reentry

If you leave Japan on vacation or to visit your own country, you do not need to obtain a re-entry permit if you will return to Japan within one year of leaving. By showing your residence card when you leave Japan, you will be able to re-enter Japan within one year. (This is called the “special re-entry permit system”.) However, if you will leave Japan for one year or more, you need to obtain a re-entry permit from the Immigration Bureau
beforehand. Note that you will lose your current resident status if you leave Japan for one year or more without a re-entry permit. If that happens, you will have to apply for your resident status all over again in order to be able to re-enter Japan.

There are two kinds of re-entry permit, a single re-entry permit which can only be used once and a multiple re-entry permit which can be used any number of times within its valid period. If visiting your own country or another country near the end of your permitted period of stay, you can leave and re-enter Japan during your application for an extension of your period of stay so long as you do so during the valid period of your currently obtained re-entry permit. Be sure to return to Japan before your re-entry permit expires.

Required documents (if leaving Japan for one year or more):

1. Application for re-entry permit(special form from the Immigration Bureau, available at the International Office)）
2. Passport (to be presented)
3. Residence card (or certificate of alien registration) (to be presented)
4. Student ID card (to be presented)
5. Handling fee of 3,000 yen for single re-entry or 6,000 yen for multiple re-entry