Visit Japan Web: how it works for UK travellers

Visit Japan Web is the free online service of Japan's Digital Agency where you enter your immigration and customs details before you land, then show one QR code at the airport instead of handwriting two paper arrival forms. For a British visitor it is recommended, not compulsory.

The service, reached from the Digital Agency's Visit Japan Web page, covers the two forms every foreign visitor already has to hand in on arrival: the foreigner entry record for immigration (the ED card, also called the disembarkation card) and the customs declaration of what you carry and what is sent on separately. It also has a short set of health questions for quarantine guidance, and a separate function for tax-free shopping during your stay.

It is not a visa and it does not change your right to enter. GOV.UK's travel advice for Japan says that holders of a full British citizen passport can stay up to 90 days for tourism or business without applying before they travel, with a passport valid for the length of the stay and a blank page for the stamp. The full picture for British passports is in our guide to Japan entry requirements.

No, it is not mandatory: what Japan requires is the information on the two arrival forms, and the online route is only the recommended way to give it. The Immigration Services Agency of Japan asks every foreign national entering the country to submit the foreigner entry record, and Japan Customs asks every passenger to declare their belongings.

Both bodies say the same thing about the online option. The Immigration Services Agency recommends submitting the entry record electronically through the service for a smoother entry, and tells travellers who are not at ease with a smartphone to hand in the paper card instead, completed in English or Japanese. Japan Customs recommends declaring electronically too, and confirms that the paper declaration form can still be used: it is available on the plane, on the ship or at customs, and can be printed on A4 paper before you leave.

GOV.UK's entry requirements page for Japan, read on 29 October 2026, does not mention the service at all. It does say that you must declare anything that may be prohibited or subject to tax or duty, and that bringing meat products such as sausages, bacon and ham into Japan without permission from the Animal Quarantine Service is illegal. Using the online form changes how you declare, not what you have to declare.

Filling it in also does not skip any check. You still stand in front of an immigration officer, and Japan Customs warns that baggage may be inspected even after an electronic declaration.

Fill in the online form before you reach the immigration hall in Japan: the Immigration Services Agency asks travellers to complete their entry record by then, and none of the official pages we read sets an earlier deadline in hours or days.

In practice, the easiest moment is at home, once your flights and your first address in Japan are booked, because the form asks for both. You can then check that the QR code opens on your phone before you leave for the airport.

Plans change, and the code follows them. The Immigration Services Agency says that if you correct the information you registered, you must create the QR code again: an older code, or a screenshot of it, no longer matches. It also warns that mistakes in the length of stay are common. For a short visit (tourism, business, seeing relatives), enter 90 days or fewer.

Registration takes five steps in the Digital Agency's guide, four before you travel and one at the airport, and it starts with an email address to create your account.

1. Create an account. An email address is required, then you log in.
2. Register yourself as a user. Choose the category of entry procedure, then add your passport, either by scanning it with your phone's camera or by typing the details. Basic information such as your home address is optional but saves typing later.
3. Register your arrival schedule. Enter your plan to enter Japan and your contact details there (where you are staying).
4. Fill in your entry procedure. Open the schedule you registered and complete the immigration clearance and customs declaration section. The quarantine health questions sit on the same page.
5. Show the QR code on arrival. Display it at the immigration counter, then at customs.

A note on the passport step: the form shows a warning when your passport has less than six months left. That is the form's own alert. The rule GOV.UK gives for British visitors is a passport valid for the whole stay, with no extra period required, plus one blank page.

You need four things to complete the form: your passport, an email address, your flight details and the address where you will stay in Japan. The Digital Agency sums it up as your airline ticket, your passport and your email address, with the place of stay asked for in the schedule step.

• Your passport. The one you will travel on. Japan Customs says the e-Gates need an IC passport, the kind with a chip.
• An email address you can open, to create the account.
• Your flight details: the date and flight you arrive on.
• Where you are staying in Japan: the hotel or host address for your first night at least.
• A smartphone or tablet. You can register on a computer, but the Digital Agency says the code must be shown on a smartphone or tablet at the airport.
• A clear idea of what is in your luggage, because the customs questions ask about goods that are restricted, over the allowance or sent separately.

Families should plan a few extra minutes. The Immigration Services Agency asks for each accompanying family member to be entered one by one, each with their own QR code.

Since 25 January 2024 the service produces one QR code for both immigration and customs; you show it first at the immigration counter, then at the customs terminal or inspection desk. Codes made before that date, or with Japan Customs' former declaration app, are no longer valid.

At immigration, you show the code at the counter with your passport. At customs, seven airports have electronic declaration terminals and e-Gates: New Chitose, Narita, Haneda, Chubu Centrair, Kansai, Fukuoka and Naha. You hold your IC passport and the QR code over the terminal's scanner, a photo of your face is taken to match the chip in your passport, and you then walk through the gate. Japan Customs says the photos are used only for identification and deleted once you are through.

A few rules from Japan Customs are worth knowing before the queue. Every passenger, family included, goes through the terminal one at a time; a child under 100 cm tall can pass the gate with a family member. Masks, sunglasses and anything covering the face come off for the photo. If you carry goods over the duty-free allowance, or have things sent on separately, the terminal sends you to a desk instead of the gate.

Some airport terminals also have joint kiosks, the Immigration Services Agency says, where scanning the QR code and your IC passport hands your passport details, face photo and declaration to customs and immigration in one go. Screenshots: the Immigration Services Agency accepts a screenshot of the code at immigration, while the Digital Agency says screenshots cannot be used for the separate tax-free shopping code.

Use only the Digital Agency's own pages: the service is free, the agency says it never asks users for any fee, and it publishes no app, so a site asking for payment or an app in a store is not the official service.

The Digital Agency has published two warnings. On 5 June 2025 it reported a site requiring users to pay application fees, and repeated that it never charges them. On 14 December 2023 it reported suspicious apps using the service's name, said the service provides no apps, and asked anyone who had downloaded one to uninstall it straight away.

If you cannot or would rather not register online, you fill in the paper forms instead, and both are still accepted: the foreigner entry record for immigration and the customs declaration form.

The Immigration Services Agency publishes the entry record with an explanation in nine languages, English included, and asks for it to be completed in English or Japanese. Japan Customs' English declaration form (C-5360-B) can be printed in advance, or picked up on the plane or ship, or at customs. Either way, the officers' checks are the same as for a traveller who arrives with a QR code; only the time spent writing changes.

• Is the online arrival form a visa?

  No. It is an online version of the immigration and customs arrival forms. GOV.UK says British citizen passport holders can visit Japan for up to 90 days for tourism or business without applying before they travel.

• Does it cost anything to use?

  No. The service is free, and the Digital Agency of Japan states that it never asks users to pay a fee. A site asking for money is not the official one.

• Do I need Visit Japan Web to enter Japan from the UK?

  No. The arrival forms are compulsory, but filling them online is a recommendation of the Immigration Services Agency and Japan Customs. Paper forms are still accepted.

• How long before my flight should I fill it in?

  No fixed deadline is set on the official pages we read. The Immigration Services Agency asks you to complete it before you reach the immigration hall; doing it at home, once your flight and accommodation are booked, is the easiest.

• Can I use a screenshot of the QR code?

  At immigration, yes: the Immigration Services Agency accepts a screenshot. If you later change your details, you must create a new code, so an old screenshot no longer works. Screenshots are not accepted for the tax-free shopping code.

• Does each family member need their own QR code?

  Yes. The Immigration Services Agency asks for each accompanying family member to be entered separately, each with their own code, and Japan Customs has every passenger use the terminal one at a time.

• Can I fill it in on a laptop?

  Yes, registration works on a computer. At the airport, the Digital Agency says the code must be shown on a smartphone or tablet.

• Is there an official app?

  No. The Digital Agency says the service provides no apps and has warned about suspicious apps using its name. It runs in a web browser.

• What if my hotel changes after I register?

  Update the information in your account and create the QR code again. The Immigration Services Agency says a code must be regenerated whenever the registered details are corrected.

• Do I still go through immigration and customs?

  Yes. You still see an immigration officer, and Japan Customs says baggage may be inspected even after an electronic declaration.