Going back to Japan after overstaying visa

Hello everyone,

my background: I'm from Germany and I was staying in Japan from May 2015 to May 2016 with a Working Holiday Visa. My flight back to Germany was on the last day of my visa, however I missed the flight by about 30 minutes because I took the wrong train. After I returned home I immediately booked the first flight I could afford which was flying 3 days after my visa expired.

The day before my new flight departed I was going to the immigration office in Shinagawa with my girlfriend (Japanese) to report that I missed my flight and that I'm thus overstaying my visa. I brought all documents that could be relevant (booking confirmations for the missed and new flight, residence card, passport) and my girlfriend explained the situation to the immigration office's employee as my Japanese is not really good unfortunately.

He then took the booking confirmation and my passport and returned after about 30 minutes with a new sticker in my passport that says "Change Permit" and is a 15-day temporary visitor visa. He didn't say anything about a "departure order" or a time period in which I'm not allowed to visit Japan again so I was extremely relieved and happy and I left Japan the next day.

However I recently booked a flight to Japan (and a flight back) as I'm planning to visit my girlfriend on a tourist visa and some days after I bought the tickets I started to worry that I could have problems with getting a visa after returning. I then investigated the internet for similar situations and I almost always came to the same result: When showing at an immigration office voluntarily and satisfying certain requirements you'll get a departure order which doesn't allow you to enter Japan for 1 year.

I am now extremely worried that I will be refused entry to Japan because I will fly to Japan in April and I left less than one year ago. I was not aware of such consequences and like I mentioned no penalties were mentioned at the immigration office and there are no remarks in my passport except the 15-day permission change.

I would be very grateful if someone has further informations or maybe experienced a similar situation

I have no experience in the matter for Japanese immigration. But the fact he changed your permit and gave you a intermediate visa means he was satisfied with your situation. It rings no alarm bells in my mind.

But you can always call the Japanese embassy for further 100% correct details. They have the means to look up your situation and confirm outright without fault.

We (my non-Japanese spouse and myself, Japanese spouse) have had a bit of a similar experience, where he overstayed due to... well. I won't go into details.

As long as they gave you that "special acceptance" or "change permit" into your passport, that is fine. You did get a special permit for 15 days, within which you left. So as far as I can see, no problem. You did NOT get a departure order.

To the immigration officer who sees you when you fly into Japan the next time, the "change permit" in your passport means you WERE given a permit to stay that extra 15 days, so it should be fine. He would just think that some special circumstances happened which prevented you from leaving Japan on an earlier date, he might or might not ask about it, but no big deal.

You were given permission to stay in the country and did not overstay. You can demonstrate that on arrival if you have the documentation and are asked about it.

Thank you so much for your responses so far! They definitely make me calmer as I was quite panicked after I read about the departure order after I booked my flight.

Yes, OP did overstay, and the official at the airport will see it if he looks closely enough since the 15-day permit was issued after the previous status had expired.

@Firas : Yes, the 15-day temporary visitor was issued after my WHV expired. Maybe I should have also mentioned that the new visa ended 15 days after my WHV expired. So even though it was issued 2 days after my previous visa expired the 15-day period starts on the last day of the previous visa, if that makes any difference.

If the 15 day period started when the original visa expired, then it should retroactively apply and you didn't overstay. But really, you should just contact a Japanese embassy or consulate and put the issue to rest - I guarantee you'll feel more at ease than relying on a bunch of internet yahoos :)

Hey gfoulk, thanks for your reply and advice! :) Actually I already called the Japanese embassy today, I'm sorry I forgot to mention it. The lady at the embassy told me that this is not their area of responsibility and that I would have to directly call the Japanese immigration office if I would want to get further informations. But she also said that it's unlikely that the immigration office would give me further informations as they are quite discreet about this matter and that it will depend on the immigration officer at the airport. However, she also kindly told me that if there are no remarks in my passport besides the new "Change Permit" temporary visitor visa I shouldn't worry about it.