Silviase/jgov_v1.4_full_ann huggingface dataset:
reform and special rules for the criteria for landing permission regarding the status of “College Student” was enacted on August 29, 2003 (and entered into force on October 1, 2003). Under this ordinance, the status of “College Student” shall be granted to foreign students who study in graduate courses of graduate school evening classes if the colleges to which the graduate schools belong responsibly manage the students enrolled in the schools. Such foreign students studying in the evening classes of graduate schools shall also be granted comprehensive permission for engaging in activities other than those permitted by the status of residence within a limit of 28 hours a week.

As with the project for further accepting foreign data processing specialists to Japan, the HPSZSR made the decision to expand this program nationwide within FY 2005. Thereby, the Ministerial Ordinance for Partial Amendment of the Ministerial Ordinance to Provide for Criteria Pursuant to Article 7, Paragraph 1(2) of the Immigration Control Act (Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice No. 29 of 2006) was promulgated on March 30, 2006, and was enforced on the same day.

## Section 6 ◆Amendment of the Official Gazette on the Status of Residence of “Long Term Resident”

## 1 Establishment of the Provision on the Adopted Children of Japanese Nationals Left behind in China after World War II

The adopted children aged 6 years or older of Japanese nationals left behind in China after World War II and the grown-up or married biological children of the spouses of Japanese nationals left behind in China after World War II were not covered by the Official Gazette in the past. However, in consideration of the historical background regarding Japanese nationals left behind in China after World War II, the Ministry of Justice decided to provide the Status of Residence of “Long Term Resident” to adopted children who had been raised in the same way as the biological children and to the children who had been born before the spouses’ marriage (Amended and enforced on September 28, 2005).

## 2 Adding the Requirement of “Good Behavior and Conduct” to Requirements for Japanese Descendants and Their Families

According to the National Police Agency’s announcements (2004 and 2005), around 2,000 foreign nationals with the status of residence of “Long Term Resident” were arrested for penal code offense for two consecutive years. In addition, the government decided to amend the Official Gazette of the Ministry of Justice, and to change the current situation in
which second/third-generation Japanese descendants are permitted to enter Japan without any requirements in order to ensure the safety and security of the general public.

Consequently, the Official Gazette on the Status of Residence of “Long Term Resident” was amended to add the requirement of “good behavior and conduct” to the requirements for acquisition of the status of residence of “Long Term Resident.” The requirement of “good behavior and conduct” will not be imposed on Japanese descendants who intend to enter Japan as a Japanese national left in China after World War II or a relative of such a Japanese national with the status of residence of “Long Term Resident,” taking into account the necessity for continuing promotion of their smooth return to Japan (amended on March 29, 2006 and enforced on April 29, 2006).
# Chapter 5 Deportation Procedures

## Section 1 Measures against Illegal Foreign Residents

## 1 Enhancing Detection Capabilities

Most illegal foreign residents are illegally working in Japan. As a characteristic of recent years, these illegal workers tend to work for a longer time and live or work in different locations by forming much smaller groups.

Further, some legal residents such as college students or pre-college students are involved in activities not permitted under their status of residence. In addition, there is an increasing number of foreign nationals engaging in fake marriages or pretending to be Japanese descendants, aiming at illegally obtaining a status of residence with an unlimited scope of activities.

Under the basic policy of reducing the number of illegal foreign residents in Japan by preventing them from settling down in Japan, the Immigration Bureau established investigation departments in the regional immigration bureaus in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya in order to have permanent detection systems. In FY 2003, the Immigration Bureau instituted a first branch office exclusively in charge of exposing illegal foreign residents in Kabuki-cho, a district in Shinjuku ward, Tokyo, aiming at enhancing detection capabilities. In FY 2004, to further reinforce detection abilities, the bureau set up detection task forces at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, which is responsible for the Tokyo Metropolitan Area where a large number of illegal foreign workers are working or staying secretly. In FY 2005, the bureau also set up a detection task force at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Bureau to further reinforce detection capabilities.

## 2 Expanding Application of Article 65 of the Immigration Control Act

The total number of suspects accepted nationwide has significantly increased owing to the expanded implementation of acceptance of suspects under Article 65 of the Immigration Control Act by the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau and the Metropolitan Police Department in tandem from October 2003 onwards, which has been showing significant results. In 2005, other regional immigration bureaus started the expanded implementation one by one while improving the acceptance system. All of the prefectural police departments
have been putting such acceptance into practice as of September 1, 2005. The Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, which accepts a large number of suspects, will make efforts to further expand application of the article by enhancing the acceptance system for non-business days, such as Saturdays and Sundays.

## 3 Encouraging Illegal Foreign Residents to Appear

To encourage illegal foreign residents to voluntarily appear, the departure order system was introduced in December 2004. Under the system, foreign nationals who have voluntarily appeared at an immigration control office can quickly leave Japan through simple procedures and the landing denial period will be shorter. The number of foreign nationals who appeared in hope of returning to their home countries totaled 19,336 for the period between December 2004 and December 2005.

The Immigration Bureau will continue to actively work on public relations activities to further encourage illegal foreign residents to appear through foreign language media and various other information and communications channels, while analyzing the appearance of illegal foreign residents under the departure order system.

## 4 Reinforcement of Patrols in the Airports

Recently, many persons have been using the transit areas in Japanese airports for unlawful purposes such as illegally entering the US or other countries, or helping others enter Japan. Preventing such behavior is of utmost importance as a countermeasure against terrorism and international organized crimes, and therefore the Immigration Bureau has been reinforcing patrols in the transit areas in Narita Airport and Kansai Airport since FY 2002 in order to detect or prevent the use of forged or altered passports.

## Section 2 ◆Improving the Treatment of Illegal Foreign Residents in the Detention Facilities While Giving More Consideration to Human Rights

Foreign nationals who stay in Japan in violation of the Immigration Control Act shall be detained under a written detention order issued by the supervising immigration inspector during the deportation procedures. If they are to be deported from Japan, they shall be detained under a written deportation order issued by the supervising immigration inspector. As detention facilities for these foreign nationals, the Immigration Bureau has a total of 16 detention houses at the regional immigration bureaus, their district immigration offices and some branch
offices, as well as three immigration centers in Ushiku city in Ibaraki prefecture, Ibaraki city in Osaka prefecture, and Omura city in Nagasaki prefecture.

These detention facilities have been established for the purpose of detaining illegal foreign nationals in temporary custody until they are deported from Japan. Therefore, in the treatment of foreign nationals detained in these facilities (hereinafter referred to as “detainees”), arrangements have conventionally been made to give them as much freedom as possible to the extent that causes no security risks and which respects the lifestyle of individual detainees according to the culture and customs of their home countries. In August 1998, the rules on the treatment of detainees of detention facilities were amended (the amendment entered into force on September 1, 1998) to treat detainees properly while giving more consideration to human rights. In accordance with the amendment, an opinions’ system was also introduced to hear the opinions of detainees by placing at the detention facilities opinion boxes into which detainees can submit opinions on their treatment to the head of the facility. The rules were further amended in September 2001 to start the operation of an appeal system on November 1. Under this system, detainees who are dissatisfied with their treatment by immigration control officers can appeal to the head of the detention facility and finally to the Minister of Justice. Thus, active efforts have been made to improve the treatment of detainees in the detention facilities. Previously, if a detainee met with a person other than a consul, an immigration control officer needed to accompany the detainee. As the aforementioned rule was revised on April 1, 2003, the detainee does not have to be accompanied by an immigration control officer when he meets with another person as long as this does not pose any security risks.

Each immigration center and the Tokyo and Nagoya Regional Immigration Bureaus have been making additional arrangements for the treatment of detainees while giving as much consideration as possible to freedom and human rights to the extent that causes no security risks such as enriching the medical care system, making telephones freely accessible to detainees during the period of open treatment and providing them with additional opportunities to bathe and take outdoor exercise.

## Section 3 ◆Efforts for Smoother Deportation

The Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau is implementing active detection through detection task forces and accepting suspects under Article 65 of the Immigration Control Act in order to halve the number of illegal foreign residents. However, since the bureau has jurisdiction over the metropolitan area and the detention capacity of the bureau has reached its limits, it has
become indispensable to establish an efficient deportation system that makes up for the lack of the bureau’s capacity and exactly supports detection. Therefore, in FY 2006, the bureau will carry out smoother deportation through utilization of the detention house at the Narita Airport District Immigration Office, of which the detention capacity was expanded from 48 to 350.

## Section 4 ◆ Treating Illegal Immigrants in Consideration of Their Conditions

If an illegal foreign resident who has violated the Immigration Control Act expresses a wish to stay in Japan in the deportation procedures, the Immigration Bureau will pay due attention to his individual circumstances, including the reason why he wishes to stay in Japan, relationships with family members, living conditions, behavior and other factors as well as family unity and other humanitarian perspectives. After considering the effects on other illegal residents, the Immigration Bureau actively grants special permission to stay if it is necessary to do so. As a result, the bureau granted special permission to stay an increasing number of times in 2005.

The Minister of Justice has extensive discretionary power in granting special permission, and it is difficult to set clear criteria on permission. However, in order to grant special permission to stay in a more transparent and proper manner, the Ministry of Justice has been disclosing information on actual cases of special permission on its website since August 2004, and 28 cases of special permission to stay were additionally disclosed on the website in August 2005. The ministry will keep disclosing such data in the future as well.

## Section 5 ◆Reinforcing Cooperation with the Authorities Concerned

## 1 Violation of the Immigration Control Act in General

The Immigration Bureau has been taking the following measures to reinforce cooperation with the authorities concerned, thereby taking much more effective countermeasures against illegal foreign residents.

In order to promote effective prevention and intensified detection of violation of the Immigration Control Act, the Council for Prevention and Detection of Violation of the Immigration Control Act has been held since 1971. At this council, representatives from the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry
of Finance, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and the Japan Coast Guard have been discussing measures to properly deal with violations of the Act while sharing information and developing close cooperation among them. In FY 2005, the council discussed (i) the present situation of illegal entry and possible countermeasures, (ii) the present situation of illegal foreign workers and possible countermeasures, and (iii) the present situation of trafficking in persons and possible countermeasures.

In line with the action plans decided by the Ministerial Meeting Concerning Measures against Crimes and the Headquarters to Promote Responses to International Terrorism and International Organized Crime, the Immigration Bureau has been enhancing its countermeasures against illegal entry and illegal foreign residents. The Immigration Bureau has also developed close cooperation in sharing information with the other authorities concerned, such as the Headquarters for the Promotion of Measures to Prevent Firearms, the Headquarters for the Promotion of Measures to Prevent Drug Abuse, and the Council for Regulation of Smuggling, aiming at effectively regulating serious violations of the Act.

## 2 Measures against Illegal Foreign Workers

To deal with the issue of illegal foreign workers, efforts should be made from various perspectives. For this reason, it is necessary to reinforce cooperation among the authorities concerned and to build a more effective cooperative structure.

To this end, the Immigration Bureau reports or brings charges to the investigating authorities against unscrupulous employers and brokers of illegal foreign workers in order to encourage the authorities to impose criminal punishments on account of facilitating illegal employment practices. The Immigration Bureau also requests the investigating authorities to apply penal provisions under the relevant laws and ordinances when finding any cases where employers or brokers coerce illegal foreign workers into prostitution or exploit them without paying sufficient wages.

There is a growing demand, from the perspective of globalization, for measures to accept foreign workers in broader fields and smoother procedures. Meanwhile, in light of the fact that illegal employment of foreign nationals has become a serious social problem, the Immigration Bureau also participates in the Liaison Council of the Ministries and Agencies on the Issue of Foreign Workers, which was established under the Cabinet Secretariat. The Immigration Bureau, the Cabinet Office, the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and
Transport have been discussing the issue of illegal foreign workers while examining various matters concerning the acceptance of foreign nationals including foreign workers.

The National Police Agency, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare have periodically exchanged information at the Liaison Council of Director-Generals on Measures against Illegal Foreign Workers, and the Conference on Measures against Illegal Foreign Workers and have discussed specific measures on the issue of illegal foreign workers, including joint detection.
# Chapter 6 Refugee Recognition Procedures

## Section 1 ◆ New System of Refugee Status Recognition

The amendment of the Immigration Control Act was enforced on May 16, 2005, thereby the conventional refugee recognition system was significantly modified. The amended Act contributed to providing a more stable legal status to foreign nationals who have applied for refugee status, and also enhanced fairness and neutrality in the refugee recognition procedures.

## Operation of the System for Permitting Provisional Stay

With the aim of ensuring the stable legal status of illegal foreign residents who have applied for recognition of refugee status, the new system of refugee status recognition has introduced the system for permitting “provisional stay”. If a foreign national is granted the status of “provisional stay”, the Immigration Bureau will suspend the deportation procedures while continuing with the refugee recognition procedures without detaining him. The Immigration Bureau permits provisional stay, if the applicant for recognition of refugee status satisfies the following requirements: 1) there are no reasonable grounds to suspect that he falls under any of the provisions for deportation; 2) he applied for recognition of refugee status within six months after the day of landing in Japan (if grounds for being a refugee arose during his stay in Japan, the day of knowing such grounds); 3) he entered Japan directly from a territory where he was likely to be persecuted; 4) he has not been sentenced, after entering Japan, to imprisonment with or without labor on a charge of a certain crime as stipulated in the Penal Code; 5) a written deportation order has not been issued to him; and 6) there are no reasonable grounds to suspect that he is likely to escape.

## 2 Stabilizing the Legal Status of Recognized Refugees

If an illegal foreign resident applies for recognition of refugee status based on the new system of refugee status recognition, the Immigration Bureau will proceed with the refugee recognition procedures and the residence permission procedures simultaneously in order to decide the applicant's legal status as early as possible. If the illegal foreign resident is recognized as a refugee and satisfies certain requirements, the bureau will grant him the status of “Long Term Resident”.
Even if the applicant does not meet the said requirements, the Minister of Justice may grant a status of residence, if the minister finds that there are extenuating circumstances to do so. (Chart 29)

Chart 29 Procedures for recognizing illegal foreign nationals as refugees under the amended law

## Section 2 ☐ Promoting the Handling of Applications for Recognition of Refugee Status

The number of applicants for recognition of refugee status in Japan was 384 in 2005, ranking third following 1982 just after the launch of the system of refugee status recognition, and 2004.
As for recently-filed applications for recognition of refugee status, the nationalities of applicants have become more diversified, the circumstances of the applicants have become more complicated, and the refugee recognition system is more frequently being abused. Furthermore, it is not an easy task to inquire into the facts necessary for the refugee recognition procedures because events based on which applications are filed have generally occurred in foreign countries.

In order to properly deal with the problems arising from these circumstances, such as an increase in the time required for handling applications and an increase in the number of applications that have yet to be handled, the following measures have been taken.

## 1 Enhancing and Strengthening the Refugee Examination System

With the aim of strengthening the examination system, additional officials were assigned as refugee inquirers in order to respond to the increase in the number and complexity of applications for recognition of refugee status. Training has been provided for staff in charge of refugee recognition procedures every year, aiming at improving the knowledge base and research skills of the refugee inquirers. The training introduces lectures given by psychologists in order to allow the staff to acquire skills in interviewing applicants for recognition of refugee status who have suffered from psychological trauma, with the aim of improving the quality of refugee inquirers, so that they can interview applicants for recognition of refugee status who have various reasons and backgrounds in an appropriate manner, in consideration of the human rights of these applicants.

## 2 Providing Refugee Information

The Immigration Bureau provides regional immigration bureaus and their offices with collected information on the national origins of refugees, including materials prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, materials prepared by the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and the human rights reports of Amnesty International, to enable smoother administration work.

## 3 Improving Interpreting Services

When interviewing an applicant for recognition of refugee status for questioning, regional immigration bureaus and their offices make an arrangement to interview the applicant through an interpreter in the official or everyday language in the applicant's country of nationality or habitual residence. For this reason, regional immigration bureaus and their offices are making efforts to ensure interpreters of each language.