## 2 Review of the organizational structure of the Immigration Control Offices

With respect to the expansion and extension of the Bureau’s organization in FY 2011, the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau has assigned one additional supervising inspector responsible for permanent residency for the purpose of prompt and accurate permission processing of permanent residence application, because the number of such application has been steadily increasing in recent years. The bureau also assigned one additional supervising inspector responsible for refugee adjudication in the Adjudication Department to respond to refugees’ filing objections, the number of which has been remarkably increasing.

In addition, the Nagoya Regional Immigration Bureau assigned one additional chief inspector to appropriately respond to the enhancement of the organizational size associated with the increased amount of operations and increasingly sophisticated false residence cases. The Nagoya bureau abolished the Inspection and Record-Control Department, while newly establishing the Inspection Coordination Department and the Verification Department. Thereafter the bureau assigned two additional supervising inspectors respectively: one is responsible for Inspection Coordination and immigration procedure, and the other is responsible for Second Verification.

Furthermore, the Nagoya bureau assigned one additional supervising immigration control officer responsible for detection planning within the First Investigation Department. As a result, a system was set up to strengthen crackdown the illegal residents who tend to exist in smaller groups and geographically spreading in wider areas.

Most branch offices (including branch offices of district immigration offices) of regional immigration bureaus were located within the area of seaports, based on the historical background that they were originally established for immigration examination of crew members and passengers on ocean-going vessels. Now, as the primary means of international transportation shifted from vessels to aircraft, immigration examination at airports became the main service, and as foreigners residing in Japan for a long time increased, the Ministry has proceeded to reorganize, integrate or scrap branch offices at seaports to respond to the foregoing change in administrative needs, and made efforts to re-allocate branch offices by establishing them at local airports where many international carriers arrive, places where prefectural offices are located, and other major cities. (Table 53)

As a result, the number of branch offices established in the country through reorganization of regional immigration offices into regional immigration bureaus, which was 103 as of April 1, 1981, is 61 as of April 1, 2011. The establishment of at least one regional immigration bureau or office in each prefecture has achieved, while branch offices have decreased by about 40% compared to the statistics in 1981.

Those branch offices should not only improve convenience of foreign nationals who come for submission of various applications or reports but also enhance close cooperation with related local organizations, such as police, in gathering information on illegal and disguised residents. With a view to enhancing cooperation with local authorities and related organizations which accept foreign nationals who intend to reside in Japan for a medium and long term, it is necessary to continue rationalizing and streamlining the organizational structure, with the aim of ensuring smoother and more proper processing, including immigration examination, residence examination, and