Residence Card / Reentry Permit

Hello,
I have a visa that is valid until 2014 but I don't have a current valid Reentry Permit.
I will be leaving Japan for two weeks in September.
As I don't have a Reentry permit do I need to get a residence card before I leave or will I be ok to get back into Japan without a valid Reentry permit and then simply get the new residence card when I return to Japan in September?
Thanks.

I'm not really sure, but I think you should get the new residence card to be on the safe side. That way, you won't have to worry about it.

Hi,
Almost the same situation as yours. My visa expires in 2014 so does the gaijin card, and I should go to Europe for a couple of months very soon. Moreover I have got neither the resident card nor reentry permit.
There's a huge lack of clarity so I have decided to go to the Immigration Office and ask.
Take a look at the pdf you find in this page http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_1/en/index.html and you'll see that we probably don't need to apply for the resident card right now (see i.e. page 7 on). I said PROBABLY 'cause what they have written is a little ambiguous. That's why I'll go to the Tokyo Nyuukan in a few hours to get some info. Let them go hell for wasting my time.

I have not found any definitive information about it either, but as long as you are on the current system (visa on the passport and Alien Registration Card), you will probably need to get the reentry permit before you leave Japan, staying with the current system. At least with the current system, trying to leave without a reentry permit is a big no-no.

Or if you want to, maybe you "could" apply for the new resident card before you leave, but I have no idea how long that takes, and I have no idea if they are willing to issue a card before your current ARC expires or before the deadline of 2015.

So to be safe, I would (and I would advise my family) to go get the reentry permit on the current system before leaving Japan.

Easiest thing to be sure is to head along to your local immigration office and apply for a zairyu card. Should come in about a week, though they have been very busy as lot of people didn't read the instructions and thought they had to get one immediately. You have to change one when your ARC runs out or you change your SOR, or in 2015 at the latest, but you can change it anytime up to then. The situation isn't clear - they haven't actually done away re-entry permits, technically your zairyu card acts as a special re-entry permit for up to a year 's absence from Japan. ARC's that are still valid are supposed to act the same as zairyu cards until changed, so it's possible you don't need to get a re-entry permit or a new card and your ARC might do on it's own. Personally I wouldn't risk it though.

Thanks for the answers.
I'm glad everyone else has felt the issue to be a little ambiguous as i felt a little stupid for not understanding.
I guess the safest thing to do will be to just get the residence card beforehand.

You don't have to change to the residence card system at all and you don't need a reentry permit either, if the duration of your trip is less than a year. I left for my home country on July 16th with my Gaijin Card and no reentry permit. When I went through immigration, they asked if I planned to return and I told them I would be back in 2 weeks. They made me fill in a small card called "Embarkation Card for Reentrant" and stamped it with a special re-entry permission. They were advertising this system everywhere near immigration.

So you don't have to change your card or get a reentry permit!!!

That's right, Lizzy. That's exactly what I was told.

Ok, cheers.
Saved me a few trips and some paperwork!!