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"What to do in case your passport got lost or stolen during staying in countries outside Japan." June 2, 2003 |
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 RealAudio |
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Good evening. Today, we are going to talk about what to do in case your passport got lost or stolen during your stay in countries outside Japan. Losing your passport or having it stolen while traveling temporarily outside Japan can cost a major scare to anybody. Just imagining what need to go through can really be depressing because to be able to come back to Japan, you need to prove that you actually carried passport with a valid resident status and reentry permit as well. But, there is no need to panic. Just deal with the required procedures one at a time. First, you need to you're your passport reissued. This is easy if you are in your home country when the incident happened, because you can declare your lost or stolen passport to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and have your passport reissued. But when your passport got lost or stolen while you are in other countries instead, you need to go to your respective embassy or consulate in the country where the incident happened and go through the same procedures as when your passport got lost or stolen within Japan. The processing might take some time, but you will eventually have your passport reissued. So, after you got hold of your reissued passport, the next step to deal with is to prove that you have a valid resident status and reentry permit to Japan. Of course, this information are not existing in the reissued passport. You might think that the next thing to do is going to Japan's Embassy in the country where the incident happened so as to have the lost information stamped into your reissued passport. However, that is not the case because all Japanese Embassies don't have any control over the data of foreign residence living in Japan. They are not authorized to read or manipulate such data on their end. All data regarding foreign residence in Japan are controlled and administered by the Immigration Bureau of Japan. So, it is the Immigration Bureau that has the power to issue the transfer of endorsement of a resident status and reentry permit. To prove that you have a valid resident status and a reentry permit to Japan, you need to contact your family or friends in Japan. And ask them to apply for the execution of acertificate of alien registration from the municipal office where you are legally registered. After the municipal office governing your place of residence issued the certificate, have your representative bring it to the immigration office and apply for the issue ones of another certificate that will endorse the information reflected in the certificate issued by the municipal office. The certificate issued by the Immigration Bureau will then prove the validity of your resident status and reentry permit. Your representative can be your family member, friend, or an immigration specialist like Mr. Nakano. After the Immigration Bureau of Japan issued the endorsement of certificate of resident status with the reentry permit stamped on its back page, have your representative send it to you. Once you get hold of the certificate, you can return to Japan legally. To avoid going through troubles some procedures when your passport got lost or stolen regardless of the place of incident, it is advisable to have a copy of your passport. Copy all the pages that contain relevant information. This will sure become very handy when you need to have your passport reissued or when you need to request for a transfer of endorsement of the information contained within your passport. Not only should you have a copy of your passport, it is also advisable to keep a copy of your alien registration and driver's license. It is best to always bring along a copy of your passport, alien registration and driver's license when you go out of Japan for a short trip or even just traveling within Japan. Well, That's all for today. If you have any inquiry, you can contact Mr. Nakano by phone at 06-6354-0900. 06-6354-0900. Or file fax at 06-6354-3930. And of course, you can send us a fax at 06-6615-.7651. 06-6615-7651. Or through the e- mail at "online@cocolo.co.jp", "online @cocolo.co.jp". |
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