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Here is what happened: my friend came to Osaka, entering Japan on a single-entry tourist visa for 90 days. We decided to go to Indonesia, both of us entered with a visa on arrival, stayed there for few days, and returned to Osaka.

But, when we arrived in Osaka, my friend was denied entry, even though he's still within the 90 days his visa is valid.

He has to return to his home country and I have paid for the ticket, using the same airline which we both flew from Indonesia to Osaka.

In this case, who is responsible for paying the airfare to return to his home country?

I agree it is my friend's responsibility to check the visa type, but the airline should not have let him board the flight to Osaka from Indonesia.

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Your friend is responsible - he had a single entry visa, and tried to enter twice. It is entirely down to the traveller to ensure they get the correct visa.

I'm surprised the airline allowed him to board in Indonesia, but even so, they'd only have to take him back there, not back to his home country - and he'd have to pay for it.

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  • I agree, it's friend mistake, but why did Airline had not stopped him landing to Osaka from Indonesia itself. They always check for valid visa to going country.
    – Banng
    May 16 '17 at 9:18
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    @Banng: The reason they check is that the airline can be fined by the destination country if they let passengers board without a valid visa. It is not for the traveller's convenience. You have no chance of a refund, I'm afraid.
    – TonyK
    May 16 '17 at 12:10
  • @TonyK: Thanks for valuable comments, as you mentioned airline can be fined if passengers board without valid visa, so in this case my friend did not had valid visa, hence they should be fined for this ? Please let me know, my understanding is correct or not ?
    – Banng
    May 17 '17 at 3:28
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    Yes, they could be fined, if the Japanese authorities chose to - but that doesn't absolve your friend of the responsibility - in fact the airline would probably try to recoup the fine from your friend!
    – Nick C
    May 17 '17 at 10:45
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    It is not possible to tell with 100% certainty that a Japanese visa has already been used just by visual inspection; no special marking is made on it. Since the expiry date written on it had not yet passed, the airline did not err in any way in my view. They just had no way to know that the visa was no longer valid.
    – fkraiem
    May 17 '17 at 20:18
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Passenger is always in charge for a visa he uses to get aboard, as airlines are responsible, well, for flights, not for border controls. One need to check all the info in visa to plan a trip. Your friend should probably notify Japan' Consulate about plans to visit some other country during visiting the Osaka, so they'll provide non-single entry visa for him.

And airline had no chance to check your friend visa during boarding the plane to Indonesia - they may don't even know his plans, maybe he don't want to get back in Japan.

Also, many countries do fine the airlines who allowed to board a person without a valid visa. Such situation can happen, for example, in Europe, when person goes to USA without proper visa - you simply can't check-in to flight to USA in such case.

Moreover, your friend may got some troubles in case of landing in Japan without visa - like even bigger fee than tickets cost, or get into jail for some time, or adding to the Japan' visa blacklist.

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