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VISAS AND RED TAPE |
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All visitors to Japan must have a valid passport for the duration of
their stay, but only residents of certain countries need apply for a
visa in advance. Citizens of Austria, Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein,
Mexico, Switzerland and the UK can stay in Japan for up to ninety days
without a visa provided they are visiting for tourism or business
purposes. This stay can be extended for another three months .
Citizens of Argentina, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Canada,
Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Dominica, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Guatemala,
Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lesotho, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain,
Surinam, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay and the USA can also stay for
up to ninety days without a visa, though this is unextendable and you
are required to possess a return airline ticket. Anyone wishing to stay
longer will have to leave the country, then re-enter.
All other nationalities must apply for a visa in advance from the
Japanese embassy or consulate in their own country. These are usually
free, though in certain circumstances you may be charged a fee of around
¥3000 for a single-entry visa. The rules on visas do change from time to
time, so check first with your embassy or consulate, or on the Japanese
Foreign Ministry Web site ( www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/index.html
), for the current situation.
Visa extensions
To get a visa extension you'll need to fill in two copies of an
Application for Extension of Stay, available from local immigration
bureaux (see Listings sections of major city accounts). These must then
be returned along with passport photos, a letter explaining your reasons
for wanting to extend your stay, and a processing fee of ¥4000. In
addition, you may be asked to show proof of sufficient funds, and a
valid onward ticket out of the country. If you're not a national of one
of the few countries with six-month reciprocal visa exemptions (ie
Austria, Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Switzerland and the
UK), expect a thorough grilling from the immigration officials. An
easier option - and the only alternative available to nationals of those
countries who are not eligible for an extension - may be a short trip
out of the country, say to South Korea or Hong Kong, though you'll still
have to run the gauntlet of immigration officials on your return.
Working holiday and re-entry visas
Citizens of Australia, Britain, Canada, France, New Zealand and South
Korea aged between 18 and 30 can apply for a working holiday visa ,
which grants a six-month stay and one possible six-month extension. This
entitles the holder to work for a maximum of twenty hours a week, and is
intended primarily to subsidize bona fide travellers. You need to apply
at least three weeks before leaving your home country, and must be able
to show evidence of sufficient funds, which effectively means a return
ticket (or money to buy one) plus around US$2000 or the equivalent to
live on while you look for work. Contact your local embassy or consulate
to check the current details of the scheme.
If you enter Japan on a working holiday visa you must apply for an Alien
Registration card , within ninety days of arrival. Also if you leave
Japan temporarily and you're on any sort of working visa you must get a
re-entry visa before you leave, if you wish to return and continue
working. Re-entry visas are available from local immigration bureaux.
Japanese embassies and consulates
You'll find addresses for other embassies and consulates on the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs Web site ( www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/index.html
), and links to many of them from the UK Embassy site (
www.embjapan.org.uk/links_emb.html ).
Australia , 112 Empire Circuit, Yarralumla, Canberra ACT 2600 (tel
02/6273 3244); 17th Floor, Comalco Place, 12 Creek St, Brisbane,
Queensland 4000 (tel 07/3221-5188); Level 15, Cairns Corporate Tower, 15
Lake St, Cairnes, Queensland 4870, (tel 07/4051 5177); 45th Floor,
Melbourne Central Tower, 360 Elizabeth St, Melbourne, Victoria 3000 (tel
03/9639-3244); 21st Floor, The Forrest Centre, 221 St George Terrace,
Perth, WA 6000 Australia (tel 08/9321 7816); Level 34, Colonial Centre,
52 Martin Place, Sydney, NSW 2000 (tel 02/9231-3455).
Canada , 255 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON KIN 9E6 (tel 613/241-8541,
www.embassyjapancanada.org ); 2480 ManuLife Place, 10180-101 St,
Edmonton, AB, T5J 3S4 (tel 780/422-3752); 600 Rue de la Gauchetière
Ouest, Suite 2120, Montréal, PQ, H3B 4L8 (tel 514/866-3429); Suite 3300,
Royal Trust Tower, 77 King St W, PO Box 10, Toronto-Dominion Centre,
Toronto, ON, M5K 1A1 (tel 416/363-7038); 900-1177 West Hastings St,
Vancouver, BC V6E 2K9 (tel 604/684-5868).
China , 7 Ri Tan Rd, Jian Guo Men Wai, Beijing (tel 10/6532-2361);
46-47th Floors, One Exchange Square, 8 Connaught Place, Central, Hong
Kong (tel 25221184, www.japan.org.hk ).
France , 7 Ave Hoche, 75008 Paris (tel 01.48.88.62.00, www.amb-japon.fr
).
Germany , Kleiststrasse 23-26, 10787 Berlin (tel 030/210940,
www.embjapan.de ).
Ireland , Nutley Building, Merrion Centre, Nutley Lane, Dublin 4 (tel
01/269-4244, www.mofa.go.jp/embjapan/ireland/index.html ).
New Zealand , Level 18, Majestic Centre, 100 Willis St, Wellington 1 (tel
04/473-1540); Level 12, ASB Bank Centre, 135 Albert St, Auckland 1 (tel
09/303-4106); Level 5, Forsyth Barr House, 764 Colombo St, Christchurch
1 (tel 03/366-5680).
Singapore , 16 Nassim Rd, Singapore, 258390 (tel 235-8855, www.japan-emb.org.sg
).
South Korea , 9th Floor, Kyobo Building, Chongro 1-ka, Chongro-ku, Seoul
(tel 02/733-5626).
Thailand , 1674 New Petchburi Rd, Bangkok 10320 (tel 02/252-6151,
www.embjp-th.org ).
UK , 101-104 Piccadilly, London W1V 9FN (tel 020/7465-6500,
www.embjapan.org.uk ); 2 Melville Crescent, Edinburgh EH3 7HW (tel
0131/225-4777).
USA , 2520 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008-2869 (tel
202/238-6700, www.embjapan.org ); 3601 C St, Suite 1300, Anchorage, AL
99503 (tel 907/562-8424); Suite 2000, 100 Colony Square Building, 1175
Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30361 (tel 404/892-2700); Federal Reserve
Plaza, 14th Floor, 600 Atlantic Ave, Boston, MA 02210 (tel
617/973-9772); Olympia Centre, Suite 1100, 737 North Michigan Ave, Suite
1100, Chicago, IL 60611 (tel 312/280-0400); 1225 17th Street, Suite
3000, Denver, CO 80202 (tel 303/534-1151); 400 Renaissance Center, Suite
1600, 48243, Detroit, MI 48243 (tel 313/567-0120); 1742 Nuuanu Ave,
Honolulu, HI 96817-3294 (tel 808/543-3111); 1000 Louisiana St #2300,
Houston, TX 77002 (tel 713/652-2977); 1800 Commerce Tower, 911 Main St,
Kansas City, MO 64105-2076 (tel 816/471-0111); 350 South Grand Ave,
Suite 1700, Los Angeles, CA 90071 (tel 213/617-6700); Brickell Bay View
Centre, Suite 3200, 80 SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33130 (tel 305/530-9090);
Suite 2050, One Poydras Plaza, 639 Loyola Ave, New Orleans, LA 70113
(tel 504/529-2101); 299 Park Ave, New York, NY 10171 (tel 212/371-8222);
2700 Wells Fargo Center, 1300 SW, 5th Ave, Suite 2700, Portland, OR
97201 (tel 503/221-1811); 50 Fremont St, Suite 2300, San Francisco, CA
94105 (tel 415/777-3533); 601 Union St, Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98101
(tel 206/682-9107).
Customs
The duty-free allowance for bringing goods into Japan is 400 cigarettes
or 100 cigars or 500 grams of tobacco; three 760cc bottles of alcohol;
two ounces of perfume; and gifts and souvenirs up to a value of
¥200,000. As well as firearms and drugs, Japanese customs officials are
particularly strict about the import of pornographic material, which
will be confiscated if your bags are searched.
On the plane you'll be given an immigration form and a customs
declaration to fill out; if you're within the allowances outlined above,
you can ignore the customs form. If you're arriving from a developing
country you'll also have to fill out a yellow health form, detailing any
illness you may have suffered in the previous fourteen days. If you've
been well, you can ignore this form, too.
There is no limit on the amount of foreign or Japanese currency that you
can bring into the country, but ¥5 million is the maximum that you can
take out of Japan.
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