Changes to the Alien Registration/Gaijin Card

You may already have heard that the Gaijin Card system is being overhauled.

What does this mean for you?

Not a great deal. The big differences this time around are: the inclusion of a 5-year visa and the abolition of the re-entry permit (as long as you re-enter within 12 months).

Read the full details in the pamphlet from the immigration website. If that doesn't work, here's a backup.

This will kick in from July 9th, 2012, and it seems that, in most cases, you can keep your current gaijin card until July 2015 unless it expires before then.

Any thoughts?