Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act

If any of the following items applies, the immigration control officer must, after ascertaining, by hearing the wishes of a person to whom a written deportation order has been issued or by other means, the circumstances that are the cause of being unable to immediately send the person outside Japan, establish a plan for departure:

the immigration control officer has detained a person to whom a written deportation order has been issued pursuant to the provisions of Article 52, paragraph (9);

beyond the case set forth in the preceding item, a decision on supervision measures has been made with regard to a person to whom a written deportation order has been issued.

If the period during which a person subject to deportation who is the subject of the plan set forth in the preceding paragraph has been detained following the issuance of a written deportation order reaches 3 months continuously, the immigration control officer must promptly submit the plan to the supervising immigration inspector and report on its progress.

The supervising immigration inspector who has received the submission and report under the provisions of the preceding paragraph must consider whether the decision set forth in Article 52-2, paragraph (5) is necessary, except when the inspector has not released the person subject to deportation because the deposit has not been paid despite having made the decision set forth in that paragraph. In this case, if the supervising immigration inspector does not make the decision set forth in that paragraph, the inspector must report that fact and the reasons therefor to the Commissioner of the Immigration Services Agency.

If the Commissioner of the Immigration Services Agency who has received the report set forth in the preceding paragraph finds it appropriate to release the person and place them under supervision measures, the Commissioner must order the supervising immigration inspector to make the decision set forth in Article 52-2, paragraph (5).

The supervising immigration inspector who has been ordered to make the decision set forth in Article 52-2, paragraph (5) pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph is to promptly make the decision set forth in that paragraph ex officio. In this case, the supervising immigration inspector may, pursuant to the provisions of the second sentence of that paragraph, have the person to be placed under supervision measures pay a deposit.

If the period prescribed in paragraph (2) has continued beyond 3 months, the immigration control officer must promptly report the progress of the plan set forth in paragraph (1) to the supervising immigration inspector each time a further 3 months of that continuing period elapse. In this case, the provisions of the preceding three paragraphs apply mutatis mutandis.

A person subject to deportation is to be sent to a country of which they are a national or citizen.

If the person cannot be deported to the relevant country as set forth in the preceding paragraph, that person is to be deported to any of the following countries pursuant to their wishes:

the country in which they had been residing immediately before entering Japan;

the country in which they have resided before entering Japan;

the country of the port or airport where they boarded the vessel or aircraft to depart for Japan;

the country where their place of birth is located;

the country to which their birthplace belonged at the time of their birth; or

any other country.

The countries set forth in the preceding two paragraphs are not to include any of the following countries:

territories of countries prescribed in the Refugee Convention, Article 33, paragraph (1), or other countries to which territories where the person is likely to be persecuted belong (except for cases in which the Minister of Justice finds it significantly detrimental to the interests and public security of Japan);

countries prescribed in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Article 3, paragraph (1); or

countries prescribed in the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, Article 16, paragraph (1).

A person detained pursuant to a written detention order or deportation order issued, their representative, curator, spouse, lineal relative or sibling may request their provisional release to the director of the immigration detention center or the supervising immigration inspector in accordance with the procedures provided for by Ministry of Justice Order.

The director of the immigration detention center or the supervising immigration inspector may grant provisional release to a person detained pursuant to a written detention order or deportation order issued, upon the request set forth in the preceding paragraph or ex officio, if they find it appropriate to temporarily release the person from detention on health or humanitarian grounds or other grounds equivalent thereto, for a fixed period, and by placing restrictions on the place of residence and scope of activities, obligation to appear upon receiving summons, as well as imposing other conditions found to be necessary, pursuant to Ministry of Justice Order.

When granting provisional release, the director of the immigration detention center or the supervising immigration inspector is to deliver to the person granted provisional release, pursuant to Ministry of Justice Order, a written permission for provisional release stating the period of provisional release and the conditions attached to the provisional release.

If the director of the immigration detention center or the supervising immigration inspector has denied provisional release in the case where the request set forth in paragraph (1) has been made, they notify the person who made the request to that effect in writing, with the reasons attached.

A person granted provisional release, their representative, curator, spouse, lineal relative or sibling may request the director of the immigration detention center or the supervising immigration inspector to extend the period of provisional release set pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (2), in accordance with the procedures provided for by Ministry of Justice Order.

The director of the immigration detention center or the supervising immigration inspector may, upon the request set forth in the preceding paragraph or ex officio, and pursuant to Ministry of Justice Order, extend the period of provisional release set pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (2) if they find it appropriate to continue temporarily releasing the person from detention on health or humanitarian grounds or other grounds equivalent thereto.

The provisions of paragraph (4) apply mutatis mutandis if an extension of the period of provisional release has been denied in the case where the request set forth in paragraph (5) has been made.

If the grounds for the request set forth in paragraph (1) are health grounds, the director of the immigration detention center or the supervising immigration inspector must endeavor to make the decision on provisional release while giving sufficient consideration to the detained person's need for medical treatment and other aspects of that person's state of health, such as by hearing the opinion of a physician.

The director of the immigration detention center or the supervising immigration inspector may revoke the provisional release if the foreign national accorded provisional release has fled, there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the foreign national will attempt to flee, the foreign national fails to comply with an order to appear upon receiving summons without legitimate grounds, or has violated any of other conditions attached to the provisional release.

If the director of the immigration detention center or the supervising immigration inspector has revoked the provisional release pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, they must prepare a written revocation of provisional release and deliver it to an immigration control officer with the written detention order or with the deportation order attached.

If the provisional release of a person has been revoked, an immigration control officer must show a written revocation of the provisional release and a detention order or a deportation order to the person and detain them at an immigration detention center, etc. or any other place designated by the Commissioner of the Immigration Services Agency or the supervising immigration inspector entrusted by the Commissioner.

An immigration control officer may, in cases of emergency, detain a person whose provisional release has been revoked without a written revocation of the provisional release and a detention order or a deportation order by informing them that the provisional release has been revoked; provided, however, that a written revocation of the provisional release and a detention order or a deportation order must be shown to the person as soon as possible.

The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs apply mutatis mutandis if there is a person whose period of provisional release has expired. In this case, the term "written revocation of the provisional release" in those provisions is deemed to be replaced with "certified copy of the written permission for provisional release".

If it is difficult to send a person subject to deportation to the destination of deportation prescribed in Article 53 due to any of the grounds set forth in the following items, the supervising immigration inspector may, when finding it appropriate, order the person to depart from Japan within a reasonable period set by the inspector. In this case, the inspector must hear the opinion of the person in advance.

in the case where the person has expressed that they have no intention of departing from Japan voluntarily, the destination of deportation of the person prescribed in Article 53 is not included in the countries designated by the Minister of Justice by public notice as countries other than those that do not cooperate in the smooth enforcement of deportation orders;

the person has obstructed deportation by using fraud or force in the past and is likely to engage in similar conduct again upon deportation.

If a person who has received an order under the provisions of the preceding paragraph comes to fall under any of the grounds set forth in the following items, the order is to be suspended in its effect until the person no longer falls under the ground.

deportation has been suspended pursuant to the provisions of Article 61-2-9, paragraph (3);

a lawsuit concerning the validity of the deportation disposition is pending and a decision to stay execution has been made pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Case Litigation Act (Act No. 139 of 1962); or

the person has become subject to a departure restriction.

When ordering a person to depart from Japan pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1), the supervising immigration inspector must deliver a document stating the reasons and the period set forth in that paragraph.

The supervising immigration inspector may, if necessary, extend the period set forth in paragraph (1) by setting a reasonable period.

An order under the provisions of paragraph (1) does not preclude an immigration control officer from deporting a person who has been issued a deportation order pursuant to the provisions of Article 52, paragraph (3) within the period set forth in that paragraph (including, if the period has been extended pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the extended period).

A person made to depart from Japan by an order under the provisions of paragraph (1) is deemed to have been deported under a deportation order for the purpose of applying the provisions of this Act.