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Requirements for a "JAPANESE drivers license"

Military Brat — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:16:06 GMT

I have a valid stateside drivers license. I have a valid SOFA drivers license. I am a single, SOFA, contractor working on base.

With that in mind, can someone who KNOWS the process (preferable because they have already done it) tell me the process of getting a JAPANESE drivers license? Reading through these threads, there's alot of misleading information and not always clear whether people are talking about a drivers test maintained by the base, or by Japan.

If you have a Japanese drivers license, were you required to take a written test? actual driving test? If so, could you please tell how each was? Particularly the actual driving of a car test. I have heard many misleading stories about this.

Thanks in advance!

Suspended License 3 years ago

DRMOdave — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:33:31 GMT

My friend is in a "bind" of sorts and I figured i would ask here since I cannot find any thing online about this. First some background.

My friend was a contractor from 2007-2010 on Yokosuka base, at the end of 2010 he wrecked into a pole and ended up getting a DWI. He went to the court for contractors and they gave him 220 hours of community service and some other stuff he had to do. and a 2 year suspended license he got "let go"from his job shortly after this and was unable to complete any of this.

For 3 years he has been struggling and living with his mistake, unable to find work (he is married to Japanese and has children) finally he gets a break and is now a gainfully employed contractor, he doesn't work on Yokosuka base but its the closes base to him that can give driver license.

He no longer drinks and hasn't for a long time. My question is can he get his license back since its been over 2 years, and is there a way to ask for a retrial since he feels the punishment was too harsh due to the CO at the time not liking contractors? (the CO was well known for this.) Will he need to supply documents to the DMV in order to get his license OR since the 2 years has passed would he be able to obtain a license with no problem?

He is not looking to wiggle out of this problem but he feels he and his family have suffered for 3 years and a very hard lesson was learned that affected not just him but, his whole financial future. I saw some of the hard times he went through and it was very sad. due to this he wishes for a chance to get the 220 hours of community service at least reduced is this possible?

Also if he cannot get his license by OCT he will be fired again and Like i said it wont be easy to do the community service due to not even working on yokosuka base.

Any professionals that work for CNIC or know the best way to go about this would be tremendously.

Thanks

Marriage in Japan

tntxox — Sat, 04 May 2013 07:13:33 GMT

My fiancee and I have decided that we would like to get married while i'm here visiting, but we've run into a few bumps. We originally planned to go to the Embassy in Tokyo, but we needed to get the approval and necessary paperwork completed from his command. Then we found out that upon getting that approval it will take somewhere around 21 days, which is a problem because I'm flying back to the states on the 21st of May. We also learned that I would have to get a physical completed from a US hospital, which isn't possible obviously because i'm in Yokosuka. So then the idea struck that when he takes his week of leave this month that we could just catch a flight down to Guam since it's a US territory. This entire process has become extremely frustrating for me, but I do not plan to stop trying. Just trying to find an easier way to get things done. If ANYONE can give me some insight on this I would be much obliged. As you can see it's now the 3rd of May, and I don't have 21 days to wait for the command approval. And I have no way to get a physical done unless it were to be in a Japanese hospital, someone PLEASE help as soon as possible...

Base Decal For Retired Military In Japan

DreamlinerRep — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:14:44 GMT

Is it possible for a retired military to get a base decal for car? I have an Alien Registration (AR) card and am working in the civilian sector (not affiliated with the military) . I have all the proper documents and insurance for the car and will soon have a Japanese driver's license. (Painful experience!) When I asked this question at the Yokota Visitor's Center at the Fussa Gate, I was told that I can't have a base decal because I don't work at the base. I can have day passes, but not a base decal. Is that a correct statement? Since I will be here for over 4 years, it is very inconvenient to rely only on day passes, specially in Yokosuka.

Need good attorney

newB — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:45:01 GMT

Long story short. I was hit by a Japanese national and it has left me with physical and mental damages that directly has caused my military career to come to an end. Its wrecked my life. I was full on towards retirement and because this guy felt like texting while driving almost killed me. But did kill my career!
Basically his laack of care cost me almost millions in the long run.

Property damage was paid out.
Now Im seeking medical damages restitution. Does anyone know a really good english speaking attorney that handles these kinds of cases I can contact?

P.S.
It was investigated 3 times and each time I was found NOT at fault.
Thank you so much

Active Duty Service Members Retiring or Remaining In Japan But DO NOT Have SOFA

Adam Jones — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:43:42 GMT

This concerns active duty service members retiring in Japan but DO NOT have a SOFA sponsored employment.

Unless a service member already has a SOFA sponsored employment secured, the moment he/she signs his/her DD-214, the USFJ operator's permit (USFJ form 4EJ) that he/she has been using while on active duty becomes invalid.

Contrary to popular belief, the USFJ form 4EJ is NOT a Japanese driver's license. It is a document that identifies the bearer as a SOFA driver in Japan and that authorizes the bearer to drive in Japan while in a SOFA status. Not the same.

To be able to continue driving in Japan legally after retirement, the easiest way is to get an international driver's license from the State in which your driver's license was issued.

Be aware, however, that the Base does not recognize international driver's licenses (at least so was I told). One cannot drive, register a car on base or even get a job as a base Taxi driver with an international or state driver's license. A Japanese Driver's license is required.

Getting a Japanese driver's license is not complicated but it is quite a time-consuming process. Those who are thinking about retiring in Japan should get an international driver's license before their retirement date so that they can, at least, still drive in Japan off-base while going through the process of getting a Japanese driver's license. Otherwise, look at being on foot for two months.

Citizens of the USA, UK or France are in luck because Japan has signed an accord with these countries that makes it possible to simply exchange the license issued in their country for a Japanese license. NO WRITTEN OR PRACTICAL TESTS required. However, there are a few requirements discussed below.

to make the process easier, follow these steps

1) Before retiring:

a. 90 days prior, complete the CNFJINST 1910.1 (series). checklist to obtain permission to separate in Japan. Without authorization, you will not be able to get a visa from Japanese Immigration upon retirement to be able to reside in Japan). The process is really easy for those whose spouse is a Japanese National (the case of over 90% of those who are retiring in Japan).

b. Get an International Driver's license next time you are visiting home. These are good for up to three years.

2) Upon retirement:

a. Within 30 days after retirement, you must go to the Japanese Immigration Center (located in Kanazawa Hakkei for those living in the Kanto area) to get your passport stamped with a visa (currently good for three years). This process last about 20 minutes depending on how crowded it is there. Do it ON THE DAY you retire or as soon as possible. Without that visa, you cannot complete step b. below.

b. Apply for a Japanese Foreign Residence Card (GAIKOKUJIN TOROKU) at the city office of the city you will reside in. You must show your passport with the visa stamped by Japanese Immigration to do this. It takes 20 minutes to apply but you will have to wait 2-3 weeks to receive the card.

Without this card, you cannot apply for a Japanese driver's license but, while you are waiting for the card to arrive, you can at least work on gathering the other required documents. Below is a list of the other documents you will need:

1. Current driver's license issued by country/State of origin.

2. A Japanese translation of the driver's license issued or certified by the consulate, embassy or the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF).

3. Copy of records from the license authority of your State of residence.

4. Certified Japanese translation of the above records.

5. Current passport.

6. Proof that you resided in the country/State in which your driver's license was issued for a period of AT LEAST THREE MONTHS after the date the driver's license was issued.

This can be done by showing old passports.

If you do not have your old passports, anything from the City Hall of your hometown (certified Japanese translation must be provided) that can provide proof of residence.

For those who got their driver's license while in High School or College, a certificate of enrollement showing start and end dates (certified Japanese translation must be provided) will work as well.

7. One Photograph, taken within the last 6 months, hatless, no background and showing one third of the upper body, size 3cm X 2.4 cm. There are machines at the driver's license center. Get your picture done there.

8. If you normally use corrective lenses, bring them.

C. Once you have received your GAIKOKUJIN TOROKU card, take everything to the foreign driver's license desk at the Driver's License Center in Futamatagawa (for those living in Kanagawa) - don't forget to get your picture taken once you get there - and you should be able to get a Japanese driver's license issued to you.

Useful link:
http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/osirase/kokusai/2seikatujouhou/untenmenkyo_eng.html#4

Baby born i Japan want Japanese passport

Cinderellagirlsd — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:48:54 GMT

Is it ossicle for my husband and I to pursuer dual citizenship for our 14 month old son. he was born here on Yokosuka Naval base and already has ALL am,Erica's documents. I just recently thought about pursuing Japanese citizenship for him. it would be easi for him in case he decides to return later in life.

Looking for contact at USFJ

ThaiGuy — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 17:06:37 GMT

Hi. I've helped a lot of people through JB over the years. Now I'm hoping someone can return the favor. I need a contact at USFJ who can help me run some paperwork. I'm currently in the States & can't do it myself.

For the sake of OPSEC, please don't post names or contact info publicly, but if you or your spouse work at USFJ please send me a PM. Basically, we need to run a request for a USFJ letter & Japanese police records check for my wife's immigrant visa application to the States. To do it through the local consulate in Honolulu would take like 3 months, but if someone at USFJ could help maybe we can get this down to a few days or weeks.

Any & all help is appreciated! My wife is currently visiting me on a tourist visa, but it's about to run out & she has to leave the country. We didn't know about the need for a Japanese police check until today (she is Thai, and we were SOFA contactors at Iwakuni for 3 years). We have our records check from Iwakuni & thought that was sufficient but just got informed today that it isn't.

Thank you & happy New Year!

Japan liberty rules relaxed for New Year’s Eve 2012/2013

30MM — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 11:19:24 GMT

Japan liberty rules relaxed for New Year’s Eve

By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Dec 26, 2012 14:25:47 EST

The top U.S. military commander in Japan issued a temporary reprieve for troops who want to ring in 2013 by celebrating off base, pushing the daily 11 p.m. curfew to 1 a.m. on Jan. 1 — but stricter curfews remain in effect for forces in Okinawa.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Sam Angelella, who commands U.S. Forces Japan in Tokyo, on Wednesday issued the order revising the 11 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew just for New Year’s Eve, “to allow military members and their families to enjoy the arrival of the New Year with their Japanese hosts.”

The order also imposes a 12:30 a.m. alcohol curfew for any off-installation celebrations, and it maintains the existing policy that requires “liberty buddies” from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. for all service members E-4 and below.

The command announced the revised policy by posting a copy of the order on its official Facebook page.

The order applies to all U.S. troops in Japan but not on Okinawa, where a separate, stricter order remains in effect.

Troops there are banned from drinking alcohol off base and anyone found to be under the influence of alcohol won’t be given off-base liberty under a policy ordered by the Okinawa area coordinator, Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth Glueck. Glueck, who commands III Marine Expeditionary Force, is the top representative for U.S. Forces Japan and can impose specific rules for liberty for all military personnel on the island.

Glueck, on Dec. 20, lifted a previous order that banned on-base alcohol sales and prohibited service members from drinking alcohol from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily, a III MEF spokesman in Okinawa said Wednesday. “Service members are allowed to purchase alcohol after 10 p.m. on base,” said 1st Lt. Gregory Carroll. But they still are prohibited from buying or consuming alcohol off base, and commands will continue to monitor and enforce the policy, he said.

“Drinking and driving or other destructive decisions will endanger you and everyone else — it can end lives and careers and affects our mission here in the Asia-Pacific region. Remember, you represent the military and the entire nation,” Glueck and Maj. Gen. Peter Talleri, Marine Corps Installations-Pacific commander, said in a joint holiday message posted Dec. 24 on MCIPAC’s official Facebook page. “A single moment of bad judgment will have strategic implications.”

Getting a Divorce In Japan

Adam Jones — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:35:33 GMT

I know this topic comes up from time to time, and someone was looking for information through our search engine, so I thought to make a topic for it. I dont know much about divorce, but know a few friends that went through it with Japanese women.

EFMP

AFchick — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 00:09:52 GMT

I have posted a little about this before, but wanted to put this out there. If anyone has had major difficulties with the EFM Program please privately message me. A class action suit is being formed and you may qualify to join it.

Thank you

Marijuana

NEW246 — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:13:23 GMT

Hey,
I know that the Marijuana laws are pretty strict in Japan but how does that law affect on base? To clarify, I am a card holding medical marijuana patient and want to know if the base recognizes state law in that matter? I would like to be able to have it shipped to me, but don't want to be breaking any laws. Thanks.

Bringing Sister over to live with us

PickFamily — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 21:04:30 GMT

Hi,
I have an almost 17 year old sister who would like to come with us to Japan, She wants to finish up her last year of school before going to college and would like to attend college in Japan. We were wondering what would need to be done in order to have her come live with us in Japan or should she finish up school and then come for college and we we can legally add her on the page 2 so she can live with us on base. As I have a 4 year old we would then be required to have a 3 bedroom and we would prefer to live off of base so should we try to take care of all this before we head out there. January 27th is when my husband is required to check in at Atsugi. She does take medication for bi-polar so I'm not sure if this would be something that would prevent her from coming due to the screening process.

We figured that we would that contact legal and ask them everything but I didn't know if anyone had a similar situation with older children/siblings.

Thanks,

Getting a ticket without command sponsorship?

Akakmg — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:37:19 GMT

Husband got his orders today. I am wondering will we be able to accompany him with free tickets or will it be from our pocket to go with him. We are not command sponsored because he don't have much time left here and we just got married December.

Command Sponsorship Regulations

svtekh — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:54:52 GMT

Before I ask any questions let me give you my info and situation:
-I am an E-4
-I live off base
-I have already served 1 year(~15months) of my 3 year unaccompanied orders here in Yokosuka
-I leave Japan in August 2014 and I get out of the Navy March 2015
-My girlfriend is an American citizen and has a tourist passport

Here are my questions:
What is the actual document that states that I am required to have 3-year orders to be eligible for CS? (BTW this info is not in COMNAVFORJAPANINST 1752.1R) So far, all I have been able to find is this paragraph from http://usmilitary.about.com/od/join...rriage.htm

"There is an exception to the above rule for certain overseas assignments. When a single person is assigned to a "long" overseas tour, the assignment length is generally 24 months (the unaccompanied tour length). For an accompanied married person, the tour length is usually 36 months. If a single person goes overseas on such a tour, then gets married during the tour, he/she can apply to move his dependents overseas, if they agree to extend his tour-length to the accompanied tour length."
I don't take this source as reliable because I don't expect my CoC to if this situation becomes disputed.

Since I already have 3 year orders here, will I still be required to extend more time to be eligible for CS? In other words do I need to have 3-year orders before or after CS?

If I am required to extend another year, will that mean that I am going to have to reenlist since my time left in service will only be 8 months after my PRD? Would it be possible to just extend the rest of that time instead of a full year?

Please, if you have any advice, I'd like to see your sources of information such as actual instructions and regulations instead of word-of-mouth advice. If any of this becomes disputed I'd like to be able to back it up with paperwork. To those that have answers, I appreciate it and thank you beforehand for taking the time to help!

Name Change on Yokosuka Base

filmfemme — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 04:28:42 GMT

My husband and I got married in June before PCSing to Yokosuka in July. I did not have time to hav my name legally changed in the states.
Can I do it here on Yokosuka base?
If so, then how?

Thank you!!

confused & really want to fix:( about name!!

greizzybell — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:15:12 GMT

my boyfriend & i leavin together now we wanted to get marry asap but i dont know where we start,hes on navy but shore duty now

The problem is im using my sister named & just divorce to a japanese manthen we decided to leavin together now with my navy boyfriend..my question is we really wanted to get marry soon in my real name how cN we do that?? im willing to surrender in japan immigartion & tell them the truth story ..do u think guys the military can help us to fix it specially im pregnant now havimy baby with my navy boyfriend??

thanks in advance

Immigrant visa to the states

ThaiGuy — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 03:54:31 GMT

Hi. I'm getting ready to submit an I-130 (Petition for Alien Spouse) to get my wife an immigrant visa to the States. The procedures have changed recently -- they have a "lockbox" mailing address in Chicago. I have to send the application there, along with a check & supporting documentation. She doesn't get any "fast track" treatment as far as I know cuz we're not an active duty family.

So, any pointers or tips on filing for the visa, supporting docs, how long will it take, mistakes to avoid, etc? We're both new to the process & we'd really appreciate any wisdom from those who have been down this path already.

Thanks!

dependent ID help

navywife86 — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 19:25:17 GMT

Not sure if this is the correct category to put this in, but... I'm currently dual military (both of us are stationed out here in Yokosuka), and on August 24th, I will be separating from the military. I'm trying to figure out what we need to do in order for me to get a dependent ID. I really need to get it the same day, due to my needing IV medications every 12 hours right now. My command hasn't been helpful (all they've told me is that they don't know) and my husband's command hasn't gotten back to us. I'm just trying not to wait until the last minute to figure all of this out! I'm on his page 2, but it says I'm Active Duty, so my dependent status is different. I wish I could just call PSD, but, not allowed to do that anymore! Does anyone have any experience with this? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Retire in US move to Japan while terminal leave

exchippy — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 22:35:34 GMT

Hi.
My husband will retire soon in US and while on terminal leave,he and us will space A flight to Japan.Can he start looking for a job on base or GS job even he doesn't have any Visa?
And I checked other topics and read about "retire in Japan" or "job in Japan" ones but he has no SOFA because he was not station in Japan .Can he go to Yokohama Immigration office to get a stamp like other people who retire in Japan?