My wife does not have DEA and we are supposed to be arriving in Japan next week. She has a no-fee passport as well as tourist passport. I will have to pay for her airline ticket, but how long can she stay with me, can she get through the airport, get on base, etc. My kids are both in high school and have DEA, so I'm expecting to be able to draw TLA, get housing, enroll them in DoDDS, etc. I am working on getting my wife's Overseas Screening and DEA approved (medical issues), but would like to bring her as I work this out. This will be our 3rd overseas tour, but first to Japan. I believe the issues to be a misunderstanding by screeners in Japan. The reason for not waiting, is that our HHG have been packed out and we will be homeless next week. I am checking out of my command next week as my 5 day TLA ends and am scheduled to fly out.

I belive the information your asking for is under coming to Japan without command sponcership. Also beaware that if there is a medical issue there are places in Japan that do not have adequate medical facillities for certin conditions/issues. How they handle people developing these conditions is they just get medi-vac to Hawaii. Also be aware that the Japanesse medical system does not really accept americans/millitary and vice versa.

yea you get 6 months for here to be here then she has to leave and come back. You can mac flight her out to guam then have her come back, she can get on base if you escort her but alone...not so much because of the DBIDS system. She has to have the DEA info to get into the DBIDS system here and if they scan her ID the guys may give her some shiz...

Posted By Rea on 22 Aug 2010 06:24 PM
Also be aware that the Japanesse medical system does not really accept americans/millitary and vice versa.

What do you mean they don't accept Americans/military? I have been here 17 years and have used the off-base hospitals and clinics most of the time. There is no issue with using them...most people might draw issue to the fact that you have to pay as soon as services are rendered, but isn't that how the way business is supposed to be? (Meaning they don't take insurance (most of them anyway...some do)) so you have to pay in cash as soon as you check out of the hospital. To put that in to perspective though...Japanese medical facilities are WAY CHEAPER than American. One stay in the hospital for a severe chest cold for my son that lasted 7 days ran me less than 1,000 USD. I know a lot of hospitals in the US that charge almost that much for one night.

If she is not on your orders, then she will have to use her tourist passport which only allows her to stay in the country 90 days.

Thanks for the responses. Understand about the medical costs/availability.

I thought even without command sponsorship, she could still get on base, use the exchange/commissary, etc. but was not entitled to medical treatment. I know she can't stay permanently, but would have her "visit" often and make a few trips off island. I think the limit for her stay is 3 months at a time. My kids should be eligible to go to Kinnick HS since they have DEA, and I should be eligible for TLA and housing and medical. Am I wrong on any of this? This got thrown on me yesterday as my HHG were being packed up and am supposed to fly out at the end of next week. I'm scrambling for solutions now. Since my kids are HS aged, I don't want to geo-bach, and not only that, do not know where I would move my family on such a short notice and with our HHG packed up.

really? in Okinawa there has been alot of trouble with that. A Japanesse national even died at one of the flight line fairs here last year. Some americans that have gotten into accidents have had to wait for the millitary to send out ambulances instead of just using the Japanesse ones that are there. Its a big mess here in okinawa. Also the Japanesse hospitals out here have been known to refuse patiens if they dont "have facilties for them" which makes sense. But if your in trouble its kinda bad news.You can even read in some of the archives of japanupdate where people have died waiting in side the abulance for a hospital to accept them. So not knowing what his wifes "issue" is its better to offer the warning.

If your wife has a valid US Forces Dependent ID card she will not be refused access to the base or any of it's facilities except for medical and even then they will take her in an emergency. They will then stabilize her and then transport her off base to some hospital willing to take her. Rea is correct about hospitals in Okinawa, but they will take Americans and Military its just that sometimes they are overwhelmed with patients. I have used a small hospital south of Naha myself with no problems and was quite impressed with its facilities. Japanese hospitals are infamous for refusing service when full and this is only a problem when it is an emergency.

I, too, agree that without knowing the "issue" then we cannot say with intelligence we can only say the norm.

The issue with DBIDS is that she might be questioned about why she is not in DBIDS and the simple answer is "I am visiting my husband here". With a valid ID card they cannot refuse her entry to the base.

The 90 day limit is because she will be on a tourist VISA and this is ok, but frowned upon. She will have to leave the country for one day and return. Guam is a popular location for that and quite inexpensive. Taipei is another popular location as you don't even have to leave the airport (they have a hotel inside the airport so you don't even have to clear immigration). Both flights usually run around 150-300 USD depending on time of year and discount service used.

Now for my standard fatherly figure blurb... I advise against any of this as there is another answer and I know you don't want to do it, but it is the "right" thing by all "military means". Your spouse should stay in the US with family (I am sure you have some or she has some) until her DEA is completed. You have said your children are of HS age and have DEA/CS so they can enroll in school on the base and you will be entitled to full COLA/OHA so you can get your household affairs settled and it allows for enough time for your spouse's DEA to be completed. It isn't like you are able to refuse your current orders so whether she gets DEA or not...you are transferring. I know it is a blunt and somewhat rude way to say things, but it is the truth. On a side note.... I totally hope your wife gets the DEA...

Wilson, thank you for the reply. My wife's "condition" is that she sees an endocrinologist once or twice a year for a hormone supplement she takes. She does not have any type of emergent health issues, but the medical screeners in Japan said there are no endocrinologists in Japan. I did a quick google search and found a few in the local area. Their websites were in English but I guess the question is, will Tricare let my wife see them, will they accept TRICARE, or will they see her and we just have to pay for the visit. It will beat having to fly her out of Japan a few times a year.

She has her no-fee passport, but I'm assuming she will not be able to get this stamped when she arrives and will instead have to use her tourist passport if the customs officials ask to see our Dependent Entry Approval paperwork along with my orders.

I thought that was the case with the DBIDS system. She had no trouble getting overseas screening in Italy or Germany so when then they scanned our ID's to get on base we were in their system. I usually had no trouble signing family or friends on to the base either, but you know it's different from country to country.

Thanks for the advice on sending her out to stay with her family while she completes her DEA. I am considering that, but at the same time all of our stuff is packed up (including all her stuff) and we move out of our house and into TLA this week as I finish up my transfer. I don't know if I can get her screening and DEA all done by myself in Japan or if she will need to be near a PSD or military medical facility to re-submit paperwork for her. It is something I'm considering though as I try to find out what all of my options are at this point. Unfortunately this was a last minute surprise thrown on us since all of our overseas screening paperwork and DEA request info were all turned in last month, and HHG shipment was set up before I had to deploy. My command just flew me back in on Friday to transfer and when I went in to PSD to check on the status of our airline tickets, and found out what was really going on with the screening, etc.

I was seeing an endocrinologist 2 times a year in the states for a thyroid condition, when my husband received orders here the screening doc said an internal med doc could see me just as well as an endocrinologist especially since my condition was not out of control, so he wrote on my paperwork that I needed just an internal med doc. It hasn't posed a problems since we've been here and they have managed my condition just fine. Maybe she just needs to talk to her endo doc and find out if it is something she really needs a specialty doc for, sometimes just in the begining of the management they are needed and then your primary care doc can take over. Good luck

Okay thats not such a bad issue. You need to go into the reporting without commandsponcership. A few girls on this site have done it. They talk about how to actually use the medical and dental and how it works like waiting for a plane on stand by. Also they talk about leaving and comming back one girl actually got stoped and told no. They are going to know she isnt SOFA even if she uses the commerical passport. When we went on vacation we had to fill out a embarkation card for foreigner it was stapled to a page in our passports and apon reentry was give a sofa stamp at the airport. Also one girl touches and talks about how to get a long term visa for japan.

And as far as I know they only thing that is covered out in town here is dental through united concorida.So dont cancel your families dental through the millitary its still useful.

Posted By Rea on 23 Aug 2010 08:29 AM

And as far as I know they only thing that is covered out in town here is dental through united concorida.So dont cancel your families dental through the millitary its still useful.

I think TRICARE will cover all manner of medical providers in town. Iwakuni has no military hospital (just a branch clinic) so patients are referred to providers offbase all the time. Likewise with retirees, who are on Tricare Standard.

I agree that Internal Medicine should be able to monitor your wife's condition. There are many people here with hyper- or hypo-thyroid conditions.

I went into labor early and had to go to an off base hospital because the base hospital can't deliver babies under 35 weeks and I was only 34 weeks. I stayed at the off base hospital for a week then came back on base and had my baby, but I never had to pay anything when we left the hospital. They took me there by Japanese ambulance or doctor car as the Japanese call it and they brought me back on base by the doctor car. All the nurses and doctors were VERY nice. I think it all depends on where you go. The hospital I was at was the one at the end of Blue Street so it was only about a 10 minute drive to get there.