reentry permit

i might need a reentry permit pretty quickly but i am not sure how long it will take. i hear you can get an emergency reentry permit at the airport, but i dont want to take any chances. i cant afford a plane ticket if i cant go home and i go to school in tokyo so i must be able to come back. any help would be great. i know how japanese beaurocracy can be

You can get it in one visit to the immigration office. Depending on the efficiency and crowdedness of the office, this can take as little as 10 minutes. But in badly organized and crowded offices you may have to wait in line for a long time.

Among the few immigration offices I have been to, I can recommend the one in Saitama. It is well organized and waiting times for re-entry permits tend to be short.

I read online that you must go to the immigration office in the prefecture where you live (not the one where you work). Is that true? Thanks Uji!

Davido,

I don't think that is true.
I used to go to the Tokyo office when it was in Otemachi, as it was more convenient for me than the Saitama one (before that moved too).

No, I don't think you are bound to a specifc immigration office. I myself live in Gunma Prefecture, but I got my re-entry permit in the Saitama immigration office. That was two years ago. I doubt that the rules have changed.

Thanks!

Sorry - I tried to post a new question - on rentry permit, do you have to tell immingration when you're returning to Japan (as long as it is within your visa timeframe?)

Cindy,

You are supposed to fill in your return date on the application form, but I don't think it is particularly important, as it is not printed on the actual re-entry permit you get. So long as you return within the validity period, I don't think there is any problem.

Thanks so much! My husband is staying in Sakujii-tyo and working in Ikebukuro. Any chance anyone know if there is an immigration office convenient to one of those locations?

I suppose anyplace on the Yamanote line would do.

I don't know a place called "Sakujii", but the closest immigration office to central Tokyo is the Shinagawa Immigration Office. See here:
http://www.moj.go.jp/ENGLISH/information/iic-01.html

I`ll be coming home on august 16th for 1 month which is during the Obon Holiday.I am not sure the imigresen office is open during the holiday or not because I`m still not have the re-entry permit. So, in case the imigresen office close during the holiday, can i apply the re-entry at the airport (Kansai International Airport)?

You might have a problem if the offices are closed at the airport I read people have been refused one, or they got one only after immigration officials have grilled at the person for a while for not having one in advance. I think other times it must be a serious emergency to get one fast.
Either run to the immigration office the 16th after Obon hopefully they are open and they can process it it one day, then run to the airport, or
I don't know how it might turn out for you, but you might want to contact your airline to see if you can reschedule your trip (usually there will be high fees to reticket the ticket) however its better then taking your chances at the airport and being denied a re-entry visa, in effect if you leave without one you lose your visa.

Arief,

If you are not sure, you should phone your nearest immigration office on Monday morning to find out.
In the unlikely event that they are closed all week, then you will have to get a re-entry permit at the airport.
You won't be refused a permit at the airport, but I have heard that they make sure it is an extremely stressful process for people that just couldn't be bothered to get one at the regular immigration office.