Gang:

I sent a Japanese colleague of mine back to the US this week for training.

He just called from NRT; seems that his Japanese passport is still valid (dated from at least pre-99), but it is lacking the bar-code now used by US immigration. he was advised by the authorities that he would be allowed to depart but would probably be turned back at SFO.

He's bailed on tonight's flight & will reschedule ASAP.

Anyone have this experience before? Any idea of how quickly he can get the bar code from the passport office?

All help is appreciated!

This is not related to Japanese passports - it is a requirement from US authorities (Department of Homeland Security) that all passports be machine-readable.

The following website indicates that US immigration officers have discretion to make a once-only exception to this rule - so your friend could have boarded his flight and explained his case to an immigration officer:
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/press_release/press_release_0546.xml

If your colleague cannot get a new passport within a reasonable timeframe, I would suggest that he prints the above information and some information to prove that he has tried to get a new passport - and then make his flight to SFO and have a solid plan for handling the discussion with the immigration guys. (Depending on his English ability and confidence in front of petty bureaucrats, this might be tough)

The requirement for machine-readable passports was announced a couple of years ago - and the deadline for compliance was extended to allow some countries sufficient time to comply. (Japan is actually ahead of the curve in terms of compliance - many Japanese passports were already machine readable - and the Japanese government is now issuing passports with embedded RFID chips).

I had my passport replaced by the British embassy in Tokyo a couple of years back - IIRC it took them two weeks. The new "machine readable" passport does not have a barcode, rather it has some machine readable lettering along the bottom edge of the photograph page. When I enter the US, they drag the passport through a scanner. It saves them the effort of typing my details.

For a Japanese national in Japan, the time required should be less than that - more information on this site:
http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/toko/passport/

EDITED TO ADD - after reading the above site, I found that they estimate 1 to 2 weeks to issue a new passport, but they say it can depend on which prefecture you're in. I recommend that he calls a passport office in Tokyo to see if they can expedite things. If not, then he should make a print out of their website and have this with him to explain this to the US immigration folks.
If your company can also write a letter to support this, that might help him too.

If you want information about the US immigration rules, you might get a fuller response from some more knowledgeable people on the North American boards.

This is not yet inforced for Canada Passports!

jib:

Thanks for the info. It's a major help!

kmc

My colleague went to the Tokyo passport office this am with his tale of woe and business needs. They processed his passport on the spot (¥10,000) and sent him on his way with appropriate stern warnings.

Thanks again to jib71 for the help!