# Points of the 2015 Immigration Control Report

## ■ Organization of the 2015 Immigration Control Report

☐ This report consists of three parts: Immigration Control in Recent Years (Part I), Major Policies Related to Immigration Control Administration (Part II), and Data Section.

☐ Part I describes the immigration operations conducted during 2014 based on the statistics over the five-year period from 2010 to 2014.

☐ Part II describes the major immigration control policies (implemented during FY 2014 as well as some of the measures for FY 2015).

○ Data Section describes summary of the operations, etc. of the Immigration Bureau

## Part I Immigration Control in Recent Years

## ☐ Number of foreign nationals entering Japan

Number of foreign nationals who entered Japan in 2014 (including those who re-entered Japan with a re-entry permit) was 14,150,185, and the number of foreign nationals newly entering Japan, excluding those who had re-entered, was 12,388,748, which marked a substantial increase of 2,894,964 (25.7%) and 2,834,333 (29.7%), respectively. Some factors influencing the increase in the total number of foreign nationals entering Japan in 2014 are thought to be the continuing trend of the weak yen and the fact that the measures being implemented toward the realization of a tourism-oriented country by the entire government working together with private sectors has prompted an increase in the number of tourists coming to Japan.

## ☐ Number of foreign residents

The number of foreign residents combining the number of mid to long-term residents with the number of special permanent residents was 2,121,831 as of the end of 2014, increased by 2.7% compared to the end of 2013.

The percentage of foreign residents to the total population of Japan was 1.67%, increased by 0.05 point compared to the number at the end of 2013.

## Number of foreign nationals illegally staying beyond their authorized period of stay

The number of foreign nationals illegally staying beyond their authorized period of stay as of January 1, 2015 was 60,007, and although there was a decline after reaching a record of 298,646 foreign nationals, which was the highest ever, on May 1, 1993, this trend is seeing an increase once again for the first time in 22 years. This is thought to be because initially the number of foreign nationals staying beyond their authorized period of stay was greatly reduced owing to crackdowns which were continuously being implemented to expose illegal immigrants, but recently smaller groups of illegal immigrants are spreading out throughout the country which is making large-scale crackdowns difficult and the number of foreign nationals undergoing the deportation procedures is seeing a downward trend. Meanwhile, in recent years, the entire government has been working on promoting Japan as a tourism-oriented country, and as a result of the visa waiver and visa requirement easing measures vis-à-vis the ASEAN countries implemented since July 1, 2013, the number of foreign entrants in 2014 had significantly increased compared with the previous year, and this is believed to have had some impact on the increasing number of foreign nationals staying beyond their authorized period of stay.