A large number of foreign residents in Japan rushed to the Justice Ministry’s Tokyo Immigration Bureau from early Thursday to seek re-entry permits before leaving the earthquake-hit country temporarily. More than 2,500 foreign residents formed a long queue in and outside the immigration office in Tokyo as of noon, apparently due to fears over a possible nuclear disaster involving the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
The bureau said it received requests for re-entry permits from some 10,000 foreign residents Wednesday and that the figure on Thursday could exceed it. It would issue the permission to those who came to the office by 4 p.m.
A 45-year-old Jordanian national said the Japanese government should issue the re-entry permit at airports in such an emergency situation.
Foreign residents are required to obtain re-entry permits in advance if they plan to re-visit the country.
Comments
I think that a lot of people (including native Japanese) see reentry permits as another meaningless rule, the sole purpose of which is to generate additional income without serving any actual purpose. Unfortunately, there are lots of rules like that in Japan, affecting both foreigners and Japanese, and the people who could change them have no interest or incentive for doing so. Especially after this crisis, I would like to see any Japanese official provide a valid explanation why such permits are necessary…
Or maybe even suspend the need for one.
The disaster that hit the country has caused other problems to arise. I think the suggestion from the Jordanian national is right, if they can, re-entry permits should be issued at airports in order to minimize the number of people that will go out and go to the Immigration bureau.