Job Discussion Forums

[robertokun]

I walked right through off a one-way ticket with nothing more than my passport. It seems to me like a lot of people have heard of someone who knew someone who supposedly got fined, banned, turned around on the next flight which they had to pay for etc, but no one's actually seen it. Like an urban legend or something.

[seklarwia]

It's not immigration that normally causes an issue, although Little Peach is proof that they do check sometimes.

It's the responsibility of your airline to check your visa status before allowing you to board which they are often very vigilant about because of the fines they could be liable for not making the appropriate checks.

And yes, some people will slip through the net, but nobody should assume that they will too. People are quite commonly made to but an onward journey on the spot before check-in staff will hand over their boarding cards.

[Apsara]

This is a commonly asked question on Japan info forums, and there is usually at least one person that answers that they were made to buy a full fare ticket out of Japan at the airport or they wouldn't have been allowed on the plane.

As I wrote above, many times when flying back to Japan, particularly out of New Zealand and Australia, I have had the ground crew have a good check through my passport for the visa which allows me to fly into Japan on a one-way flight, and once the staff told me that they looked carefully because if people didn't have a visa they didn't permit them to board.

Thoroughness of checking is probably going to depend on the staff member, the airline and the country, but it is definitely not an urban myth. Anyone without a working visa or other visa which allows residence should know that they are taking a risk if they decide to purchase a one-way flight to Japan.