Refused entry to Japan
 

Curious to know if this has happened to anyone else and how you or United handled it...had plans to visit the Shigeru Kawai piano factory (Hamamatsu Japan) arranged months in advance. Hired a Japanese "government licensed tour guide" as it was required at the time of booking to obtain a visa. Booked round trip business class for a five day trip. Filled out all info on the United "travel ready" site. Tour guide requested all usual info "in order to get you your visa," such as passport number, flight info, hotel address, etc. A few days later she emailed a copy of my "visa." Arrived at Haneda two days ago and was told the visa was not done correctly. We were immediately escorted back to a United departure gate for deportation. They initially assigned me and my son coach seats which seemed like the worst part of it. Eventually moved to business when they realized business seats were going out empty. United planned on leaving me in Chicago to find my way home, though that was not my departing airport. I had to argue for them to get me back to my final US destination.

As of October 11 this is a non-issue as the visa requirement is gone for US citizens. It seems that this is something that should have been caught by the tour guide I paid to handle this matter or perhaps the United agent who confirmed to me that it was a valid visa when I checked in for the flight. Short of going to a Japanese embassy to have them review it, I'm not sure how I would know whether it was sufficient. Besides being out thousands in air fare, the discomfort of prolonged travel, we missed the piano tour which was arranged for my family. When I asked the United agent upon re-entering the US they say they bear no responsibility for checking documents. I asked them why they bother checking them then, and they had no answer. The tour guide apologized and had no answer as to why this happened. Hoping to avoid such unpleasantries in the future if anyone has been through something similar.

I think you need to go back to the tour organizer who "took care" of your visa and put some pressure on them. The visa was their responsibiity and Japan Immigraton is saying that it was not done correctly. The tour organizer needs to contact Immigration and find out what went wrong.

This is definitely not UA's problem and UA has no responsibility to you. It is 100% the traveler's responsibilty to make sure the visa is valid - not United. You paid United for transportation, not visa validation services. United did you a favor by returning you to your origin (apparently w/o extra $ paid) - they could have charged you a change fee and fare difference prior to boarding in Japan for your return trip. Applicable part of Contract of Carriage:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...20647427a6.jpg

I wouldn't say they have "no responsibility" as by law they are responsible for removing me from Japan when immigration stated I didn't meet the entry qualifications. I'm not expecting United to be proficient in visas from multiple countries but if they can't reliably identify a good one from a bad one, what is the point of showing them this document. They vouch for the credibility of many other documents such as the passport being valid, the COVID vaccine card being legitimate, etc.

At that point, UA has a responsibilty to the Japanese government (not you) to remove you from Japan - a subtle, but important, difference. If you read the CoC, at that point UA can come after you for change in fare, etc. A lot of people don't read the contract of carriage they agreed to when purchasing the ticket and assume what you are assuming. That being said, the CoC clearly negates UA's responsibility here.The fault lies with whoever arranged it.

UA is required sometimes to make a good faith effort to check visas, but they don't go into detail of them beyond a minimal scan - usually of the validity dates and country. UA can't verify the actual validity of a visa beyond a superficial check (UA puts that on the passenger) - and UA does assume the risk that the destination authorities may put a passenger back on a return flight.

UA does not vouch for the validity of any document. They are required to check you have the needed documents but the validity determination is made by the appropriate government / border official. If UA did as you suggested, there would be no need to the border officials.

You really expect a counter or gate agent to have the same level of proficiency as border officials when agents may be checking documents for hundreds of countries. Again their requirement is to check you have a visa and the border official will determine if is valid for entry. You are looking to the wrong party to blame. You and your tour agent bear the responsibly for this issue (assuming the border official did not make mistake).

You are lucky UA had business class space because there was no obligation to provide you with a business class seat -- UA was required by Japan to get you out of Japan as soon as possible, on the next flight and not the next flight with business class seats.

On the whole I agree with you. The responsible person is the traveler. My question is how/where to verify such a document prior to landing 12 hours across the globe. And certainly UA "does vouch" for the validity of certain documents, such as their own boarding passes. I would never assume that an average gate agent possesses the discernment of a border crossing agent with regard to documents unique to that process. I'm just trying to learn from those of you with knowledge in this area. It is appreciated.

In what way exactly was the visa "not done correctly"?

If OP, a seasoned traveler, could not identify that the visa was a 'bad one' then is it not too much to expect the United agent to do so?

UA vouches you posses entry documents but not that the documents are valid or appropriate for you. BPs are a internal UA document, not a government issued document.

There is a Japanese Consulate in Houston, they may have been able to exam the document

Although I have been to Japan a number of times, this was the first time which required a visa. What I was emailed looked very much like a Turkish e-visa I had recently used. Thus my question, is there a clearinghouse which can validate important documents such as these prior to departure to prevent another passenger like myself being inconvenienced.

They don't "vouch" for visas - they do look to at it to see that it looks legit, but they do not verify that it IS legit. UA hopes the passenger has seen to it themselves that they have the correct entry documents so UA doesn't have to bring you back.

I managed an office in Russia for 3 years a while back, so visas were a regular hassle. One of our people got on the corporate jet in Nagoya and flew into Sakhalin (NNW of Hokkaido Island) with a visa not valid for 3 days. We didn't have a flight scheduled for a while, so the Russians allowed him to sleep in the airport immigration meeting room for that time. None of us liked him, so I made no effort to get him out early and we sent him cold leftovers to eat :) It was definitely on him to check his visa.

As you proposed in your post, a Japanese embassy or consulate would be a good choice; the Japanese ISA would be another good choice.

Maybe use a reputable visa handler next time and maybe fly with NH/JL who's agents might be more familiar with the types of visa.

Short of checking with the Japanese consulate or pressing the "tour guide" for an explanation, there's really no way to validate every piece of document.

A wild guess, any chance you considered ERFS as your visa? Since usually this is the document you need to obtain from the tour operator in Japan, after which you need to apply the actual entry visa at the embassy or online.

Most countries have a process to assess an individual case and if no intentional misrepresentation was found, along with the traveller presenting no risk, they will often grant permission to enter, perhaps with some additional restriction like reporting to officials on the day of departure.

If this is as described, Japan acted in their all too typical, bordering on xenophobic, manner regarding foreigners by acting this way. After all, in a few short days NO visa would be required.

Most immigration authorities, even in the notoriously strict United States, would have exercised some discretion in this set of circumstances and almost certainly allowed short term entry.

If you had a round-trip ticket now it's completely used. Not sure of your dates, but had you flown into NRT I guess it may have been cheaper if you bought/redeem a GUM flight on the spot and sit out until the 11th.

I hope that, after today, there will be no further unreasonable deportations. However, I wouldn't bet on it.

Perhaps the MOD'S can create a thread for FT'ers to report their Japanese Immigration interactions from this day forward. It would prove a valuable resource should any unforeseen problems arise.

They don't have any responsibility to you, this has been subject of many threads and arguments but always in the end its clear, only you are responsible, or your TA or other agent if you used one.

The airlines check for THEIR protection as they are responsible to the arrival country to export you if you are refused entry, I would consider myself extremely lucky to be repatriated in buisiness class
and I would be talking to whoever arranged the visa, this is on them You should be sending United a letter of thanks !

This was a rare, freak accident situation, and your visa preparer is to blame.

I tried saying tnis early on and everyone is off on the wrong track whether UA is to blame.

I’m going to take a swing at this because it’s germane to your next attempted entry into Japan.

You bought a tour package as required at the time, and I’ll guess the tour operator applied for you to receive a tourist visa, very specific to entry for tourism and only tourism.

When you presented at immigration, did the topic of your visit to a piano factory come up in either casual mention or as an answer to a direct question? If so, the immigration inspector determined you were visiting for business purposes and therefore your visa type was incongruent to the purpose of your visit. Many countries are extremely strict about this, the USA included.

So, now you have a deportation record in Japan, and IIRC, that is one of the questions on the entry form, so you want to get ahead of this problem before attempting to travel to Japan again by asking your local consulate if the purpose of your visit includes meeting a piano factory, does that mean your entire visit is for business purposes (the answer is likely yes), and do you need a business visa for entry even if tourism entries are exempt from a visa. I would certainly reach out to the consulate to see if this situation can be mitigated before you present at immigration inside Japan again and risk another removal.

If you didn’t tell the tour operator that you planned on visiting the factory, it’s not their fault for failing to apply for a business visa. It’s also not United’s fault as they are not going to ask you immigration questions outside the scope of their usual check in procedures.

It sounds more like the piano factory tour was a tourist activity like visiting the Mazda factories, and perhaps not about doing business.

I think most of the relevant issues have been addressed by posters above.

I am wondering still about how this went. If you don't mind, could you share some more details about what happened on arriving?

+1. You clearly had a very embarrasing experience in HND which most East Asian would consider a loss of face incident. I would also recommend contacting the Japanese Mission responsible for your region and formally ask what you did wrong and how you can set your record straight as you clearly had no ill intentions for your visit.

My best guess would be on doing the eVisa process wrong. Like OP not being able to login and show his eVisa with a countdown on the phone, because he only got the PDF printout. That this is somehow related to a factory visit seems like a really wild guess to me. He was travelling with his family and they have some sort of interest in piano related activities, that's just tourism.

I flew into Haneda. Half of the evening's departures were canceled, and the others were to Sydney, the US, and I believe Vietnam. I saw a Seoul flight leaving the following morning but they would not let me sleep in the airport to wait for it. We were arrived 32 hours before the visa requirement expired but they said the flight has to arrive after midnight on the 11th (something I later learned was incorrect).

My son and I deplaned, had all of our forms in hand and submitted them to the immigration official. He asked if I was military and I said, "no." He then asked who was with me and I pointed to my teenage son who was being processed at an adjacent booth. They then put our passports in clear zip lock bags and led us to a corner of the room. They said, "visa no good." Fortunately I had the licensed government tour guide contact info and I immediately called her on What'sApp. I couldn't understand what they were saying but I heard her exclamations of surprise. I have asked her to look into it, and she replied that the visa was appropriately filled out but she had not filed it with the correct authorities. We begged to sleep in the airport for the 34 hours but there would be zero negotiations. A United airline gate agent was called to the area who immediately escorted us to a departure gate and told us to remain seated until we boarded the next flight home.

Unfortunately you seem to have been a victim of what's been just under the surface but come to the fore during covid.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...n-immigration/

As for those saying a business visa would've been required, that wouldn't have been the case in less than 2 days, as short trips for business purposes do not, with Japan being a participant of the Visa Waiver Program.

I purchased a rather expensive concert piano for my home. The final construction of the instrument is completed by one master craftsman sort of like an AMG engine in a Mercedes. They only make 3 or 4 of this model for the world each year. The salesman suggested that if I ever went to Japan they could arrange a private factory tour for me as a token of appreciation. They also create a bronze plaque with the name of people who buy this model and place on a wall in the factory. It took several months to arrange all this since the factory was still recovering from their COVID lockdowns. My son has no interest in pianos, so I promised him a day at Tokyo Disney if he would accompany me to the tour. I work as an ER doctor and my schedule has yet to return to anything sane, so besides having some bonding time for my son and I, it was going to be a nice respite from the 60-80 hrs work weeks. I'm sad to hear that it will be more difficult to re-enter Japan going forward, because it was something of great interest to us.

Agree. If you're taking a "tout" then basically by definition you are a "tourist". Business activities are more along the line of entering a country to try to sell something. The real intent is to screen out foreign nationals who may attempt to displace a citizen's emplyment.

Sorry for your travel issues, that would be a nightmare. Did you verify the visa with Japan immigration before your trip? All of the visas/etas I have had either were stamped in my passport ahead of time by the consulate or I applied directly from the immigration website with a confirmation/verification.

I had contacted the Japanese consulate in Houston and they replied a couple of months ago that all tourist visas needed to be done through a tour group. The tour guide I hired agreed to obtain the visa on my behalf. About a week after supplying her with all the necessary demographic information she emailed me my "visa," as a .pdf form. I could not have applied for a tourist visa on my own even if I had wanted to based on their restrictions.

It still seems like the visa was not authentic, which is why I asked if you verified it before travel. The immigration officer said as much on your arrival.

You could not request a visa on your own without the sponsorship of a company. The company had to issue a so called ERFS certificate which then you could use to request the visa on your own. For US citizen this could be done online: https://www.evisa.mofa.go.jp/index The latter is something you'd need to do yourself, this can't be done by a third party because: "Applicant are required to log onto the JAPAN eVISA Website and display “Visa issuance notice” at the airport. PDF data or screenshot of the page will not accepted."

I've tried really hard to avoid replying in this thread as I have some further thoughts on the matter, but I'm going to keep it limited.

But unfortunately "what would have been the case in less than 2 days" doesn't matter. Its the regulations that are in effect on the specified date/time, not what it's going to be. Do we also say to the airlines "well this fare in less than 2 days after I want to fly is $500 cheaper, so just give it to me on the day I want?" or "in less than 2 days I don't need a VISA, so just let me fly today without showing I've obtained a VISA" :rolleyes:

And the OP already told us where they have already identified where fault lies for this situation
So that being said, I'm really confused why this is related to United at all, continues to be discussed in the UA forum and whether they were right or wrong in the situation, beyond the fact that they were the carrier who was transporting the passenger. This is ultimately a VISA/immigration issue and the situation would have been the same regardless if it was UA, AA, DL or even ANA who transported the passenger. Except they might have actually charged the passenger the cost of the airfare for the return. If anything OP should be grateful they didn't have any more out of pocket expenses for what was a massive mistake, as they have indicated, by their tour agency.

Thanks for your reply. The only reason I posted this in the United forum was to determine how reliably the international gate agent is at catching errors on these types of documents before allowing a passenger on an international flight. Apparently they are not reliable to any extent. I understand the responsibility ultimately lies with me and I fully accept that. However, like many people who are confused by a dynamic process involving immigration, I chose to hire someone who does this for a living. And that person did not do their job correctly. Lesson learned. My concern going forward as was mentioned above, is how long will I be banned from re-entry now that I have been deported.

You definitely got that!

Really sorry for all the trouble and I don't really see how you could have done much better than you did. The Japanese entry program was stupid from the start and unfortunately you got the short end of it.

Given that you had a document that looked like a visa, and so far it sounds like no one in this thread has determined conclusively what the problem was, I'm not surprised that UA let you board.

UA does attempt to check the validity of visas and documents, but it is an obligation to themselves because they face the burden of removing you from Japan and can also be fined by the Japanese government for delivering inadmissible pax. I would absolutely say you had an extremely rare experience - 99% of the time someone without the correct documents for entry will be caught by UA and denied boarding at their origin. TIMATIC would have flagged you for a visa check, and an agent should have confirmed that you had a visa - since we don't know what the issue was I have no way of knowing whether it was reasonable for the agent to catch it. In a sense, you could say that UA messed up too, but they don't have a contractual obligation to you here - UA messed up, and they paid for their mistake by having to take you back from Japan, and they may get in trouble with Japan.

FT is a travel community which imo tries to be helpful. Understanding what went wrong in the OP's case is part of that. Sorry you may not see it that way.

UA definitely gets fined each time a pax of theirs fails the immigration requirements.