Source: http://www.aria-law.com/Data-View.aspx?lang=en&id=9227
Timestamp: 2020-02-29 13:40:26
Document Index: 591545398

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 7', 'art. 21', 'art. 3', 'art. 2', 'art. 2', 'art. 45']

Library: Citizenship Pathways and Border Protection: Japan
An illegal immigrant may be able to stay in Japan legally only if he or she obtains special permission from the Minister of Justice.
The Japanese Nationality Law is based on lineage. A foreigner may acquire Japanese nationality by naturalization. If a foreigner has certain ties with Japan, he or she is exempted from some of the requirements.
Because Japan is surrounded by the sea, border security means security of the coasts. The Japan Coast Guard is in charge of crimes on the sea, including smuggling and illegal immigration.
Foreigners wishing to enter Japan are, in principle, required to have a valid passport issued by the government of their own country along with a visa issued by the Japanese embassy or consulate.[1] Japan has seven visa categories: transit, temporary visitor, working, general, specified official, and diplomatic.[2] At an airport or seaport, immigration officers check whether or not the foreign national wishing to enter Japan meets the requirements for entering the country.[3] If the requirements are met, the immigration officer grants the foreigner landing permission, which is stamped on his or her passport.[4] The landing permission shows the status of residence of the foreigner.
Foreign nationals who receive landing permission are required to engage in activities pursuant to their status of residence.[5] There are twenty-seven statuses of residence,[6] sixteen of which are for employment of foreigners. Some other statuses of residence also allow employment, such as trainee and permanent resident status. The points-based system provides highly skilled foreign professionals with preferential immigration treatment.[7] Such foreigners include researchers who engage in academic research activities, persons who engage in advanced specialized or technical activities, and persons who engage in business management activities.[8]
For low-skilled foreigners, there is a “technical intern training” status of residence, though it is not the intention of the law to accept low-skilled workers. The purpose of creating this status was to transfer technical skills to the country where the interns and trainees come from.[9] An institution that provides training to foreigners can employ them for up to two years after the training.[10] The regulations were recently tightened due to the system being used by some enterprises to acquire cheap labor and some foreign workers being exploited.[11]
Foreigners who are second- and third-generation descendents of Japanese emigrants, the so-called nisei and sansei, can stay and work without restriction in Japan under the status of residence for long-term residents.[12] Many of these people are from South American countries, such as Brazil and Peru. The term of this status of residence is for up to five years.[13] Since April 2006, to obtain or renew this status of residence, a criminal record issued from the police authority in the country they come from is required.[14]
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) issues a resident card to foreign nationals residing legally in Japan for the mid- to long-term with resident status. The card contains a portrait photo of the individual as well as his or her name and basic personal information, resident status, and period of permitted stay.[15] When foreign residents wish to change their status of residence after entry or to extend their period of stay, or to obtain permission to engage in activities other than those permitted under the previously granted status of residence, they are required to submit applications for such changes to the regional immigration bureau nearest to their residence in Japan and obtain approval.[16]
In addition to criminal prosecution for those who violate the Immigration Control Law,[17] there is a system to deport illegal aliens or order them to depart from Japan. An immigration control officer may conduct an investigation for deportation.[18] The deportation may be forced upon aliens who, among other things, have committed illegal entry, document fraud, or overstay.[19] An immigration inspector may, instead of deporting them, issue a departure order to illegally staying foreigners who have satisfied all of the following conditions:
they have made a voluntary appearance at an immigration office with the intention of departing from Japan promptly;
they have never committed a specified crime in Japan;
they have never been deported or received a departure order; and
they have proved the certainty of their prompt departure from Japan.[20]
Such foreigners must depart from Japan within fifteen days.[21]
Changing Illegal Immigrant Status
An illegal immigrant may be able to stay in Japan legally only if he or she obtains special permission from the Minister of Justice. Under the Immigration Control Law, the Minister of Justice is authorized to grant special permission to stay to an illegal immigrant.[22] Article 50, paragraph 1 of the Law states:
This decision is made individually with respect to each case based on comprehensive consideration of various factors, including the reason for stay, family conditions in Japan, the person’s conduct, the person’s current situation both at home and abroad, the need for humanitarian considerations, and the impact on other illegal residents.[23] To enhance the transparency and predictability of special permission to stay, the Immigration Bureau released the “Guidelines on Special Permission to Stay in Japan.”[24] It lists the positive and negative factors taken into account, in addition to items (i) to (iii) above, which are positive elements. For example, if the person has a Japanese parent, child, or spouse, this is considered a positive element.[25]
be twenty years old or older and of full capacity to act according to the law of his or her home country;
be of upright conduct;
be able to secure a livelihood by his or her own property or ability, or those of his or her spouse or other relatives with whom he or she lives on common living expenses;
have never plotted, advocated, or been involved with a political party or other organization that has plotted or advocated the overthrow of the Constitution of Japan or the Japanese government.[28]
A foreigner may be exempted from one or several items if other conditions are met. If a foreigner has a Japanese spouse or another family relation in Japan, the requirements for naturalization are relaxed.
A foreigner who is presently domiciled in Japan may be exempted from Item 1 if any one of the following apply:
Foreigners may be exempted from Item 5 if they cannot deprive themselves of their current nationality because their current country of nationality does not allow it.[32] Dual nationality is not permitted in Japan unless the person is a minor who obtained another nationality at the time of birth.[33]
Regarding foreigners who have rendered especially meritorious service to Japan, the Minister of Justice may permit their naturalization with the approval of the Diet, without considering general requirements.[34]
Since Japan is surrounded by the sea, border security means security of the coasts. The Japan Coast Guard (JCG) is in charge of crimes on the sea,[35] including smuggling and illegal immigration. Japanese organized crime groups and international crime syndicates are often involved in such activities. “To halt such crimes at the water’s edge, the JCG is working together with the relevant organizations in Japan and overseas and conducts enforcement operations.”[36] At international harbors, the JCG conducts on-the-spot inspections of incoming vessels.[37]
The Coast Guard arrested many foreigners in the 1990s who illegally tried to land in Japan in large groups by coming ashore or hiding in containers.[38] Illegal immigrants from the sea come mainly from China. Nowadays, illegal immigrants come to Japan by hiding in secret rooms in cargo vessels or on Korean fishing vessels to which they transferred from Chinese vessels on the sea near Korea.[39]
[3] Shutsuny?goku kanri oyobi nan’min nintei h? [Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law] (Immigration Control Law), Order no. 319 of 1951, last amended by Law No. 79 of 2009, art. 7.
[8] Points-Based System That Provides Highly Skilled Foreign Professionals with Preferential Immigration Treatment, Immigration Bureau, MOJ (Dec. 2011), http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_3/en/pdf/01_e.pdf.
[9] Aratana kensh? gin? jisshu seido ni kakaru Q&A [Q&A Regarding New Trainee and Technical Intern Training Systems], MOJ, Q 1-2, http://www.moj.go.jp/nyuukokukanri/kouhou/nyuukokukanri 07_00011.html, (last visited Feb. 19, 2013).
[10] Immigration Control Law, art. 21. Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law Enforcement Ordinance, MOJ Ordinance No. 55 of 1981, last amended by MOJ Ordinance No. 40 of 2012, art. 3 and Annexed Table 2.
[11] Gno jisshusei no nyukoku zairyu kanri ni kansuru shishin [Guidelines on Acceptance and Management of Technical Interns’ Stays] (as amended in November 2012), Immigration Bureau, MOJ, http://www.moj.go.jp/con tent/000102863.pdf. .
[12] Shutsuny?goku kanri oyobi nan’min nintei h? dai 7 j? dai 1 kou dai 2 g? no kitei ni motoduki d?h? beppy? dai ni no teij?sha no k? no karan ni kakageru chii o sadameru ken [Regarding Status of Long-Term Residents in Annexed Table of Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law Under article 7, paragraph 1, item 2 of the Law], MOJ Notice No. 132 of 1990, last amended by MOJ Notification No. 37 of 2010.
[14] Zairy? shikaku “teij?sha” de ny?goku/ zairy? suru nikkeijin no kata no ny?kan tetuduki ni tsuite [Concerning Immigration Procedure for Japanese Descendants Who Enter or Stay in Japan Under the Status of Residence for “Long-Term Residents”], MOJ, http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/keiziban/happyou/nikkei.html (last visited Feb. 19, 2013).
[23] Immigration Bureau, MOJ, Japan, 2011 Immigration Control 100 (2011) http://www.moj.go.jp/content/ 000081970.pdf.
[24] Guidelines on Special Permission to Stay in Japan, Immigration Bureau, MOJ (October 2006, revised July 2009), http://www.moj.go.jp/content/000048156.pdf.
[26] Kokuseki h? [Nationality Law], Law No.147 of 1950, last amended by Law No. 88 of 2008, art. 2.
[35] Kaij? hoan ch? h? [Coast Guard Agency Law], Law No. 28 of 1948, last amended by Law No. 71 of 2012 , art. 2, para. 1.
[36] Japan Coast Guard, JCG, at 10, http://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/e/pamphlet.pdf (last visited Feb. 19, 2013).
[37] Security of International Ships and of International Port Facilities Act, Law No. 31 of 2004, art. 45.
[38] Heisei 17-nen no kaij? hanzai torishimari j?ky? [Status of Crimes on the Sea in 2005], Japan Coast Guard, 14 (Feb. 22, 2006), available at http://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/info/kouhou/h18/k20060222/h17-tori shimari.pdf.
[39] Fuh? nyukoku jihan no torishimari ky?ka [Enhanced Enforcement of Illegal Entry Cases], JCG, http://www. kaiho.mlit.go.jp/shisaku/mikkou.htm (last visited Feb. 19, 2013).
Tags:Citizenship Immigration Japan Law Rights
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