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Procedure · 再入国許可

Re-entry permit for Japan: special re-entry and the regular permit

If you live in Japan and leave even for a week, you have to “take your status with you”. For a trip of up to a year a tick on the embarkation card is enough — the special re-entry permit (みなし再入国). For a longer absence you need a re-entry permit before you go. Both options, deadlines, fees and what happens if you do not return in time.

Forms and documents

All procedures

Checked against the Immigration Services Agency of Japan on 28 September 2026

Special re-entry permitUp to 1 year · free

Re-entry permitUp to 5 years

Fee: single · multiple¥4,000 · ¥7,000

Processing timeSame day

Two options

How to leave Japan without losing your status

If you leave without a re-entry permit, your status of residence and period of stay end the moment you depart — this is set in the Immigration Control Act (Articles 26 and 26-2). The rule is the same for every status, including permanent residence.

Up to 1 year · free

Special re-entry permit (みなし再入国) — a tick when you leave

  • Nothing to file in advance
  • You need a valid passport and your residence card
  • Return within 1 year of departure, and before your status expires
  • The deadline cannot be extended from abroad
  • Not available with a 3-month period of stay or a short-term (visitor) status

Up to 5 years · ¥4,000 or ¥7,000

Re-entry permit (再入国許可) — applied for before you leave

  • Apply at an immigration bureau before your trip; the decision usually comes the same day
  • Single permit for one trip, multiple permit for any number of trips
  • Valid for up to 5 years, but not beyond your period of stay
  • If you are stuck abroad, a Japanese embassy or consulate can extend it by up to 1 year
  • Needed if you leave for more than a year or the special re-entry permit does not apply to you

At the airport

How to leave on a special re-entry permit

It takes a minute, but a mistake costs you your status. Every family member does it, children included.

  • Take the embarkation card for foreign residents who will return (再入国出国記録). It is handed out at immigration control at the airport or seaport.
  • Tick the box saying you are leaving temporarily and will return.
  • Show your passport, residence card and the card to the immigration officer. You keep your residence card — it travels with you.
  • Check the dates: you must return within a year and before your status expires. If your status ends sooner, extend it first.

Leaving for good? If you do not plan to come back, do not tick the box; hand in your residence card at immigration control when you leave.

You need no visa to come back: with a valid re-entry permit, including the special one, you enter on your passport and residence card (Article 6 of the Immigration Control Act). If you have applied for an extension and are waiting for the decision, you may travel, but you must return before the end of the special period: until the decision, and no longer than 2 months after your previous period of stay ended.

Deadlines

If you do not return in time

Your status

The status is lost

If the special re-entry permit or the re-entry permit expires while you are abroad, your status and period of stay are lost. To live in Japan again you start over — usually with a new Certificate of Eligibility and a visa. This applies to permanent residents too.

14 days

Return your residence card

If you left with a permit and did not come back in time, return your residence card to immigration within 14 days after the permit expired.

Extension

Only the regular permit

A Japanese embassy or consulate can extend a re-entry permit (再入国許可) if you cannot return in time for a good reason: by up to 1 year, and no more than 6 years from the date the permit took effect. The special re-entry permit cannot be extended.

Forms and documents

How to arrange re-entry: forms and documents

The special re-entry permit needs no application. The re-entry permit needs the ISA form, your residence card, your passport and a revenue stamp for the fee.

The first tab is leaving for up to a year without an application: what to show at the airport and who cannot use this option. The second is the re-entry permit (再入国許可), which you get at a bureau before the trip: the ISA application form and the fee form.

Leaving without an application — special re-entry permit (みなし再入国許可)

For everyone with a residence card and a period of stay longer than 3 months, including permanent residents. Nothing is filed in advance: when you leave, you tick the box on the embarkation card saying you will come back and show your residence card. You must return within 1 year of departure, or before your status expires if that comes first. This deadline cannot be extended from abroad.

Special re-entry permit rulesISA page · moj.go.jpRe-entry: both optionsISA page · moj.go.jp

No application form is needed: the embarkation card is handed out at immigration control at the airport or seaport. The buttons open the ISA pages with the rules.

Documents

  1. Valid passport 有効な旅券
  2. Residence card 在留カードWithout a residence card the special re-entry permit does not apply — you need a regular re-entry permit.
  3. Embarkation card with the box ticked: leaving temporarily, will return 再入国出国記録（再入国ＥＤカード）Tick the re-entry box and hand in the card with your passport and residence card. Every family member, including children, needs their own card.

You cannot leave on a special re-entry permit if proceedings to revoke your status are under way, your departure confirmation is withheld (出国確認の留保), a detention order has been issued, you are a refugee applicant living on Designated Activities (特定活動), or the Minister of Justice has decided you need a regular permit. In those cases apply for a re-entry permit (再入国許可) — the second tab.

Where
At immigration control at the airport or seaport when you leave
Fee
Free
Valid for
1 year from departure, but not beyond your period of stay; 2 years for special permanent residents (特別永住者)
Extension from abroad
Not possible
Documents for my caseYour list for your category and family — with checkboxes and a PDF

Re-entry permit (再入国許可) — if you leave for more than a year

Applied for in Japan before you leave. A single permit covers one trip, a multiple permit any number of trips. It is valid for up to 5 years, but not beyond your period of stay. You apply yourself, or through a company or school staff member, an administrative scrivener (行政書士) or a legal representative; if you are under 16 or too ill to come, through a relative or a person who lives with you.

Application formPDF · moj.go.jpApplication formExcel · moj.go.jp

Files open from the website of the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA). Forms are in Japanese and English; links checked 6 Oct 2026.

Documents

  1. Application for a re-entry permit 再入国許可申請書
  2. Residence card — show it 在留カード（提示）
  3. Passport — show it 旅券（提示）If you cannot show your passport, a written explanation of the reason.
  4. Fee payment form with a revenue stamp 手数料納付書The revenue stamp (収入印紙) is bought in cash. You pay when the permit is issued.download · PDFdownload · Excel
  5. If someone else applies for you — their proof of identity 身分を証する文書（申請取次者の場合）
  6. If a relative or a person who lives with you applies (you are under 16 or ill): a letter of reasons, proof of the family relationship or shared household, and a doctor’s certificate if you are ill 理由書・親族関係を証する資料（住民票等）・診断書Work, study or the distance to the bureau do not count as valid reasons. ISA provides a template for the letter of reasons.template letter of reasons · Word
  7. Special case: you lost your passport or residence card abroad — certificate of the permit’s expiry date 再入国許可期限証明願A relative who lives with you or an authorized person in Japan applies for you. The certificate confirms the date until which your permit is valid, including a special re-entry permit.form · PDFpower of attorney · PDF

Immigration may ask for other documents too. Full list: on the ISA procedure page.

Where to apply
The regional immigration services bureau for your address
Fee
Single ¥4,000, multiple ¥7,000 (online ¥3,500 and ¥6,500) — paid on issue. The amounts do not change on 1 October 2026; for online applications filed from that date you pay at a convenience store or bank instead of with a stamp, plus a ¥220 payment charge (¥3,720 and ¥6,720 in total)
Processing time
Same day
Online
Only together with an application for change, extension or acquisition of status
Documents for my caseYour list for your category and family — with checkboxes and a PDF

FAQ

Re-entry permit questions

Can’t find your question? Write to us — a real person replies. All fees: immigration fees.

Ask us a question

Do I need a permit if I go on holiday for a couple of weeks?

No application is needed. When you leave, tick the box on the embarkation card saying you will return and show your residence card — this is the special re-entry permit (みなし再入国). Come back within 1 year and before your status expires. If you do not tick the box, your status ends the moment you leave.

Your status and period of stay are lost. To live in Japan again you have to start over — usually with a new Certificate of Eligibility and a visa from an embassy. You must return your residence card to immigration within 14 days after the permit expires.

A special re-entry permit cannot be extended. A regular re-entry permit (再入国許可) can be extended at a Japanese embassy or consulate for a good reason: by up to 1 year, and to no more than 6 years in total from the date the permit took effect. If you may need more than a year abroad, get a re-entry permit before you leave.

A single permit (¥4,000) ends when you first come back to Japan. A multiple permit (¥7,000) covers any number of trips until it expires. If you travel often and for long periods, the multiple permit is better value.

Yes. Permanent residence has no period of stay, but if you leave on a special re-entry permit you must return within 1 year or you lose permanent residence. For a long absence get a re-entry permit (再入国許可) — up to 5 years.

A re-entry permit cannot be valid beyond your status. Return before your status expires and apply for an extension in Japan. You can apply for an extension from 3 months before the expiry date — easiest to do before you travel.

Yes, but you must return before the end of the special period: until the decision, and no longer than 2 months after your previous period of stay ended (Articles 20 and 26-2 of the Immigration Control Act). In practice, ask your bureau before the trip how you will receive the decision.

No. With a valid re-entry permit, including a special re-entry permit, you do not need a visa to return (Article 6 of the Immigration Control Act). Show your passport and residence card on arrival.

The fee is the same: single ¥4,000, multiple ¥7,000, online ¥3,500 and ¥6,500. For online applications filed from 1 October 2026 a ¥220 payment charge is added — ¥3,720 and ¥6,720 in total. The fee rise of 1 October 2026 concerns change and extension of status and permanent residence. The special re-entry permit (みなし再入国) is free.

Work in Japan

Leaving Japan for good?

All topics: Work in Japan — the full guide

Sources

Where this information comes from

Facts and document lists were checked against the website of the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA) on 28 September 2026. Form links come from a register of ISA files that our server refreshes every week: when ISA publishes a new version of a form, the button opens the new file.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Immigration decides each application and may ask for more documents. Where a rule is known only from practice, we say so.

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