## ② Refugee Recognition Procedures

## (1) Definitions

Under the Japanese refugee recognition procedures, a “refugee” refers to a refugee as defined in Article 1 of the Refugee Convention or in Article 1 of the Protocol (Article 2, item (iii)-2 of the Immigration Control Act). Generally, a refugee is defined as a person who is outside the country of his or her nationality owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country.

## (2) Permission for Provisional Stay

When a person without a status of residence such as a foreign national who has illegally stayed beyond the authorized period of stay applies for refugee recognition for the purpose of stabilizing his or her legal status, he or she is permitted to provisionally stay in Japan if he or she meets certain requirements (Article 61-2-4, paragraph (1) of the Immigration Control Act), and the deportation procedures are suspended during the period of the permission for provisional stay (Article 61-2-6, paragraph (2) of the Immigration Control Act).

The period of provisional stay is, in principle, six months (Article 56-2, paragraph (2) of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Immigration Control Act) and, if an application for extension is filed prior to the expiration of the period of the provisional stay, that period will be extended (Article 61-2-4, paragraph (4) of the Immigration Control Act). However, various conditions will be imposed on the permission for provisional stay, such as restrictions on the domicile and scope of activity and a ban on working (Article 61-2-4, paragraph (3) of the Immigration Control Act).

If a foreign national without a status of residence is not permitted to provisionally stay in Japan, the procedures for recognition of refugee status and the procedures for deportation will be taken in tandem. However, deportation will be suspended while the application for recognition of refugee status is being processed (Article 61-2-6, paragraph (3) of the Immigration Control Act).

## (3) Inquiry into the Facts

It is the responsibility of the applicant to prove that he or she is a refugee (Article 61-2, paragraph (1) of the Immigration Control Act). However, the fact that it is usually difficult for an applicant for refugee status to prove his or her case must be taken into account. Therefore, when an accurate recognition of refugee status is not possible with only the data furnished by the applicant, a refugee inquirer will investigate the case (Article 61-2-14 of the Immigration Control Act).

## (4) Recognition of Refugee Status by the Minister of Justice and Effects of Refugee Status

When a foreign national has been recognized as a refugee, the Minister of Justice will issue a certificate of refugee status to the foreign national. If the foreign national is denied recognition of refugee status, the foreign national will be notified in writing with the reason attached (Article 61-2, paragraph (2) of the Immigration Control Act).

When a foreign national who has been recognized as a refugee is a legitimate resident and has filed an application to change his or her status of residence to that of “Long-Term Resident”, he or she will uniformly be permitted to change the status of residence as long as he or she meets the requirement of having filed for an application for refugee recognition within six months of landing in Japan (Article 61-