# Part III Major Policies Relating to Immigration Control Administration in FY 2013

## ☐ Outline of the Amendment of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act

The Act for Partial Amendment of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act was passed and enacted at the 186th session of the Diet on June 11, 2014, and promulgated on June 18, 2014 (Act No.74 of 2014). An outline is as given below.

• Establishment of a new status of residence for highly-skilled foreign professionals in order to further promote the acceptance of foreign nationals possessing advanced and specialized skills.

- Establishment of a new special landing permission (landing permission for cruise ship tourists) in order to facilitate the entry procedures relating to foreign passengers of cruise ships as well as expansion of the scope of foreign nationals eligible for special re-entry permission.

- Expansion of the scope of persons eligible to use the automated gates in order to facilitate the immigration procedures for certain temporary visitors, omission of the seal of verification for landing for such foreign nationals and establishment of a system of Trusted Traveler Program Cards as a means to prove landing permission in place of the seal of verification for landing.

• Reorganization of the statuses of residence through revision of the statuses of residence of “Investor/Business Manager” and “Student” and consolidation of the statuses of residence of “Engineer” and “Specialist in Humanities/ International Services”.

• Establishment of a provision enabling requests to be made to the airline companies for the provision of passenger name records (PNR) in order to be able to implement more effective entry examinations.

• Reorganization of the provision on the investigative authority of immigration officers through the establishment of a provision on investigations relating to re-entry permission and a provision on inquiries relating to execution of written deportation orders.

## ☐ Smooth and strict implementation of immigration examinations at the port of entry

- The Ministerial Council on the Promotion of Japan as a Tourism-Oriented Country comprising all of the members of the Cabinet was established on March 26, 2013. Following which, the Action Program for the Realization of Japan as a Tourism-Oriented Country was compiled on June 11, 2013 at the second meeting of the Ministerial Council on the Promotion of Japan as a Tourism-Oriented Country, and a target was set to increase the number of foreign visitors to Japan to 10 million within 2013, with a higher goal aiming for 20 million. Moreover, the target of 10 million foreign visitors coming to Japan was achieved on December 20, 2013 (released by the Japan National Tourism Organization).

• Government-wide efforts are currently underway in Japan toward achieving a tourism-oriented country, and for its part, in order to further promote smoother immigration examinations, the Immigration Bureau has introduced secondary immigration examinations, installed or increased the number of automated gates and streamlined the immigration examinations for cruise ship passengers. Moreover, a bill for partial amendment of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, which included the establishment of a system for a new type of special landing permission allowing the foreign passengers of cruise ships specified by the Minister of Justice to land through the use of simplified procedures, was submitted to the 186th Ordinary Session of the Diet, and was enacted in June 2014.

- In order to protect people’s lives and public safety, it is of vital importance to unfailingly prevent the entry into the country of terrorists disguising themselves as tourists. Therefore, the Immigration Bureau continues to implement strict immigration examinations at the ports of entry through the utilization of such measures as biometrics data, ICPO’s data on lost and stolen passports and the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS).