Hi, I am going back home for a vist in June. I was told by a friend that I have to buy a visa passport. Is this true? Or can I just use the passport that got me over here? Or is this passport only good with orders or if my husband is with me? He will not be coming on this trip with me.  

You can use the passport you used to get here. :o) I've heard something about getting it stamped prior to leaving if you are going to be gone for a long time, but other than that I don't think there's anything else you would have to worry about. 

OMG thanks so much. I've been so stressed about it. The ticket was $3,000 if I'd of had to pay anymore I would not have been able to go...again thanks for getting back to me so fast :) 

You can use that passport but you will need to get a re-entry stamp in it. You can get that at IPAC on Foster or even at the AMC terminal on Kadena. It's just a stamp saying you are here on SOFA and not as a tourist. 

you NEED to get it stamped before you leave here regardless the amount of time that you are gone. They will NOT let you leave otherwise. Been there don't that sadly. 

call ipaq and ask them or one of the travel agents on island.....as i was told that we dont use the gov passport as thats only for orders but we should use our travelers passport 

Are your passports military issued? Mine is not a visa. 

My passports is military issued and I have used it 3x to go back stateside from Okinawa and had no problems. I would go to IPAC or AMC and get a stamp it will save you lots of time and trouble later on. 

Thanks... 

Are your passports military issued? yup 

Are your passports military issued? Really? I dont think mine was... I Went to the post office back home and applied and paid I think 100 bucks, then 2 weeks later it came in the mail and I used that. Then when at the tokyo airport they looked at my military Id and stamped it with some red stamp. That was all... I dont need to do anymore do I? 

I use my regular tourist passport to go to the states. 

MIlitary spouses that got the passports issued to them are military passports. They say on the back that they are only to be used between the location they are stationed and their home country. Even if you got a military stamp when you came in you have to get an exit and reentry stamp when you are preparing to leave or you WILL LOOSE YOUR SOFA STATUS and have the possibility of being deported because of your lack of sofa. You need to get stamped before you leave. 

I Went to the post office back home and applied A military passport is done on base and has your SOFA stamp in the back. 

I don't have one of those... do I need one? my hubby was already stationed here before I got here and was like, "Hey when can you come?" and I was like, Uh... 3 weeks." and he said I needed to get a passport and come so I did. there arent any bases in houston. 

I don't have one of those... I was told you were supposed to have both but I have never once used my military issued one. And I have a few friends here who don't even have them. We use leave orders and my regular passport whenever we go to the states. I certainly wouldn't worry about it! 

Krystle, you're fine with the one you have. When I was here with my exhusband, I only had the regular tourist passport like you. This time I have the military one though. 

You do not need to have one apparently as a number of people i know do not have one although I myself have both. 

Ok cool, At least I know now that I need to get one, and a reentry stamp as well. Phew! thank you! 

no we got ours from ipaq before we left quantico 

I have a gov issued passport. I have been to and from the states a number of times on it. You dont need to get another one. If you are flying from NAHA, once you get to Tokyo, you will need to fill out a SOFA card. (you will see the signs for them) and they stamp that and staple it to your passport. You dont need to go to IPAC, or anywhere else... you just get the paper in tokyo and they staple it in your passport, and once you return they stamp your passport and tear out the little paper that they stapled into it. Not to worry you will be fine! 

WEll you don't need the other one unless you do not plan on traveling anywhere other then the US or a place you have PCS orders to. 

yeah you must have been pretty lucky. I tried without a stamp commercial and they said no way! You need to have that exit and reentry stamp according to immigration. 

So I know I can use my no-fee passport to travel back & forth to the states. But, for other travel..how do I get a tourist passport? Where? When? How much? How long of a wait til it's done? lol, everything you can tell me! 

So I know I can use my no-fee passport to travel back & forth to the states. But, for other travel..how do I get a tourist passport? Where? When? How much? How long of a wait til it's done? lol, everything you can tell me!  BANANA you're here in oki right now right? If so you can go to the US consulate out in naha. You can get directions to it by simply going to MPF and telling them that you need to get information about getting a passport they should be able to give you paperwork to fill out and a map to the location. The cost is under $200.00 a passport I am not sure the exact number but it is not more then that. now this is important to i will write it in caps: WHEN YOU GO THEY ARE GOING TO ASK YOU TO TURN IN YOUR MILITARY ISSUED PASSPORT DO NOT DO IT I will say that again DO NOT DO IT. The passport that you have is your key to your sofa status and if you give it to them then it is a big mess. YOU ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE A CIVILIAN PASSPORT AND A MILITARY PASSPORT AT THE SAME TIME. SO you have gone to the consulate with the paperwork and all that good stuff and then you leave. You will wait a month or so and it will be in the mail. I think they say 8 weeks tops. It is the way to go I did the process. I have the paperwork around here somewhere with a map so if you want PM me and I will send you a copy of directions when I find it. 

Why would you want to get a regular tourist passport in addition to a SOFA passport. I have a SOFA one and it works fine. I just came back from Hong kong with no issues. 

Because you can not travel to any location other then the US and technically your home of record as mine states is not valid for leisure with a sofa one. So for like example mine states that it can only be used with PCS orders to travel or to travel to a final destination other then the one listed as "home state" as on my passport. 

Because you can not travel to any location other then the US and technically your home of record as mine states is not valid for leisure with a sofa one. Actually if you read the back of the passport on a SOFA one it says in conjunction with something, something. You can go anywhere you want as long as you have a SOFA entry stamp to Japan and a re-entry stamp. I went to Hong Kong and back. Other people have been to Singapore, Australia and Thailand. 

That's the thing, mine doesn't say that. Mine literally says to the location on PCS orders only. It's weird, I have not come across many others with the same type of passport as I have, but nonetheless even after asking legal about it and the consulate, they suggested I get a civilian one. *shrug* 

Where do I get a Military Passport?