Tag Trusted

Japan quietly this year relaunched and expanded its Trusted Traveler Program (TTP), which allows select travelers to use automated gates when entering and exiting the country.

We have previously covered our application and the airport inspection and TTP card issuance experiences (read more here and here). I yesterday used the program for the first time to enter the country at Haneda.

You can access Japan’s page for the TTP here.

Our Recent TTP Coverage:

Experience Report: Japan’s Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) Is Now Open For New Applications & Entry Via Automated Gates

Japan’s Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) Application Experience

Japan Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) Streamlined Guide

Japan’s Trusted Traveler Program

Japan’s TTP program is not merely registering your passport information in advance and then using these automated gates, but you need to fill out an application online, upload your passport image, and wait several weeks for the preliminary inspection to complete.

Then, on your next trip to Japan, you need to buy revenue stamps and complete the final inspection at the airport or some other locations, and this can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. You will be issued a TTP card on the spot that you can then use to enter and exit the country.

You can enter using the TTP card up to 15 times during its validity period.

Haneda TTP Entry Experience

You need to fill out the disembarkation card before you travel to use the gates and do it on the same TTP website.

The online form essentially asks for the same questions as the paper one. It would not accept the hotel’s address (could not proceed), but using the hotel’s name was enough.

You should soon receive an email confirmation that the information has been completed.

The arrivals hall yesterday morning wasn’t super busy (I didn’t take a photo – as it is prohibited), and the foreigner line was not long.

As this was my first time using the TTP card, I wasn’t sure where these (it turned out that it is just ONE machine) gates were, and I asked for advice.

The TTP gate area is furthest to the left at the Haneda Terminal 3, past the automated gates for Japanese passport holders. It was not apparent at all.

Only one of the five gates was designated for the TTP entrants, but nobody was using any of them.

The screen gives you the order of steps which you should follow. I made the mistake of inserting my TTP card first, making it stuck to the reader, and I needed help to release it.

1. Scanner reads your passport

2. You insert the TTP card

3. Fingerprints

4. Photograph

5. The machine updates your TTP card

The machine takes its time in some of these steps, and I thought there might have been an issue, but it was all good at the end, and the port opened.

I decided not to do the electronic customs form this time but filled out the paper one.

Conclusion

Japan could easily open the normal passport e-gates to visa-free nationals because the TTP secondary inspection process is rather time-consuming, and the preliminary one also takes weeks. I don’t think this product makes much sense for anyone other than those visiting Japan several times yearly.

As I have said previously, I consider this an “insurance” in case several long-haul planes arrive roughly at the same time, and there is congestion at the immigration (several reports earlier this year about excess wait times). My arrivals since October last year, when I first entered Japan after the pandemic on a “tour” visa, have been all smooth.

This, however, makes me more confident to book forward flights without excess transit time on separate tickets, like I did yesterday.

I was arriving from New Delhi on a JAL flight (the last segment of my Oneworld RTW ticket) around 6 AM and was continuing to Kagoshima. If I had not had this TTP card, I would have probably booked a 10 AM flight but decided to go with an 8:05 AM one instead (AA award at 7,500 miles and $0). There was a slight delay on arrival, but I still had plenty of time to visit the lounge at Terminal 1.

What have been your experiences using the TTP card? Please leave your comments below.

Japan extended the Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) eligibility just when the pandemic began and reinstated it earlier this year when both Sebastian (read more here) and I (read more here) applied and covered our processes.

The registered TTP users can use automated lanes when entering and exiting the country but need to apply for the program before entering Japan and then conduct the secondary inspection and issuance of the TTP card before leaving.

You can access Japan’s website for the TTP here.

The entire program has not been very clearly communicated to potential users, but the guide that previously was only available in Japanese has been translated into English, which allows you to review the requirements and process.

IN PDF:

Download (PDF, 1.5MB)

Sebastian’s Application Experience in May:

Experience Report: Japan’s Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) Is Now Open For New Applications & Entry Via Automated Gates

And mine in June:

Japan’s Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) Application Experience

Conclusion

If everything goes as planned, I will enter Japan for the first time using the automated gates in less than three weeks.

The TTP doesn’t really make much sense for an infrequent visitor because the “Preliminary Inspection” takes weeks, and the secondary one, at least in my case, about an hour. Also, you must pay a fee of 2,200 yen in revenue stamps that you must purchase before the card issuance.

I consider this TTP as an “insurance” if there are extensive lines at the immigration upon entry.

My four or five entry experiences since Japan reopened last year have been smooth, but there have been reports of excessive wait time if you happen to arrive when multiple long-haul flights land simultaneously.

On Friday (August 4, 2023), Japan suspended the registration and card issuance for its Trusted Traveler Program with no advance notice but resumed the service today (August 7, 2023).

Japan launched a Trusted Travel Program (TTP) in 2017 with very scarce information about its eligibility requirements (read more here, here, and here).

You can access Japan’s page for TTP here.

The program was relaunched with little fanfare in early 2023, and the eligibility criteria were significantly expanded. Sebastian and I wrote about our application experiences (read more here and here).

Notice on TTP’s website (Google Translate):

* TTP has been temporarily suspended since August 4, 2023, but is now available for all users. (As of August 7, 2023)

TTP Application Issues:

The issue with this TTP program has been the rather long inspection progress once you fill out the required information and upload documents on the website (six weeks, in my case).

The time it takes at the airport to inspect the documents, collect the revenue stamps, read the fingerprints, and issue the card at the airport (mine took 50 minutes). (You can do this at select immigration offices too, but they may be even more congested.)

Japan Trusted Traveler Program Registration Experiences in 2023:

Experience Report: Japan’s Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) Is Now Open For New Applications & Entry Via Automated Gates

Japan’s Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) Application Experience

Conclusion

Not sure why Japan suspended the program for the weekend with no notice that they are bringing it back three days later. Those that had planned to collect their TTP card at the airport while exiting the country couldn’t.

As I have said before, they should restructure this entire application process because the processing time once you upload the documents on the website is weeks, and the final inspection and card issuance takes significant time at the airport.

The entire program has been under the table and only worthwhile due to the red tape for those visiting the country several times a year and want to ensure that their arrival experience is smooth.

I am back in Japan this autumn and happy to see how these automated gates work with the issued TTP card.

Japan launched a Trusted Travel Program (TTP) in 2017 with very scarce information about its eligibility requirements (read more here, here, and here).

The program was relaunched with little fanfare in early 2023, and the eligibility criteria were significantly expanded. Sebastian and I wrote about our application experiences (read more here and here).

You can access Japan’s page for TTP here.

UPDATE: Japan reinstates the TTP program on August 7, 2023.

Japan Resumes Trusted Traveler Program Registrations & Card Issuance

A reader sent us a message that there is now a note on TTP’s website that new registration for the program and card issuance have been suspended. The existing cards can be used until they expire.

Notice on TTP’s website:

Currently, TTP is temporarily suspending User registration applications and immigration card information registration .
Those who have already registered immigration card information can use the automated gates.
We will inform you about the reopening date on this page as soon as it is decided. (As of August 4, 2023)

The issue with this TTP program has been the rather long inspection progress once you fill out the required information and upload documents on the website (six weeks in my case). The time it takes at the airport to inspect the documents, collect the revenue stamps, read the fingerprints and issue the card (mine took 50 minutes).

Japan Trusted Traveler Program Registration Experiences in 2023:

Experience Report: Japan’s Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) Is Now Open For New Applications & Entry Via Automated Gates

Japan’s Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) Application Experience

Conclusion

Japan should relaunch the program but make it more streamlined because, in its current form, it takes way too much time and human resources at the airport.

The entire program has been somewhat under the table and really only worthwhile, due to the red tape, for those visiting the country several times a year.

There are instances where the immigration lines have been backed up due to many arriving foreign passengers, but my experiences in the past 10 months have been smooth.

I am back in Japan this autumn and happy to see how these automated gates work with the issued TTP card.