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.