to go to the Japanese Embassy in person to collect my visa once it is issued, which is several hours of travel by train. It means I will have to take a day of work and waste a vacation day just to get a sticker in my passport that previously would have been issued to me automatically at arrival in Japan.

Before COVID the embassy staff would regularly make tours around the country a few times per year so people who live far from the capital where the embassy is located could pick up their issued documents locally, but they do so no longer because of "COVID", despite all regulations having been dropped in my country otherwise.

What about the farcical process at immigration? Still getting the same documents checked multiple times? How about the phone app, that was completely useless when I used it.

therougou

Please tell me more about this. The MOFA site only says "Spouse or child of a Japanese national/permanent resident.", so I assumed parents of a PR can't enter.

You should check the J-embassy of the country your family is in.

This is from the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, but I assume its true for anywhere:

Types of Visa and Requirements

  3. Visa for Visiting Relatives 

    (a) To visit Japanese National/Permanent Resident in Japan: a spouse, parents, children, sibling, grandparents, grandchildren may apply for a visa.  

    (b) To visit Long-term Resident in Japan: a spouse, parents, children may apply for a visa. Proof of residence of family in Japan such as "Jyuminhyo" and photocopy of "Residence Card" required.

    (c) To visit relatives other than (a) and (b) above: Explanation letter and proof of necessity of visit required (ex. medical certificate, admission letter, appointment letter etc.) 

    (d) In the case that a relative in Japan died or is under a grave condition, visa application may be acceptable with an official death/medical certificate. 

    (e) In the case that a relative in Japan truly needs emergent caregiving/assistance due to accident, disease or delivery, visa application may be acceptable with an official medical certificate.

Here's the link:

https://www.ph.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/00_000035.html

Don't ever get a spouse visa, any problem with your partner you are kicked out of the country real quick. Always get a PR.

Rodney

Its true that a lot of Brits have it, but if we had anywhere near the amount of testing they do in the uk here in Japan I think you’d we are not far off the UK numbers here - we have a similar number of people dying of it as they do in the UK

The numbers dying in Japan are around a hundred a day, in the UK about 200 a day. Don't forget that the population in Japan is roughly double that of the UK. So that is a factor of 4. Japan has a quarter of the deaths compared to the UK adjusting for population. And that is with an older population as well!

Border controls are poinless now against BA.2 if it is already spreading internally and the population is vaccinated. Sadly, in the UK now it takes a week to pass the daily death rate at the peak of the pandemic and nobody seems to care - no controls at all, no masks needed. This death rate just keeps going week after week, month after month. It could stay this way for a long time.

Also, The Uk has already lost 170-200,000 people to covid but Japan less than 30,000. Even after losing 200,000 vulnerable people they are still losing 4 times as many as Japan on a daily basis adjusting for population.

@divinda

Here's the link:

https://www.ph.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/00_000035.html

That is weird. For Japan embassy in USA it just basically repeats what the MOFA site says, only child or spouse, unless they absolutely need to come to be taken care of, or take care of their family member(s), etc.

So nobody is spreading misinformation, those are the rules Japan put in place. But perhaps some countries are making it easier to get a visa by exaggerating the circumstances.