In this convenient world, you can apply anytime at home with your My Number card. Moreover, you only have to go to the counter once, when you receive your passport.
Starting in March 2023, passport renewal applications can be submitted online. I had a passport that expired in September of this year, so I immediately applied for a new passport through the MyNaportal application on my smartphone the other day. I received my new passport the following week without incident!
The other thing that may be surprisingly “uh …… (sweat)” is the “information on the legal domicile”. If it is the same as your current address, it is fine, but there are many people who do not have the same address. There is a section to be entered at the end of the application process, so please make sure to check this as well.
Then the password for the digital certificate for signing my number card. What is it? This is a password of 6 to 16 alphanumeric characters that you set when you received your My Number Card at the municipal office. It is not a four-digit PIN. It is required at the end of the application, so please confirm it in advance.
First of all, a picture of your face. You can apply with a self portrait photo in this application process (great times!). (Amazing age!). But since you will be using it for 5 or 10 years, you may want to use a properly taken photo. I went to my local Kitamura to have my photo taken for the certificate photo, received it as data, and put it in the camera roll on my smartphone.
If you meet all of the requirements, you will need three things to apply: (1) a currently valid passport, (2) a my number card, and (3) a smartphone that supports the mynaportal application. But…! There are a few things you should prepare and check in advance.
For your information, all prefectures allow online application for renewal of a passport, but only some prefectures accept new passport applications (not for Tokyo). For details, please check the website of each prefecture.
3, “no change in passport entries,” means that those who have changed their legal domicile, for example, due to marriage, unfortunately cannot apply online.
If your passport is less than a year old, especially if it is less than six months old, it is time to think about renewing it. When you go abroad, you may be told that your passport must have at least six months remaining validity. The required remaining validity period varies depending on the destination, but if, like me, you find yourself saying, “I’ve only got four months left to go,” hurry up!
To begin with, there are requirements to apply online for passport renewal. Here they are.
Passport Renewal (Renewal Application) Process
Let us show you the process of applying for renewal from MyNa Portal.
This is where you start the passport pre-application preparation. You can start from any of the three items: photo, self-signature image, and pre-application information. I did them in order from the top.
For the portrait photo, you can choose “Start camera and take a picture” or “Select and upload” a portrait photo stored on your device. As mentioned above, I used a photo taken at Kitamura Camera, but for a test, I selected “Start camera and take a picture” and took one.
Then there is the self-signed image. This is the transcription of your name that you wrote yourself on your passport’s photo page. This is written on a white piece of paper, and you take a picture of it with your smartphone and upload it. This is the best part of the online application process.
This is the screen where the applicant’s information is entered. The Passport Information screen will appear. The camera will activate and the passport reading screen will appear, so match the passport photo page to the frame in the guide (sorry I don’t have that photo).
Next, the pre-application information (applicant information, emergency contact in Japan, and other information) screen will appear. Here, you will enter your name, contact information, and other necessary information.
Next, the current passport information screen is displayed. Here, you have the important mission of reading the IC chip page of your passport with the MyNaportal application, but this time I don’t know if it was the device or the IC chip page, but I just couldn’t read it (I cried). I don’t know if it was the terminal or the IC chip page, but I just couldn’t read it this time (tears). I was a little depressed, but the problem was solved when I went to the “For those who cannot read the passport even after several attempts” guide. Apparently, there are many people like me.
I was in such a hurry that I forgot to take a screencap, but the way to do it is to take a picture of three pages: the face photo page, the back of the face photo page, and the last page, with the three pages transparent, and upload that picture. （I was thinking, “Is this really how it’s supposed to be done?) (Is this really OK?) I took the photo with my passport attached to the windowpane.
The image is missing because I forgot to take a screencap, but after the IC chip page of the passport is read, the my number card is read to enter the information of the person applying for the passport, and the name, address, etc. are verified from that reading.
In addition, the My Number Card is read one more time to verify that the photo used for the passport application is that of the applicant.
The next step is to confirm the receiving window. You may change the passport pick-up window you initially set here. Next, the application agreement confirmation screen will appear.
The last step is to grant a signature. When you press the button to read your My Number Card, you will be asked for the PIN (6 to 16 alphanumeric characters) for the digital certificate for signature as shown in the example, so enter it here. Then the application completion screen is displayed. At the end, I thought, “My number card reading again? but when it was over, I had the impression that the process was completed without any trouble.
Clicking the “Inquire Application Status” button confirms that your passport application is being processed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The day after I applied, I was immediately notified of the scheduled date of issuance. I received a notice to my registered e-mail address that said something like, “There are comments on the application/notification form you applied for through MyNa Portal,” and when I opened MyNa Portal, I was informed that “the examination of your passport application has been completed. I was informed that I would receive it on June 6, seven days from the date of application.
By the way, if you apply on paper, you will have to wait at the passport center for this “examination completion” time, which currently takes 2 to 4 hours because all of them are crowded. I am so glad I applied online! I thought at the moment.
On the day of issuance. It took about 20 minutes in total from the time I arrived at the Ikebukuro Passport Center to the time I received my new passport. Ikebukuro has the same rooms for application and pick-up, so I could not tell whether the many people sitting and waiting were waiting for application or pick-up, but I guessed they were waiting for application. I was told by the person at the application counter that it takes about two hours during the daytime on weekdays, and that it is even busier on weekends. Yurakucho and Shinjuku seem to be even more crowded.
Many of them expired during the Corona disaster, and passport centers in Tokyo are crowded with people visiting to apply for them in preparation for the summer overseas travel season. If your passport has been expired for less than a year, why not try applying online?
© Source travel watch
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