<2023 Immigration Control Act revision>
The main points of the 2023 Immigration Control Act revision are as follows.
- Creation of exceptions to the suspension of deportation effect
- Creation of a system of deportation orders with penalties
- Creation of a system of supervision measures in place of detention
- Establishment of a “complementary protected person” certification system
- Establishment of application procedures for special permission to stay
For #4, the revised law has already come into effect on December 1st last year(Asylum law tweaks don’t change Japan’s wariness of refugees).
In this article, I would like to talk about #5.
<Establishment of application procedures for special permission to stay>
In this blog, “The Justice Ministry announced Friday that non-Japanese minors who were born, raised and educated in Japan will soon be eligible for special permission to reside in the country,” I made a comment what the announcement would mean because what was said had already been granted in the past.
In addition, special permission for residence is granted under the three-trial system of deportation procedures, which consists of an examination by an immigration inspector, an oral hearing by a special hearing officer, and a ruling by the Minister of Justice in response to an objection.
The permission can issued only after Minister of Justice’s judgement, so I wondered the announcement was a kind of promise only when the objection raised at the final stage of the trial system, and I felt this would be strange.
I’m embarrassed to say that at the time I wrote the blog above, I had forgotten about part #5 of the Immigration Control Act amendment.
<Expected contents of change>
The deportation procedure leading to special permission to stay generally follows the steps below, including the three-trial system mentioned above. It seems that it will be possible to apply for a permit from the stage of detention (including provisional release), without waiting for the final judgment of the Minister of Justice.
- Investigation of violations by immigration control officers (go to next, if suspected)
- Detention (including provisional release)
- Immigration inspector’s examination of violation (go to next in case of objection)
- Oral hearing by special inquiry officer (go to next in case of objection)
- Minister of Justice’s ruling
I think it would have been easier to understand if the Minister of Justice’s press conference in August and the subsequent media explanations had been as follows.
“We have been issuing special permission to stay in such cases (for families as a whole), but due to the 2023 revision of the Immigration Control Act, foreign nationals who are suspected of being subject to deportation procedures will be possible to apply for special permission to stay from the stage of detention (provisional release), which will improve the situation remaining unstable during long period(from detention/provisional release to the Minister of Justice’s decision).”
Including this system, except for #4 at the beginning, the acts will come in effect by June 2024.