The Atarashift Blog
Insights for working in Japan
Guides, interviews, and honest advice for international talent building a career in Japan.
The Atarashift Blog
Guides, interviews, and honest advice for international talent building a career in Japan.
Most foreign residents can leave Japan for up to a year on a special re-entry permit. When you need a regular permit, what it costs and how to apply.
Most foreign residents don't need to apply for a re-entry permit for a trip home. We analyzed ISA's procedure pages and the Immigration Control Act to set out when you do. A special re-entry permit covers trips of up to one year, or until your period of stay ends if sooner. You need a valid passport and residence card. You simply tick a box on a card at the airport. You need a regular re-entry permit only for longer absences or a few special cases. A regular permit costs ¥4,000 for one trip or ¥7,000 for multiple trips.
Key Takeaways
- Leaving Japan without a re-entry permit ends your status of residence. You would need a new visa to come back.
- The special re-entry permit lets you return within one year of leaving. It also ends on the day your period of stay runs out, if that comes first.
- To use it, tick the re-entry box on the embarkation card and tell the immigration officer. You don't apply in advance.
- A regular re-entry permit is valid for up to five years. It costs ¥4,000 (single) or ¥7,000 (multiple) at an immigration office.
- A special re-entry permit cannot be extended from abroad. A regular one can, at a Japanese embassy or consulate.
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You need some form of re-entry permit if you want to keep your status of residence. The Immigration Services Agency (ISA) is clear about what happens without one. If you leave Japan with no permit, your status of residence and period of stay end on departure. To return, you start again with a new visa and a new landing application.
The good news is that most people already have the permit they need. Japan has two kinds:
So the real question is not whether you need a permit. Which of the two fits your trip? For example, a two-week trip home and a two-year posting abroad need different answers.
Under Article 26-2 of the Immigration Control Act, you are treated as holding a re-entry permit if you meet three conditions:
In practice, the third step happens at passport control. The re-entry ED card is the embarkation card for residents who plan to come back. ISA says it has a checkbox for "temporary departure, will re-enter". Tick it, show the card to the officer, and say you're leaving on a special re-entry permit. Forgetting this box is the classic mistake. Your status can end the moment you pass through.
It is valid for one year from the day you leave. If your period of stay ends sooner, the permit ends on that date instead. So a work visa expiring in four months gives you four months, not twelve.
ISA lists five groups who must get a regular permit instead. They include people whose status is being revoked, people issued a detention order, and refugee applicants on Designated Activities. For most people on a work visa, none of these apply.
Use this table to decide. We built it from Articles 26 and 26-2 of the Immigration Control Act and ISA's guidance pages.
| Your situation | Special re-entry permit | Regular re-entry permit |
|---|---|---|
| Trip home for the holidays, under a year | Yes, tick the box | Not needed |
| Away more than one year (overseas assignment, study, family care) | No, it ends after one year | Yes |
| Period of stay ends while you're abroad | Ends on your expiry date | Also ends on your expiry date |
| You might be delayed and need an extension abroad | Cannot be extended | Can be extended at an embassy |
| Many trips over several years | Works for each trip under a year | A multiple permit covers them all |
| Leaving Japan for good | Don't use it | Not needed |
For a typical one- or two-week trip, the special permit is all you need. A regular permit is worth the money mainly for long absences, or as insurance when your return date is uncertain.
You apply before you leave, at the regional immigration office that covers your address. ISA lists the standard processing period as the same day.
Bring these:
You can apply in person, or someone else can file for you. ISA accepts staff at your employer who hold approval from the regional bureau as application agents. It also accepts approved travel agents, a registered lawyer or gyoseishoshi, and your legal representative. A relative or housemate can file only for a child under 16, or for someone who can't attend because of illness or a similar reason. Being busy at work doesn't count.
Only in one situation. ISA's online system accepts a re-entry permit application only together with a change of status, an extension of stay or an acquisition of status. If your work visa renewal is due anyway, adding the re-entry permit online saves a separate trip to the office.
You don't apply for the special re-entry permit, and ISA lists no fee for it. A regular permit costs the following, per ISA's procedure and online fee pages, retrieved 8 November 2026.
| Regular re-entry permit | At an immigration office (revenue stamps) | Online (with a status application) |
|---|---|---|
| Single use | ¥4,000 | ¥3,500 + ¥220 payment fee = ¥3,720 |
| Multiple use | ¥7,000 | ¥6,500 + ¥220 payment fee = ¥6,720 |
These counter fees have applied since 1 April 2025, when they rose from ¥3,000 and ¥6,000. What about the big October 2026 fee change? In ISA's fee pages, we found it covers renewals, changes of status and permanent residence, not re-entry permits. Online fees are now paid by convenience store or bank payment, through a payment company ISA appoints. ISA warns that payment emails from any other address are scams.
Both kinds of permit stop at the end of your period of stay. Article 26 caps a regular permit at five years, and ISA limits it to your current period of stay. The special permit has the same cap written into Article 26-2. Renewing from abroad is not an option, because you file an extension of stay at an immigration office in Japan.
So check your expiry date before booking. Does it fall during your trip? Then renew first. For example, a residence card expiring on 15 January is a problem for a trip from 20 December to 20 January. ISA accepts renewal applications from about three months before expiry, for people with a period of stay of six months or more.
Yes, in some cases. ISA says it may accept a renewal application more than three months early when there is a genuine special reason. Its examples include a long overseas business trip or posting ordered by your employer, studying abroad, and giving birth in your home country. Contact your regional immigration office first, with the documents ISA lists for this.
This is where the two permits really differ.
With a regular permit, you can ask for an extension from abroad. Article 26 lets a Japanese embassy or consulate extend it if you have a good reason for not returning in time. The extension can be up to one year, and no more than six years from when the permit took effect.
With a special permit, there is no extension. Article 26-2 says the extension rule does not apply. If you miss the one-year mark, your status of residence is gone. Coming back would mean starting again with a new visa and a new landing application.
If your plans are uncertain, a regular permit is cheap insurance. ¥4,000 is far less than restarting your visa.
ISA has a fix for this. A relative living with you, or someone you authorize in writing, can request it for you. They ask an immigration office in Japan to certify your re-entry permit deadline. The form is called a re-entry permit deadline certificate request (再入国許可期限証明願). It also covers people whose old passport was taken back when a new one was issued.
Then don't tick the re-entry box. Under Article 19-14 of the Immigration Control Act, your residence card loses its effect when you leave without a re-entry permit. Article 19-15 says you must then hand it back straight away.
If you're claiming a pension refund, read how the re-entry permit affects your lump-sum withdrawal before you fly.
If you just arrived, our guide to your first 14 days in Japan covers the other paperwork to finish before your first trip.
Not a separate one, in most cases. The special re-entry permit covers trips of up to one year. Carry your passport and residence card, tick the re-entry box on the ED card and tell the officer you'll return.
ISA lists no fee for the special re-entry permit, because you don't apply for it. A regular permit costs ¥4,000 for a single trip or ¥7,000 for multiple trips at an immigration office. Online, with a renewal or change of status, it is ¥3,720 or ¥6,720 including the payment fee.
A special permit lasts one year from departure. A regular permit lasts up to five years. Neither can go past the end of your period of stay.
No. Article 26-2 of the Immigration Control Act rules this out. Only a regular re-entry permit can be extended, at a Japanese embassy or consulate, by up to one year.
Yes. Permanent residents lose their status if they leave without one, like any other resident. The special re-entry permit works for them too. A permanent resident planning more than a year abroad needs a regular permit.
Yes, if a staff member there holds approval from the regional immigration bureau to file applications. A registered lawyer, gyoseishoshi, approved travel agent or your legal representative can also file for you. Otherwise, you apply in person.
Look at the expiry date on your residence card, then decide which permit fits your trip. If you're planning your next move in Japan while you're away, let employers do some of the work. Atarashift lets verified companies in Japan that hire internationally come to you. Upload your profile once and get scouted.
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