# Points of the 2016 Immigration Control Report

## ■ Organization of the 2016 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 2015 based on the statistics over the five-year period from 2011 to 2015.

☐ Part II describes the major immigration control policies (implemented during FY 2015 as well as some of the measures for FY 2016).

○ 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

The number of foreign nationals who entered Japan in 2015 (including those who re-entered Japan) was 19,688,247, and the number of foreign nationals newly entering Japan, excluding those who had re-entered, was 17,796,147 (an increase of 43.6% over the previous year).

## ☐ 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 2,232,189 as of the end of 2015.

In addition, the percentage of foreign residents to the total population of Japan was 1.76%, an increase of 0.09 points compared to the number at the end of 2014.

Number of Foreign Nationals Overstaying Their Authorized Period of Stay

The number of foreign nationals illegally overstaying their authorized period of stay as of January 1, 2016 was 62,818, which was an increase for the second year running.

## Part II Major Policies Related to Immigration Control Administration

## Outline of the Bill for Amendment of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act

The Bill for Partial Amendment of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act was submitted to the 189th session of the Diet on March 6, 2015, but it was not passed at either the session or the 190th session of the Diet, and therefore is subject to continued deliberations. The outline is as given below.

• A new status of residence of “Nursing Care” will be established to enable foreign students graduated from a certified care worker training facility and acquired the qualification of a certified care worker to engage in the work of nursing care or instructions on nursing care as a certified care worker based on a contract with a Japanese nursing care facility, etc.

• A penalty which is equivalent to the current penalty for illegal entry or illegal landing will be imposed on the foreign national who obtained landing permission or permission to change the status of residence, etc. through deception or other wrongful means, and a penalty will also be established against those who facilitate the execution of this act for the purpose of profit, furthermore, the associated grounds for deportation and the grounds for revocation of the status of residence will be also revised.

• The amendment will make it possible to revoke the status of residence of the suspect immediately in the case where the suspect resides engaging in or attempting to engage in order activities without engaging in the original activities even when three months that is the period requirement of the current provision to revoke the