Help Entering Japan on different passports

D.EVILGOD · 22 Apr 2017

Yo all, a friend of mine is wanting to ask different questions.

He has an USA-Singaporean passport.

Suppose he wishes to enter Japan with his USA passport, he can stay in Japan for 90 days. Then fly to South Korea for one day and return to Japan for another 90 days.

As it was stated somewhere on the internet, unless I am wrong, my friend can only live in Japan for up to 180 days on his USA passport.

However, since he also has a Singaporean passport, can he also enter and stay in Japan on double visits periods of 90 days each on his Singaporean passports in the same year?

Which theoretically means he can use his dual passports to live in Japan for one year, every year.

Thanks for answering.

JimmySeal · 23 Apr 2017

From what I'm able to ascertain, there is no fixed limit on how many days a person can be in Japan by using (or abusing) tourist visas/visa waivers. It seems to be largely up to the discretion of the immigration officer processing your entry. This SE question has an anecdote about someone who was able to be in the country for 270 days out of a year (and got a stern talking to the third time they entered). The same answer there also suggests that the 180-day figure is more about how long you can be in a country before you have to treat it as your primary residence for tax purposes (and a country can't be your primary residence if you're there on temporary visitor status).

I highly doubt that any rules they have are about how many days a passport is allowed to be in Japan. Their laws are about people, not passports, and no matter how many passports your friend has, he's only one person. Trying to beat the system like this seems pretty stupid and risky to me, but that's just my opinion.

Glenski · 23 Apr 2017

Americans can stay for 90 days at a time. As I wrote in your other thread, it's up to any special circumstances whether immigration allows Americans to stay longer in a consecutive period. Normally, no. They can leave and come back (after some undetermined time, immigration won't tell you how long) and within a year return to Japan for another 90 days. But usually that is not a consecutive period.

He can go ahead and try staying for 90 days on one passport, leave and return almost immediately on the other and then alternate. That's my best offer, and it's no guarantee that your friend will be stopped. Immigration's computer system may detect his comings and goings and rate them as suspicious.

Three questions.
1. Why is your friend not writing here?
2. Why does he want to stay so damned long? That does not constitute sightseeing; it's living here. (your words)
3. How does he plan to support himself for a whole year? It seems darned expensive to do.

D.EVILGOD · 23 Apr 2017

Glenski said:
Americans can stay for 90 days at a time. As I wrote in your other thread, it's up to any special circumstances whether immigration allows Americans to stay longer in a consecutive period. Normally, no. They can leave and come back (after some undetermined time, immigration won't tell you how long) and within a year return to Japan for another 90 days. But usually that is not a consecutive period.

He can go ahead and try staying for 90 days on one passport, leave and return almost immediately on the other and then alternate. That's my best offer, and it's no guarantee that your friend will be stopped. Immigration's computer system may detect his comings and goings and rate them as suspicious.

Three questions.
1. Why is your friend not writing here?
2. Why does he want to stay so damned long? That does not constitute sightseeing; it's living here. (your words)
3. How does he plan to support himself for a whole year? It seems darned expensive to do.

1) My friends are extremely busy and expect me to write their questions for them.

2) My friends are working with me to create some movies in Japan.

2.5) Some of my friends are here for sightseeing purposes. However, they want to stay in Japan for a few years sight-seeing.

3) My friends have enough savings in their bank about a million USD each to support themselves per person for a whole year.

Cheers

P.S. Why would the system detect suspicious activities if they enter Japan on different passports?

Glenski · 23 Apr 2017

Thanks for the info.

Being rich will not guarantee anything, as I mentioned earlier. They will still need a valid reason to stay. Just to sightsee is unlikely to cut it, IMO. Helping you won't either, and you should all be careful if it in any way sounds like they are actually working, because that's illegal.

Sorry if this disappoints your rich friends, but countries have their legalities. Jaunting around the globe for a year sounds great to some, but it still has regulations to follow.

If they want to stay a few YEARS just to sightsee, tell them to get student visas to study the language and be legal.

Coming in only once each on the two different passports may not be scrutinized, as I wrote. HOWEVER, making multiple visits close together in time and on different passports could easily raise a red flag, suggesting illicit or illegal activities (smuggling contraband or trafficking humans). Look at it from their standpoint.

D.EVILGOD · 23 Apr 2017

Glenski said:
Thanks for the info.

Being rich will not guarantee anything, as I mentioned earlier. They will still need a valid reason to stay. Just to sightsee is unlikely to cut it, IMO. Helping you won't either, and you should all be careful if it in any way sounds like they are actually working, because that's illegal.

Sorry if this disappoints your rich friends, but countries have their legalities. Jaunting around the globe for a year sounds great to some, but it still has regulations to follow.

If they want to stay a few YEARS just to sightsee, tell them to get student visas to study the language and be legal.

Coming in only once each on the two different passports may not be scrutinized, as I wrote. HOWEVER, making multiple visits close together in time and on different passports could easily raise a red flag, suggesting illicit or illegal activities (smuggling contraband or trafficking humans). Look at it from their standpoint.

Hi G, thanks for your opinions. May I ask you how "close together in time" on different passports could raise a red flag?

There are many people with exact same names and same birthdates don't they?

I am not familiar with their standpoint or immigration customs.

Glenski · 23 Apr 2017

I thought I had already indicated that nobody can tell you, not even immigration, what "close in time" means.

Names and birthdates? You are sounding desperate here, and frankly it is getting on my nerves. Immigration uses passport numbers, so those two things don't matter.

johnnyG · 23 Apr 2017

D.EVILGOD said:
There are many people with exact same names and same birthdates aren't there?

Maybe that's why everyone is now fingerprinted...? :nailbiting:

And also that picture for facial recognition...? :joyful: :roflmao:

I'd guess in this day and age, anti-terror and all, that any number of countries share & exchange those un-fake-able things pretty freely. Not saying you're a terrorist, but if I were in gov't, someone whose biometrics showed them as having separate passports--and dissimilar names on those--would merit a warning flag. Especially if a visit by alias A was followed shortly after by a visit by alias B.

It's too bad you'd get "caught", but the systems are designed to catch professionals, and you're only an amateur.

D.EVILGOD · 23 Apr 2017

Glenski said:
I thought I had already indicated that nobody can tell you, not even immigration, what "close in time" means.

Names and birthdates? You are sounding desperate here, and frankly it is getting on my nerves. Immigration uses passport numbers, so those two things don't matter.

Well you sound like a very knowledgeable person, so I am afraid of getting on your nerves.

My friends' passports have different passport numbers so naturally, immigration wouldn't bat an eye, would they?

Unless my friends' passports have been marked for entry or disallowed entry. I dunno, what do you think?

Because there are several human beings with exact same names and exact same birthdates but with different passports nationalities and numbers so I would think that my friends with different passports will be able to get in on two separate different passports without immigration even raising an eye.

D.EVILGOD · 23 Apr 2017

johnnyG said:
Maybe that's why everyone is now fingerprinted...? :nailbiting:

And also that picture for facial recognition...? :joyful: :roflmao:

I'd guess in this day and age, anti-terror and all, that any number of countries share & exchange those un-fake-able things pretty freely. Not saying you're a terrorist, but if I were in gov't, someone whose biometrics showed them as having separate passports--and dissimilar names on those--would merit a warning flag. Especially if a visit by alias A was followed shortly after by a visit by alias B.

It's too bad you'd get "caught", but the systems are designed to catch professionals, and you're only an amateur.

I know everyone is now fingerprinted and photographed for facial recognition but a normal citizen of USA-Singapore without any criminal records in these two countries.. with the same names on these two separate different passports ..

Why would they be marked?

On the other hand, are you telling me that the governments, Japanese of course, frown upon human beings with different nationalities passports with different names or aliases?

If this is the case, then the average human citizens with the same names on different nationalities' passports shouldn't get a warning flags then.

Thank you for your informations.

mdchachi · 23 Apr 2017

Seems like any decent computer system would flag this and indicate further questioning is warranted. Let us know how it works out.

JimmySeal · 24 Apr 2017

D.EVILGOD said:
On the other hand, are you telling me that the governments, Japanese of course, frown upon human beings with different nationalities passports with different names or aliases?

No, we're telling you that governments, Japanese of course, frown upon human beings trying to circumvent their immigration laws, especially using sneaky methods to "trick" them, like alternating multiple passports.

Why would they be marked?

They wouldn't have to be specifically marked. All it would take would be for the system to detect that a particular face and set of fingerprints are spending an inordinate amount of time in the country. You seem to be assuming they're too stupid or unmotivated to do this, and who knows, maybe they are, but I wouldn't make that assumption.

This whole thread reeks of entitlement from your rich, dual-nationality friends, who apparently think that the rules that other people follow don't apply to them. Frankly, this whole line of inquiry is a bit insulting to the people who actually go through the rigmarole to be in the country legally. Your friends have options to obtain legitimate visas. Nobody here is going to tell you that your plan is going to work because nobody here has the wherewithal to make that judgment.

Glenski · 24 Apr 2017

My friends' passports have different passport numbers so naturally, immigration wouldn't bat an eye, would they?

I don't work for immigration, so I wouldn't know.

Unless my friends' passports have been marked for entry or disallowed entry. I dunno, what do you think?

I've already told you. One entry on each passport might not get a shrug, but after that is anyone's guess.

Why would they be marked?

Are you really that thick? I've told you about as clearly as possible.

This whole thread reeks of entitlement from your rich, dual-nationality friends, who apparently think that the rules that other people follow don't apply to them.

Agreed. If they have that much money, and have 1 or 2 years of free time to sightsee, they should be the ones online here, not you. Do you/they think any of us are not busy? Give me a break. It takes nothing to post a query and tag it.

SomeCallMeChris · 24 Apr 2017

If they have millions of dollars and are there to make a movie with you, then in the first place, you're all working and not sightseeing, and in the second place, there is a class of passports for coming to Japan to do business or establish a business.

One requirement of such a passport is in fact that you do need to have a substantial amount in the bank. This is all stuff that you'd need to talk to your lawyer for details on though.

There's no reason to go around looking for shady tricks to spend an illegal amount of time in the country as a 'tourist' to get your work done, as long as the business you're conducting is legal.

Help Entering Japan on different passports

D.EVILGOD

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JimmySeal

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Glenski

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johnnyG

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D.EVILGOD

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