Extent temporary visa with dual citizenship

Hello everyone,

I am wondering whether it is possible to do visa runs to stay in japan for 9 months with dual citizenship. My partner (not married) lives in Japan and I would like to stay as long as possible. I have Swedish and Danish citizenship and my Swedish citizenship allows me to stay for 180 days in Japan within a year (if I enter and exit once) while my Danish citizenship permits me to stay for 90 days in Japan.

I asked the immigration bureau, but they gave me a very unclear answer.

Any insights would be really appreciated!

Thanks!

Why not just come back with your Swedish passport after being a few days outside of Japan?

Japan does not accept dual nationalities.
they don't answer you how to use dual nationality.
also, your purpose is "staying for 9 months with no resident status". they can't answer you.
what you can do is to use "visa waiver" until they refuse it. all risks belong to you.

You are incorrect when you say "Swedish citizenship allows me to stay for 180 days in Japan within a year". What you are entitled to do is have a single stay of up to 180 days, and as many stays in Japan as you like. There is not a 180 day limit, however, once past 183 days in any 365 day period you need to be aware of your tax resident status and the relevant tax treaty (if any) with your home country.

You could 'try/risk' enter with Swedish passport for 180 days, do a visa run trip to Korea/Taiwan etc. and re-enter with your Danish passport for 90 days..

BUT (very big BUT) nowadays they fingerprint you, so when the system show both details, your previous stay records, under different country passport, it may trigger an alarm/problems to you. Immigration may blacklist you because of suspicion trying to reside/working without proper documentation, trying to commit visa fraud etc.. whatever immigration come up with to deny your entry.

So is it worth the risk ? 5-10years ban once on immigration blacklist.

I would recommend you to stop planning that and shorten the plan. Trying to say for 9 months is too long for just a tourist under visa waiver program and it may contain risk to be suspected, as mentioned above

To the OP of the question:

Why not simply either get married or just get a COE/Visa to work in Japan so that way you don't need to worry about "how long can I stay in Japan on a tourist visa"? It would honestly just be easier in the long run so you don't have to jump through hoops to leave the country, then come back and think about using another citizenship.

Japan has always been rather strict with immigration and if you're coming back and forth with different visas, that may raise a red flag. None of us on this forum know if they would accept or deny you trying to stay that long, as it's a case-by-case scenario.

Good luck to whatever you decide!

Thank you for all the replies! I have sent another email to the immigration bureau for clarification.

The Swedish stay works a bit different from the other countries that allow for an 180 days extension (like Germany or the US). According to the Japanese-Swedish agreement, Swedish citizens can stay for up to 90 days each stay, but the limit is 180 days in total within a year.

As I am working on a project (which I can do from anywhere) I cannot apply for another job and therefore cannot get an CoE, unfortunately. I was thinking about applying for a Japanese language course, but as I cannot commit the time to actually study, this also does not seems like an option. As for marriage, I do not think I am ready for that yet!

Maybe the simplest solution is just to stay for 180 days, which would kind of suck, but.