The Japanese Ministry of Justice has pointed out the following on Friday, 03 April 2020:
Foreign nationals falling under the following criteria (see below) will be denied entry to Japan unless special, extraordinary circumstances apply.
Foreign nationals holding the following residence status:
- Permanent Resident
- Spouse or Child of Japanese National
- Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident
or
- Long Term Resident
and having left Japan on or before 02 April 2020 on a regular or special re-entry permission will, in principle, be considered to fall under the special, extraordinary circumstances clause. The same holds true for the spouse or child of a Japanese national who does not have such residence status.
Foreign nationals holding such a residence status and having left Japan on or after 03 April 2020 on a regular or special re-entry permission will, in principle, not be considered to fall under the special, extraordinary circumstances clause and will be denied re-entry to Japan. If you are residing in Japan as such a foreign national, you are asked to refrain from traveling to the regions stated below.
Our legal experts point out that the Japanese immigration authorities generally have broad discretion when evaluating “special, extraordinary circumstances”. Further, in the Ministry of Justice’s preliminary report regarding the status of examination for arrivals (http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001318291.pdf) (in Japanese), this “special, extraordinary circumstances” exception appears to have been applied only in limited circumstances. Given the limited scope of this exception, foreign nationals fulfilling the following criteria and leaving Japan on or after 03 April 2020 may not expect to be allowed to re-enter Japan until new directives are issued by the Ministry of Justice.
Please contact us for an individual assessment.
Foreign nationals who stayed in the following countries / regions within 14 days before the application for landing
・ Asia: Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Philippines, Brunei, Viet nam, Malaysia
・ Oceania: Australia, New Zealand
・ North America: Canada, United States of America
・ Latin America and the Caribbean: Ecuador, Chile, Dominica, Panama, Brazil, Bolivia
・ Europe: Iceland, Ireland, Albania, Armenia, Andorra, Italy, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Austria, Netherlands, Northern Macedonia, Cyprus, Greece, Croatia, Kosovo, San Marino, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Vatican, Hungary, Finland, France, Bulgaria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Portugal, Malta, Monaco, Moldova, Montenegro, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Romania, Luxembourg
・ Middle East: Israel, Iran, Turkey, Bahrain
・ Africa: Egypt, Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mauritius, Morocco
Foreign nationals holding a passport issued in Hubei or Zhejiang, China Foreign nationals who were onboard the cruise ship Westerdam that departed from Hong Kong
Webpage with the official announcement of the Ministry of Justice (with English translation):
