Regarding to the article Foreign minors born, raised in Japan to be eligible for residency, Justice Minister Ken Saito said “This time, for children who were born and received school education in Japan, and who are recognized to have a genuine desire to continue living in Japan, we will decide whether to stay in Japan after considering the relationship with Japanese society as a family. We are thinking of granting special permission. (…Omitted…) If there are negative circumstances on the part of the parents that are difficult to overlook, there may be cases where we cannot issue special permission to stay. However, in making this decision, We would like to avoid negative evaluation of past long-term illegal stays.”
What does this mean?
<Current Guidelines>
Cases in which special permission to stay is issued are categorized into (1) cases where the spouse is a Japanese national, (2) cases where the spouse is a foreigner legally residing in the country, and (3) cases where the foreign national is a family member of a foreigner. , “Cases in which special permission to stay was granted and cases in which special permission to stay was not granted (2022, Japanese only)” also publishes cases by type, but the cases mentioned in the minister’s announcement are included int those actual cases, and special permission has been issued for this, and I cannot think that it would be disallowed under the guidelines(Japanese only) as well.
<Three-trial system>
Special permission for residence is granted under the three-trial system of deportation procedures, consisting of an examination by an immigration inspector, an oral hearing by a special inquiry officer, and a ruling by the Minister of Justice on the objection. Even if there is no reason to do so, the Minister of Justice can issue the permission as a special exception.
In order to request this permission, foreigners must provide reasons for staying in Japan such as family ties, etc.(positive factors), as well as whether they have a criminal record or are subject to deportation due to charges under the Immigration Control Act (negative factors), in accordance with the guidelines. This is described in an application stating that the former outweighs the latter. (Usually, this is requested from a lawyer or administrative scrivener.)
<Meaning of the announcement>
The expressions “negative evaluation” and “negative circumstances” that appear in the Minister of Justice’s announcement to this. Based on the above, I believe that the meaning of the Minister of Justice’s announcement may be as follows.
- If you are a family member, there is no need to write down your long-term illegal stay as a negative factor in your application.
- In the case of a family unit, the special permission for residence is granted without going to the Minister of Justice’s decision (woll be issued in examination by an immigration inspector, oral hearing by a special inquiry officer) within the three-trial system mentioned above, in other words, no need of filing an objection.
- To get the fact that permission has actually been issued in this case well known
It seems that the guidelines are scheduled to be revised, so I would like to follow the developments.
This post is available in Japanese.