Flying with two passports

[adamu]

It's the Japanese art of Kakunin.

[zeroshiki]

Other than the hassle of filling in the re-entry card I think the system is quite efficient. Foreign residents also have the special line in immigration that is shorter than the tourist AND citizen line (although Japanese passport holders have the automated gates now) so its not all bad.

[Deep Blue]

Why is the re-entry permit system needed though? Why not let those of us with the right to live in Japan come and go freely like Japanese passport holders - without the need to fill in fiddly forms and have them stapled to our passports?

Hong Kong seems to manage just fine letting residents in and out with their passports and HK ID cards. No reason a zairyu card couldn’t fill the same role.

[kuma]

Other than the hassle of filling in the re-entry card I think the system is quite efficient. Foreign residents also have the special line in immigration that is shorter than the tourist AND citizen line (although Japanese passport holders have the automated gates now) so its not all bad.

The zairyu card lane is amazing at smaller international airports. Last time I entered, I was told my Japanese family members should join me. We all sailed through faster than tourists and citizens (travelling without a non-Japanese family member).

[Much better experiences than at Heathrow with British passport or Dubai with UAE residency...]

[adamu]

Japanese passport holders have the automated gates

You can use those as a foreign resident too, but you have to register for it, and re-register if your status changes. So I've never bothered, but I might give it a try next time.

https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/immigration/r ... 00111.html

[adamu]

Step seven of how to use the automated gates is the best part:

give the officer your passport

[TJKansai]

I registered about a decade ago and it always took longer than the regular lines due to faulty fingerprint readers.
That said, the last time was smooth. I think they replaced the old machines.

[TJKansai]

Why Hainan Airlines? They are much cheaper than everyone else except Juneyao (which has bad reviews), they fly over Russia so the flight time is shorter than the ones that don't, and they're supposed to be China's best airline.

I flew on Hainan from Europe back to Japan this year. The under-9hr flight to Beijing was better than JAL's 14hr the other way. The airline experience was fine, though the terminal they use in Beijing (T2) is a 1970s relic and not a place you'd want to spend more than a couple hours.

[northSaver]

I flew on Hainan from Europe back to Japan this year. The under-9hr flight to Beijing was better than JAL's 14hr the other way. The airline experience was fine, though the terminal they use in Beijing (T2) is a 1970s relic and not a place you'd want to spend more than a couple hours.

Thanks for that. My son has 10 hours in Beijing on his return so I hope he has the good sense to leave the airport and explore a bit

By the way, he finally got his Japanese passport yesterday. He stated on the form that he already had a UK passport (it was either that or lie), so they phoned him at work and complained about it. But they begrudgingly accepted the application and told him to choose just one nationality as soon as he can. He won't of course. I don't know if they're powerless to refuse an otherwise valid application, or if he was just lucky. Has anyone actually been refused I wonder?

[RetireJapan]

By the way, he finally got his Japanese passport yesterday. He stated on the form that he already had a UK passport (it was either that or lie), so they phoned him at work and complained about it. But they begrudgingly accepted the application and told him to choose just one nationality as soon as he can. He won't of course. I don't know if they're powerless to refuse an otherwise valid application, or if he was just lucky. Has anyone actually been refused I wonder?

No, currently as long as you are born with more than one nationality Japan turns a blind eye, just asking you to choose as soon as possible.

Don't lie on the form, that is a criminal offence.