No re-entry permit! What to do?

Hello. I'm a very foolish young university student who left Japan without purchasing a re-entry permit, but I am due to return for another semester at the end of March, and I'm fretting.

1.) Assuming I show up at the gates of Narita with nothing more than my current passport and Visa, can I still at least make it into the country and work things out from there?

2.) Is there any way to get some equivalent of a re-entry permit from the United States?

I've already called the New York consulate, and they don't know what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

1.) Assuming I show up at the gates of Narita with nothing more than my current passport and Visa, can I still at least make it into the country and work things out from there?

Without a reentry permit you won't be able to enter again on your old visa and will instead be issued a 90 day visitor's visa when you arrive at Narita. That will be fine to study on if you will be here less than 90 days but if you intend to stay longer then you'll need to apply for a new student visa through your school.

2.) Is there any way to get some equivalent of a re-entry permit from the United States?

No

I agree with the reply above. Apply for the travel visa first and let your professor know about it so you can process your request for the new long-term visa.

Marionette85,

Note that the original poster is American, so can enter Japan on a tourist visa issued on arrival. There is no need to "apply for a travel visa" in advance.

Because you left without a re-entry permit, your original visa will have been cancelled, and you are back at square one. Yes, you can get a new student visa from inside Japan, but you will have to do all the paperwork over again, just like when you first arrived.

As above, it's too late to try to get a re-entry permit now, your original visa is no longer valid.

Hello,

no real input on the original question (which seem to be "solved" anyway), but a question directed to Sira:

Coming from Germany, I've always been told that it is not possible to apply for a visa from within Japan. The last time I applied for a visa (4 months stay), I got pretty nervous because the certificate of eligibility nearly didn't arrive in time. People at the embassy told me that getting into the country on a 90-days-permit, then "upgrading" it with the visa (once the COE comes through) from within Japan is simply not possible, it has to be issued in Germany.

So, out of curiosity: Is the situation different (i.e., easier) from other countries? Or is there anything special about the described situation because of the "student visa"?

Thanks for your input,
Kai

Umi2jp,

This is because in the case you described you wouldn't be applying for a new visa in Japan, you would be applying for a visa extension. In your situation, "upgrading" to a 4 month visa in Japan would have been processed as a one month extension of a 90 day tourist visa waiver. Extensions of tourist visas are generally not possible.

In the OP's case he would be changing the status of his visa, i.e. from visitor to student, which, assuming you have all the proper paperwork, is something that is easily done at an immigration office in Japan.

yllwsmrf is correct. People very often apply for, and process working visas and spouse visas for example entirely from within Japan after arriving on a tourist permit. I'm not sure about your particular situation because I don't really understand what it is exactly that you are trying to do, but yllwsmrf's answer seems good.

Thank you yllwsmrf, that explains it!

@Sira (thanks to you, too): Actually, I don't try to do anything; this question was out of pure interest. Because I ran into timing problems when I applied for my last visa, which probably could have been avoided, or so I thought. As yllwsmrf explained, this was not the case.　So, I'm contend and well-informed now. :-)

Cheers,
Kai