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Maybe this has been posted before, but I hadn’t seen it.
Before entering Japan, complete Customs and Immigration details online at:-
https://services.digital.go.jp/en/visit-japan-web/
You can complete the forms well in advance (I’m not going for another 5 weeks)
You provide passport details, flight details, details of where you will be staying, and complete a Customs Declaration.
Easiest to create the record is on your phone, as you need to take a picture of your passport.
The web page creates a QR code that should expedite entry. I believe it allows you bypass the main queue?
Once you are in Japan, you can also create a QR code that you can use in place of your passport (at certain stores) when buying Duty Free.
Thanks @Meta for referring to this in another thread.
Any further advice from people who have used this system would be welcome. (New, since my last visit in 2019.)
Sounds like the new US system, which we should get around to writing about at some point ….
I posted a longer version of this, but it disappeared.
You can do the customs process at the same time as the immigration process. Also you can do fellow travellers at the same time if you have their passport or passport details.
I’m using the system since last year (duty free thing is a new thing since January this year I believe). Basically it goes likes this:
1. You approach immigration officer or they direct you towards the counter. You hand out your passport, scan QR code. They may or may not take your photo/fingerprints (depending whether it’s repeat visit or not). They put a sticker in your passport You collect your bags /or if HBO then not
2. Then it’s customs There are several touchscreens around the belts and near customs. You follow on-screen instructions and scan the code. Then you proceed to the customs gates and they open the door for you.
For duty free. You can do several pre-tasks before leaving like scanning passport, etc. The final task will be to scan the arrival sticker’s QR code. This will generate duty free QR code.
You’ll need a new one for each store that accepts them as they are time stamped. Most stores still follow the old rules/ scanning passport and arrival sticker. However, it will probably change over time once they get used to. Some stores hand out cash after you paid, others deduct tax off the bill before you pay. None of stores don’t take admin fee, but one or two I encountered take 1.5-2% fee.
I posted a longer version of this, but it disappeared.
You can do the customs process at the same time as the immigration process. Also you can do fellow travellers at the same time if you have their passport or passport details.
Should say tax free process, not customs process. There is a post immigration process involving scanning your passport which is required to go through customs.
They no longer scan the passport. You scan the QR code and they just look at the screen and put the sticker in your passport if all good.
Maybe this has been posted before, but I hadn’t seen it.
Before entering Japan, complete Customs and Immigration details online at:-
https://services.digital.go.jp/en/visit-japan-web/
You can complete the forms well in advance (I’m not going for another 5 weeks)
You provide passport details, flight details, details of where you will be staying, and complete a Customs Declaration.
Easiest to create the record is on your phone, as you need to take a picture of your passport.
The web page creates a QR code that should expedite entry. I believe it allows you bypass the main queue?
Once you are in Japan, you can also create a QR code that you can use in place of your passport (at certain stores) when buying Duty Free.
Thanks @Meta for referring to this in another thread.
Any further advice from people who have used this system would be welcome. (New, since my last visit in 2019.)
You don’t have to wait until you are in Japan to create the customs code, you can do it at the same time as you do the immigration code.
You can also do multiple travellers at the same time, so if you’re travelling with someone else and you have their passport you can do theirs as well.
It looks like a single QR code for Immigration and Customs
Sounds like the new US system, which we should get around to writing about at some point ….
What new system? Do you mean the mobile passport control app?
It looks like a single QR code for Immigration and Customs
Yes, sorry I meant to say that it’s the same code. Just needs to be scanned twice.
I just filled out 2 forms handed to me by the flight attendant, old school style. Did not bother doing anything electronic at all 😅.
The Passmo pass in apple wallet has been amazing. Never been to a counter or machine all trip, can monitor spend and directly topped up with a card in the wallet.
Arriving in NRT this week, the system didn’t live up to expectations.
For passport control, there was one queue. Before reaching the immigration officer, staff were scanning fingerprints and taking photos of those people in the queue who had generated QR codes using the app. There were six or eight mobile kiosks for this. Once this was completed, I rejoined the queue for the immigration officer.
At the immigration desk, the officer scanned my passport and the QR code on my app, and stamped my passport by attaching a stamp with a further QR code (approving entry).
After reclaiming my bags, there were two queues for customs; one short one for people who had generated QR codes and a much longer one for people who were using paper customs declarations.
The QR code that I had generated in the app let me use an e-gate to clear Customs, but I had to scan my passport and fingerprints again.
The system seems cumbersome, and the process took longer than on previous visits. Nevertheless, I was on the Narita Express an hour after landing.
The one good thing is that the App allows you to generate a further QR code (a copy of the one in the passport) which you can use for Duty Free Shopping, so there is no longer a need to carry your passport when shopping.
(The Singapore entry last week was so much simpler and faster.)
The system seems cumbersome, and the process took longer than on previous visits. Nevertheless, I was on the Narita Express an hour after landing.
Very typical of Japan!
I’ve used the new system 3 times now, it works OK but it’s definitely slower and more hassle than before.
Japan in general seems to love making (potentially) simple things complicated.
so there is no longer a need to carry your passport when shopping.
Apart from the fact that tourists are legally required to carry their passport at all times. It’s not unusual to ‘randomly’ be asked to show your passport to police as a foreigner, and it’ll be a big time-consuming hassle if you don’t have it with you.
I’ve flown to Haneda three times since the new system and they didn’t ask me for extra fingerprints either on immigration or customs.
Some shops are still not setup for the new system and you will need a passport (of the well-known ones Tokyo Hands, some smaller Donki’s as well). I also needed passport to get tax off at every shop on Kappabashi.
@Gavin454 – wow, I never knew that. Mine always stays in the Hotel safe! At least it has until now
@Meta, sounds like HND is better organised than NRT.I used the QR code for shopping in Hands and Uniqlo this week. No problems. The staff on the shop floor in Hands said I would need my passport, but the staff at the Tax Free desk were fine with the QR code.
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