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Japanese visa has a hole punched in it 2018/5/16 18:53
Hello,

I am travelling to Japan in about a week, and I am planning to use a multiple-entry visa in my old passport. Said visa was issued in 2016 and is valid until 2021. However, I renewed my passport the following year, and my concern is that when I renewed my passport, the Department of Foreign Affairs in my country used a puncher to punch holes through the ENTIRE old passport. Hence, the Japanese visa in there has holes in it too. Will I encounter any problems entering Japan? Is my visa still valid?

Thank you!
by Bradford (guest)  

Re: Japanese visa has a hole punched in it 2018/5/17 12:18
The Japan Embassy in my country stated that the visa is still valid but you need to process for visa transfer (fee applied) to the new passport at the embassy.
by Moccy rate this post as useful

Re: Japanese visa has a hole punched in it 2018/5/17 20:55
Your old passport is invalid/expired and cannot be used, if you proceed with a visa transfer, I'm not sure if a week is enough, why didn't you deal with the problem earlier. Japan immirgration/custom might reject your entry as they are really strict.
by kms899 rate this post as useful

Re: Japanese visa has a hole punched in it 2018/5/19 02:24
Are you from the PH? This happened to me too but DFA only punched the front cover and 1st page of my passport (the page with photo and name). I sent an email to the Japan embassy in PH and they said they will recognize my visa in the old passport. True enough, when I went to Japan a few months later, I didn't have any problems. Make sure you bring both new and old passport.
However, if DFA also punched through the page with the japanese visa then I would advise that you send an email/call the Japanese embassy to be sure. They are quick to respond.
by alex (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Japanese visa has a hole punched in it 2018/5/19 02:50
People do it differently, I have a UK passport, one only has the front cover corner cut off, whiles another, I have the corner of covers and every page cut off.
by kms899 rate this post as useful

Re: Japanese visa has a hole punched in it 2018/5/24 11:41
Hi all,

Thank you for the replies. They've helped to ease my mind. Apparently, it wasn't the entire passport, just the front cover, and people have been fine with going with two passports, so everything's good. Thank you all again.

by Bradford (guest) rate this post as useful

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