Job Discussion Forums

[bre_anna]

Thanks for the info guys. Does anybody know if it is easy to get a refund for a return ticket after getting your work visa?

[Apsara]

That depends on the ticket. Full fare tickets are usually fully or mostly refundable, but they are also quite expensive. Different levels of discount tickets will have different regulations as far as refunds go- partial refund or no refund.

Are you positive you don't see yourself going back to your home country even for a holiday/vacation in your first year in Japan? Even if you think you won't want to now, once you've been here a few months and culture shock sets in you might feel differently. Spending Christmas away from family can be tough on some people in their first year in particular.

There is also the chance you might have to fly home due to an emergency- I did part way into my first year in Japan, and I was very glad that I had the return part of the ticket just waiting there to be used.

[bre_anna]

Oh I would definately be going home for a visit at least once. But from what I read the return ticket can be no later than 90 days after you get to Japan. I would only be looking for a refund if I wasn't going home within those 90 days.

[cornishmuppet]

Just get a ticket you can change the date on after you arrive. The problem is that if you decide you want to stay more than a year you might not have enough time to visit home. This is what happened to me, I amended my return flight for the end of my first contract, decided to stay another year, but had no time left to amend the flight so I basically lost it. It sucked, but I got over it.

[Apsara]

[sarahrempe]

about 5 years ago, i had 6 weeks to kill before my summer camp in korea started, so i went to japan to look for work.

i took the boat from busan to fukuoka and since i didn't know which date i was returing on the boat, got an open ticket.

took me about an hour to get thru immigration. they went thru EVERYTHING in my backpack, lots of questions, checked my credit card, etc.... before letting me go.

during my stay in korea, FLEW into fukuoka or took the boat, just for visa runs (had my paperwork from my korean employer) and Japanese immigration waved me thru.

i recommend you at least book a ticket thru to seoul AND have a printout of the hotel you made a reservation at online to show Japanese immigration. OR like the other posters stated, book a return flight and either change date/get refund.

i've eaten a lot of return tickets over the years cause that's just how it works out. but i've also breezed thru immigration without any documents. so it's a crap shoot. I recommend you have a recent haircut, good shave, nice shirt and just be really polite and you may slide right in. good luck.

recently got royally screwed by canadian immigration and customs for 2.5 hours. i am a us citizen and flew into vancouver cause it was cheaper than flying into seattle. there is no rhyme or reason to how those people think or work??? almost got arrested in india when i was leaving the bloody country just cause people with authority just have to prove it.

[wayne432]

When I came to Japan, I had a return ticket, but it was for like 220 days (or whatever the max time for booking a return ticket).
I got through no problem, just showed them an address of a friend that I said I was going to be staying with. Worker just asked why I had 2 big bags, to which I said I was going to be traveling with one bag and leave the other bag at my friends.

I got through no problem, because my statement made sense and I didn't look sketchy or freak out. If he had actually asked about my ticket, I would have told him that I got it on the plan of changing my ticket to an earlier date, so I wouldn't forget about it and let it expire.