Visa policy of Japan

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v t

A single-entry Japanese temporary visitor visa (New design since 2016)

A double-entry Japanese transit visa on a Chinese passport (Old design)

Visitors to Japan must obtain a visa from one of the Japanese diplomatic missions unless they come from one of the visa-exempt countries. The Government of Japan currently allows citizens of 68 countries/territories to travel to Japan for tourism or business without having to obtain a visa.^[1][2][3]

Visa policy map[]

Countries which are allowed visa-free entry to Japan

  Japan

  Visa-free - up to 6 months

  Visa-free - 90 days

  Visa-free - 30 days (registered passports only)

  Visa-free - 15 days

  Visa-free - 15 days (registered passports only)

  Visa required

(most countries in this map, except 10 countries noted below, now require a visa to enter Japan due to COVID-19)

COVID-19 restrictions[]

As of November 2020, a measure approved by the Japanese cabinet bans anyone present in 152 countries or regions 14 days before entering Japan to limit the spread of COVID-19. Japanese citizens and Special Permanent Residents are exempt from this ban but must still isolate for 14 days upon entry.^[4]

Visa exempt countries[]

A Japanese temporary visitor landing permission sticker issued at the Haneda Airport on a Taiwan passport

The Japanese temporary visitor landing permission stickers and departed stamps issued at the Narita Airport and Naha Airport on a British passport

Holders of passports issued by the following 66 countries or regions are usually visa-exempt for visits up to 90¹ days (unless otherwise noted) but as of November 2020, all except 7 countries (noted below) have been temporarily suspended and require visas:^[1][2]

_{1 - Citizens of Austria, Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Switzerland and the United Kingdom may apply for an extension of stay with the Ministry of Justice for up to 6 months.
2 - For the United Kingdom, only British citizens and British Nationals (Overseas) are eligible for visa-free entry.
3 - For nationals of Barbados (since April 1, 2010), Turkey (since April 1, 2011) and Lesotho (since April 1, 2010), visas are not required only for holders of Machine-Readable Passport (MRP) or ePassport in compliance with ICAO standards. Those who do not hold an MRP or ePassport are advised to obtain a visa in advance, otherwise will be strictly examined and may be refused entry to Japan.
4 - For nationals of Malaysia (since July 1, 2013), Thailand (since July 1, 2013) and Serbia (since May 1, 2011), visas are not required only for holders of ePassport in compliance with ICAO standards. Those who do not hold such ePassport are advised to obtain a visa in advance, otherwise will be strictly examined and may be refused entry to Japan.
5 - For holders of Taiwan passports which includes a personal identification number.
6 - For citizens of Hong Kong, visas are not required only for holders of Special Administrative Region (SAR) passport issued by the Hong Kong SAR of the People's Republic of China or British National Overseas (BNO) passports who have the right of residence in Hong Kong.
7 - For citizens of Macao, visas are not required only for holders of SAR passport issued by the Macao SAR of the People's Republic of China.}

Holders of passports pre-registered at the diplomatic missions of Japan in the related country (the embassy, consulates, or the consulate) issued by these two countries can visit without a visa:^[5][6]

_{1 - For nationals of Indonesia (since December 1, 2014), visas are not required only for those who have registered ICAO-compliant ePassport to diplomatic missions of Japan in Indonesia (the embassy, consulates-general, or the consulate). Validity of the registration is three years period or until the passport expires, whichever comes first.}

_{2 - For nationals of the United Arab Emirates (since July 1, 2017), visas are not required only for those who have registered ICAO-compliant ePassport to diplomatic missions of Japan (the embassy, consulates-general, or the consulate). Validity of the registration is three years period or until the passport expires, whichever comes first.}

Date of visa changes

This list is incomplete; you can help by . (July 2017) Visa free Unknown: Barbados; Croatia and Slovenia[7] 1 July 1955: Germany (as West Germany until 30 October 1990)[8] 1 December 1955: France[9] 15 January 1956: Italy[10] 10 June 1956: Greece[11] 14 June 1956: Tunisia[12] 15 August 1956: Belgium[13] and Denmark[14] 28 August 1956: Nederlands[15] 1 September 1956: Norway[16] and Sweden[17] 15 April 1957: Liechtenstein and Switzerland[18] 19 April 1957: Dominican Republic[19] 5 January 1958: Turkey[20] 1 April 1958: Austria[21] 1 February 1959: Finland[22] 1 August 1960: Luxembourg[23] 1 January 1962: Argentina[24] 2 December 1962: United Kingdom[25] 20 September 1964: Canada[26] 15 April 1965: Spain[27] 1 September 1966: Ireland[28] 20 November 1966: Iceland[29] 15 February 1968: San Marino[30] 15 November 1969: Chile[31] 15 June 1970: New Zealand[32] 1 October 1971: Israel[33] 1 January 1972: Singapore[34] 10 April 1972: Mexico[35] 25 February 1973: El Salvador[36] 1 March 1973: Malta[37] 1 April 1973: Cyprus[38] 1 March 1974: Portugal[39] 2 May 1974: Uruguay[40] 27 May 1974: Suriname[41] 1 June 1974: Honduras[42] 16 September 1974: Costa Rica[43] 1 January 1976: Guatemala[44] 15 July 1977: Lesotho[45] 1 July 1980: Mauritius[46] 1 October 1981: Bahamas[47] 20 June 1986: Brunei[48] 15 December 1988: United States[49] 11 November 1996: Andorra[50] 1 April 1997: North Macedonia[51] 21 June 1997: Hungary[52] 10 September 1998: Czech Republic[53] 1 December 1998: Australia[54] 14 February 1999: Poland[55] 23 September 1999: Monaco[56] 1 December 1999: Estonia[57] 1 April 2000: Latvia[58] and Lithuania[59] 22 March 2002: Slovakia[60] 1 April 2004: Hong Kong[61] and British Nationals (Overseas)[62] 25 March 2005: Macau[63] 1 May 2005: Bulgaria[64] 26 September 2005: Taiwan 1 March 2006: South Korea[65][66] 1 September 2009: Romania[67][68] 1 May 2011: Serbia[69] 1 July 2013: Malaysia (resumed)[70] and Thailand[71] Visa free for pre-registered passports 1 December 2014: Indonesia[72] 1 July 2017: United Arab Emirates[73] Cancelled Bangladesh: 15 January 1989[74][75] Pakistan: 15 January 1989[76][75] Yugoslavia (current as Serbia (was resumed in 2011:Was applied from 1 June 1967 under Visa waiver agreement on 1967</ref> Iran: 15 April 1992[77][78] Malaysia: 1 June 1993[79] (was resumed on 1 July 2013) Peru: 15 July 1995[80][81] Colombia: 1 February 2004[82][81] Thailand: ? (resumed) 1 July 2013

Non-ordinary passports[]

  Japan

  Visa free access for diplomatic and service category passports

  Visa free access for diplomatic passports

The governments of the following 55 countries have concluded bilateral visa waiver agreements with Japan. Holders of diplomatic and/or service category passports do not require a visa to visit Japan:^[83]

_{D — diplomatic passports only}

Holders of diplomatic and official passport of the countries (to whom visa exemption applies when using an ordinary passport) are also, on reciprocal basis, exempted from visa as temporary visitor. In this case, they will be granted the status of residence as "Temporary Visitor" at the landing inspection in Japan (not the status of residence as "Diplomat" or "Official"), and, in principle, they are obliged to provide their personal identification information such as fingerprints and facial photo.^[83]

_{D — diplomatic passports only
1 — except for those who visit Japan for official purpose}

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan holders of diplomatic and service passports of Taiwan need a visa.^[83]

APEC Business Travel Card[]

Holders of passports issued by the following countries who possess an APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) containing the "JPN" code on the reverse that it is valid for travel to Japan can enter visa-free for business trips for up to 90 days.^[1]

ABTCs are issued to nationals of:^[84]

Special visa policy for some countries[]

Japan had a special visa policy for nationals of some former Soviet countries who could not provide their financial guarantees and get a visa on their own but instead they had to apply through an approved travel agency or be invited by a resident or a citizen of Japan.^[85] These requirements were lifted for citizens of Russia on 1 January 2017,^[86] Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on 5 June 2017,^[87][88] Armenia on 1 September 2017,^[89] Azerbaijan on 1 December 2017^[90] and Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine on 1 January 2018.^[91][92]

In addition, Japanese MOFA has special visa policies for nationals of China and the Philippines. Nationals of these countries also must apply through an accredited travel agent or be invited by a Japanese citizen or a resident of Japan.^[93][94]

As of 2014 nationals of the Philippines and Vietnam travelling in a group through a registered travel agency can obtain entry visas for tourist visits up to 15 days in a simplified process that requires fewer documents than before.^[95] Moreover, nationals of India, the Philippines and Vietnam can obtain multiple-entry visas providing that they have visited Japan and other G7 countries or they have "sufficient financial capability".^[96][97]

Chinese tourists travelling on approved cruise ships do not require a visa as of April 2015. They must embark and disembark the same specified ships.^[98]

Japan was reportedly set to ease visa requirements for visitors from key markets, such as India, China and Vietnam, starting in the summer of 2016.^[99] A new wave of visa liberalization policies for Chinese nationals started from 17 October 2016,^[100] for Indian nationals started from 1 January 2018.^[101]

Statistics[]

In 2015 4,768,286 Japanese visas were issued.^[102] It is an increase of 66% from 2014 when 2,871,639 visas were issued and the highest number ever recorded.^[103]

Most visas were applied for by nationals of the following countries:^{[104][105][106][107]}

Application from	Issued visas in 2017	Share	Issued visas in 2015	Share	Issued visas in 2014	Share	Issued visas in 2013	Issued visas in 2012
China	4,504,718	77%	3,780,773	79%	2,048,106	71%	971,542	1,112,407
Philippines	325,564	5%	225,676	5%	163,386	6%	99,258	74,424
Indonesia	239,201	4%	162,273	3%	141,321	5%	122,376	90,498
Vietnam	226,993	4%	139,236	3%	96,648	3%	65,305	39,581
India	96,658	2%	74,088	2%	66,696	2%	55,622	50,938
Russia	67,445	1%	47,813	1%	57,606	2%	54,948	45,468
Brazil	50,885	1%	38,798	1%	34,217	1%	28,697	35,049
Thailand[108]	N/A	N/A	20,857	1%	21,322	1%	183,684	228,528
South Korea[109]	N/A	N/A	20,399	0%	18,861	1%	21,644	22,964
United States[109]	N/A	N/A	19,349	0%	19,017	1%	N/A	N/A
Malaysia[108]	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	70,231	115,348
Others	357,548	6%	239,026	5%	204,459	7%	191,118	171.316

Foreign tourists to Japan

Most visitors arriving to Japan were from the following countries of nationality: In 2015 most visas were issued for group sightseeing (1,957,498) and individual sightseeing (1,126,209). There were 62,052 multiple-entry visas for Okinawa and 10,500 multiple-entry visas for three prefectures in Tōhoku.

Country/Territory	2017[110]	2016[111]	2015[112]	2014[113]	2013[114]
China	7,355,800	6,373,564	4,993,689	2,409,158	1,314,437
South Korea	7,140,200	5,090,302	4,002,095	2,755,313	2,456,165
Taiwan	4,564,100	4,167,512	3,677,075	2,829,821	2,210,821
Hong Kong	2,231,500	1,839,193	1,524,292	925,975	745,881
United States	1,375,000	1,242,719	1,033,258	891,668	799,280
Thailand	987,100	901,525	796,731	657,570	453,642
Australia	495,100	445,332	376,075	302,656	244,569
Malaysia	439,500	394,268	305,447	249,521	176,521
Philippines	424,200	347,861	268,361	184,204	108,351
Singapore	404,100	361,807	308,783	227,962	189,280
Total	28,690,900	24,039,053	19,737,409	13,413,467	10,363,904

Admission refused[]

As a result of sanctions against North Korea, admission and transit is refused to nationals of  North Korea, even if not leaving the aircraft and proceeding by the same flight.^{[1][115][116]}

See also[]

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Japan.

• Visa requirements for Japanese citizens

References[]

External links[]

• List of Countries and Regions That Have Visa Exemption Arrangements with Japan (68 countries and regions as of July 2017)
• List of Japanese diplomatic missions
• MOFA visa instructions
• Japan Visa Types