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We aim to cut the maximum waiting time to 20 minutes or less, and to take all possible measures in our rigorous counterterrorism examinations to prevent anyone from slipping through the cracks.

8 Comments

Takashi Maruoka, deputy director-general of the Narita Airport District Immigration Office. Narita Airport is struggling to achieve both faster immigration procedures and stricter countermeasures against security threats, as long lines increase with the rapid increase of foreign visitors.

© Mainichi Shimbun

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Why not have more passport counters open? That would help.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

They used to allow permanent residents through the channels for Japanese nationals. That cut down waiting times in the tourist and business lines.

Still no idea why that was stopped. Suddenly after 20 years of smooth flow I found myself being forced back into the short-term visitor lane.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Why not assign more officers to the foreigners and fewer to the Japanese passport holders?

What???!!! And disturb the Wa! Why in the heavens would they do anything to inconvenience Taro Suzuki, and do anything to help out Bob Smith, or Dimitri Olof, or Hakim Al Adir.

When traveling as a family, we used to be able to all go through the Japanese side since I have PR, but a few years back, got in line with my wife, and a snarly official came over and pushed me into the foreigner line. My wife was through in minutes and had to sit and wait for me to be processed!

4 ( +4 / -0 )

At Narita, I usually see a huge stagnant crowd of foreigners and take pity on them, since I hold a residency card. The Japanese nationals, by contrast, zip right through. Why not assign more officers to the foreigners and fewer to the Japanese passport holders?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Still no idea why that was stopped. Suddenly after 20 years of smooth flow I found myself being forced back into the short-term visitor lane.

There is supposed to be a separate line for those with residency visas. Kansai airport has one, it usually isn't staffed, usually an immigration officer from the one of the visitor counters comes over to open it if they see someone waiting there.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Luddite: "Why not have more passport counters open? That would help"

Better yet, change one or two of the eight open for Japanese nationals while only one is open to foreign nationals to be open to foreign nationals.

And you're right, in Kansai they have the separate line for permanent residents, and it's AWESOME. Last flight I took I had only carry-on, and I timed it from getting off the shuttle to the main terminal after disembarking to walking out the front door: 10 minutes total. The lines for Japanese and foreign visitors were quite long, and there was only one person in front of me in the residents' line. They need to cut the waits for the visitors' lines, for sure.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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