Re-entry

Without a Japanese re-entry permit (再入国許可 sai'nyūkoku kyoka), if you leave Japan your current working visa will end and you will need to apply for a new visa to return to Japan (potentially a few months to process). Re-entry permits allow you to leave the country and return once (a one-time re-entry permit) or to leave and return an unlimited number of times (a multiple re-entry permit). Once you hold a re-entry permit, you are allowed to stand in the Japanese passport holders line in customs, which is much faster than the foreign passports line.

It is recommended you get your re-entry permit for multiple trips, and you get it early in your stay in Japan. If there is an emergency at home and you have to return for a short while, you may not otherwise be able to return.

Nearby Immigration Bureaus

As both immigration bureaus are only open Monday to Friday, you may very well have to take a day of vacation to get your re-entry permit.

• Nagoya Immigration Bureau
• Yokkaichi Immigration Bureau

Things to Bring

• Passport (旅券 ryoken)
• Alien Registration Card (外国人登録証明書 gaikokujin tōroku shōmeisho)
• Application for Re-entry Permit (再入国許可申請書 sai'nyūkoku kyoka shinseisho) - can be filled out at the bureau or in advance (download here)
• Revenue Stamp (収入印紙 shū'nyū inshi) for either ¥3000 or ¥6000 depending on the type of re-entry permit you want (see below)

Fees

The changes paid to the immigration bureau for the re-entry permit (or any visa-related procedure) can only be paid with revenue stamps. They are stamps which you pay a cash amount for and then receive a correspondingly-valued stamp. You can get them at any post office, and there is a window inside the Nagoya bureau for getting them. However this is not the case at the Yokkaichi bureau so make sure to pick them up in advance if going there. Actual cash won't be accepted.

• Single re-entry permit : ¥3000
• Multiple re-entry permit : ¥6000 (recommended)