Background: Although prolonged preoperative waiting period (PWP) for gastric cancer (GC) may influence the prognosis, the relationship between PWP and survival outcome has not been elucidated. The aim of this study is to identify the impact of PWP on survival in patients with clinical stage (cStage) II / III GC. Methods: A total of 483 patients who underwent surgery for cStage II / III GC according to Japanese classification of GC, 14th edition, between January 2002 and December 2012 were included. The patients who underwent endoscopic submucosal dissection or neoadjuvant chemotherapy, or who had multiple cancer, special histological types of tumor, or urgent symptoms were excluded. We defined PWP as the period from the date of endoscopy for initial diagnose to that of surgery. Patients were divided into two groups according to PWP; short waiting period group (SWPG, PWP ≤ 60 days, n = 357) and long waiting period group (LWPG, PWP > 60 days, n = 126). Survival outcomes were compared between the groups and multivariate analysis for overall survival (OS) was conducted to identify independent prognostic factors. Results: The median PWP was 49 (21-323) days. In LWPG, patients were significantly older (P = 0.001) and had more comorbidities (P = 0.042) than those in SWPG. Preoperative lymph node status was significantly lower in LWPG (P = 0.031), although there were no differences in tumor depth and cStage between the groups. There was no difference in OS between the groups (5-year OS, SWPG: 61.0%, LWPG: 63.2%, P = 0.612). Multivariate analysis for OS identified age, BMI, histological type, and cStage as independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: Preoperative waiting period appears to have no influence on survival in patients with cStage II / III GC.