I am traveling from the United States to my home country and staying one night in Japan. Do I need a transit visa for my connecting flight?

According to Japanese regulations, you need to hold a connecting air ticket or ferry ticket to transfer at Japan International Airport. If you do not need to stay overnight, you do not need to apply for a transit visa or other types of entry visa; if you need to stay overnight , whether an entry/transit visa is required depends on whether the airport is open 24 hours a day.

Therefore, whether a visa is required for transit in Japan depends on the following two conditions:

1. Whether you hold a connecting ticket

Connecting tickets generally refer to A ticket is issued by the airline in one go, the flight is from point A to point B, and the flight is officially divided into several segments by default. There is only one order number for connecting tickets. Therefore, if you purchase separate tickets on your own, it is not a connecting ticket.

Generally speaking, tourists holding connecting tickets only move in the international transit area and do not enter the transit country. They do not need to go out of customs to collect checked baggage. Therefore, they generally do not need to apply for transfer documents from the transit country. visa.

2. Is the transfer airport open 24 hours a day?

According to the announcement of the Chinese Embassy in Japan, among the many ports of entry in Japan, except for Haneda Airport and Kansai Airport, Narita is open 24 hours a day. Popular airports such as Chubu Airport, Chubu Airport, Fukuoka Airport, and Naha Airport will be closed late at night, and transit tourists are prohibited from staying overnight in the departure hall.

Therefore, even if you hold a connecting ticket, if the flight interval is long and you need to stay overnight, and the airport is not open 24 hours a day, you must enter Japan, which means you must apply for an entry/transit visa. Otherwise, tourists will be arranged by the security company to stay overnight in a designated hotel and escorted by the security company to check in and leave, during which they will not be able to leave the hotel. All costs are borne by the visitor.