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I was wondering if any of you have any experience with this type of question as I’ve been worried sick and not gotten a definitive answer.

So, I have been to Japan twice in 2019:

April 7-16 (9 days) & September 12-December 12 (90 days)

And have booked another flight: 13 February-13 May (90 days)

Long story short I absolutely loved my stay last time a whole lot and intend to go back 90 more days to spend as much time together with my loved one as possible.

About a week after booking my flight I did some research and stumbled upon information saying I cannot stay in Japan longer than 180 days during a 12 month period on a Temporary Visa however. While I technically will be in the country when my days ‘reset’ is this safe to assume I will be okay and not be banned/fined for overstay?

I have been so stressed about this recently and don’t know if I need to change my return flight or not to be safe and leave before the ‘180 days reset day’ technically is.

Thank you for your help!

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    Which citizenship do you have and where did you find the information that you are not allowed to stay more than 180 days within 12 months? AFAIK, Japan does not have such a cumulative limit, but limits the number of days per stay.
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Jan 19, 2020 at 4:01
  • Hi! I have a Swedish citizenship and found this information on the Swedish/Japanese embassy website. Source: se.emb-japan.go.jp/visa_temporary.html (see the red box).
    – Just wanna visit my loved one
    Jan 19, 2020 at 12:37
  • Another page with this same information is se.emb-japan.go.jp/visa_swedish_passport.html, There was also some other embassy page with similar information, but there is not other Japan government site with this information that I can find. so where does it come from?
    – NiKiZe
    Aug 29, 2020 at 14:03

1 Answer 1

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You'll be fine. On entry into Japan, you will be granted another 90-day Entry Permit, and you can legally stay in Japan until that expires. And since there is a respectable multi-month gap after your previous visit, you will not ring too many alarm bells for being a "visa runner".

All that said, two very lengthy trips for tourism will start to raise suspicion, if not this time, then almost certainly the next time you try to return to Japan. Be prepared to show evidence of how you're funding this trip (= you're not working illegally) and evidence of family ties or other strong reasons to leave Japan (= you're not planning to overstay). I would also strongly encourage you to find work in Japan, perhaps as an English teacher, so you can legally stay there for a longer period and make some money while you're at it, and start thinking seriously about what living together with your loved one would entail -- one of you will have to move to the other's country if you want to pull this off.

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  • finding or funding this trip? not working illegally or find work?
    – user24582
    Jan 19, 2020 at 9:21
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    @user24582 Funding, as in how the OP is paying for this. Searching for a job is (AFAIK) legal.
    – lambshaanxy
    Jan 19, 2020 at 9:32
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    Hi! Thank you so much for your kind reply. I will not be working whatsoever during this trip of course. Even if I wanted to I don’t even have the right qualifications since a bachelor degree is necessary and I don’t have one. I’m currently waiting for the current Working Holiday Visa agreement between Sweden and Japan to be finalized however so that I can work legally next time for a year or so. Although now I’m afraid this current trip might affect the other.
    – Just wanna visit my loved one
    Jan 19, 2020 at 12:45

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