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Is the 90 day temporary visitor landing permission multiple entry?

WonkoTheSane

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Using the immigration paperwork my mother filled out on the plane, she asked for 5 days of entry since they will be here until Friday (arrived Monday), they'll go out of the country for a wedding over the weekend, and then they'll come back on Monday until the end of March. My mother clearly explained this to immigration and immigration appeared to understand completely.

I double checked their passports today just because I double check things and it looks like immigration stamped my mother and brother's passports with a 90-day stamp. I'm certain I'm over-thinking this, but is this correct? Will this allow multiple entry?

I tried googling but I just can't find a website with clear information about this.

Thanks for any info!

EDIT: Visa Waiver, not landing permission.
 
Each time they come is a new 90-day waiver. They are not multiple-entry, but as long as you aren't exceeding the annual limit for your stay in Japan, immigration will keep granting them to you.

You are over-thinking it, they just don't have a "5-day" stamp.
 
Thanks!
 
Under visa waiver you get a 90 day permit (not a visa, and it is actually 91 days for most countries).

Also, there is no annual limit to the number of days you can be in Japan under the visa waiver programme.
 
Actually, it seems it is not written anywhere as a rule (I haven't searched for it on my own, just heard it's not written anywhere as an official statement), but in practice you are allowed to stay up to 180 days in Japan on so-called 'tourist visa' in a year. I'm not sure if it means one year as from January to December or the past 365 days.
However, I know one person who exceeded 180 days, went to Japan again without knowing about the limit at all, and they eventually let him enter again after talking with him at the immigration office at the airport, despite him being over the 180 day limit already. So it seems to be an unwritten rule that is not necessarily enforced in all cases and exceptions are allowed. It means that when you exceed the limit it will raise a flag at the immigration and whether you can enter depends on your luck and your situation. I suppose it's much easier to get in despite exceeding the limit on the first time because a lot of people simply don't know about the limit. I wonder if the objective of your visit could also affect the decision, for example visiting relatives instead of just sightseeing or something.
 
kurapan said:
but in practice you are allowed to stay up to 180 days in Japan on so-called 'tourist visa' in a year
Click to expand...

There is no 180 day rule. I have researched this and I did somewhere over 200 days (220+) on tourist visas before getting residency and it is not a problem. The issue is actually about tax residency, a topic dear to my heart as it is possible to be tax resident in two countries at the same time and have both countries tax you on world-wide income (leaving you with nothing depending on the tax rates.) I had this issue between NZ and Australia, but have a solution under the "tie-breaking" rules in Japan.
 
I haven't made it up, though. I've heard about it from two different friends, one having been told about it at the immigration at the airport, and one having heard about it from another person.
I think it shows how random they are about it. They don't have to send you back home by the next flight if they don't really want to, but they can if they have some reason for it. Well, they probably can deny you entry and send you back any time if they find a good reason. The long stay in Japan can be a good reason if you can't well explain what you're doing there.

There isn't any official rule. But the fact that you've exceeded 180 days in the past doesn't disprove the possibility that some officers enforce it as an unwritten rule sometimes.
 
kurapan said:
There isn't any official rule.
Click to expand...

More accurately stated: there isn't any official rule which is made public.

I just did a bit of J-googling on this and that was essentially what it boils down to. I even read a bit on a Japanese immigration lawyer's site about it and he was just as in the dark about it as anyone else is, though he did have some good observations and useful advice regarding it.

I don't think Mother Wonko has any cause for concern.
 
Mother Wonko is safely ensconced upon her couch watching videos of Judge Judy on Youtube.

Every now and then she asks if anyone is hungry and she made Wonko buy an oven, which she promptly burned herself on and helped Wonko work on his Japanese vocabulary about non-stick bandaids.

She is also knitting a poncho for the baby of the next door neighbors.
 
kurapan said:
[...] but in practice you are allowed to stay up to 180 days in Japan on so-called 'tourist visa' in a year.
Click to expand...

Officially, that applies only to a select few nations:


Embassy of Japan in the UK
 
Hearing from friends or reading on the internet doesn't give the correct results (sorry Mike - it took several weeks of digging, not a few casual searches). The topic came up several times on Japan-Guide so I decided to find out the "official" version. I did my research very carefully with the relevant legislation and there is no "unofficial" rule. Very simply, under the visa waiver programme you are allowed to enter Japan as many times in a year as you like up to the stated duration (typically 90 days - actually 91 as the first day doesn't count for some reason). I would have to check my records from 2014/15 to see how many trips I actually did back and forwards, but the issue (for me) is/was more about tax residency.

And, for clarity, I was scrutinized/checked at the airport, my passport and permits checked etc. Under the permission for landing rules, immigration law and the waiver programme (a great system) there was not an issue or grounds for denial. (Anyway, off to Narita soon to head back to summer for a week so I get to deal with immigration again.)
 
Weird link - I've seen "expert" companies like that provide plainly wrong advice before. Reading through, they have a few technical points wrong, but that's not a worry for me at the moment. If people want to believe there is a 180 day rule, I can't change that.
 

What did he say that was wrong?
 
I was being picky/pedantic - for example they keep referring to visas - the entry permit isn't a visa. But it's getting too far off topic, and for the huge majority of people it will never be an issue.
 
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