①Even if a foreign national falls under the category of a foreign national subject to deportation, the Minister of Justice may, if the foreign national falls under any of the following items, grant the foreign national special permission to stay, upon an application from the foreign national or ex officio, pursuant to the provisions of Ministry of Justice Order; provided, however, that if the foreign national is a person who has been sentenced to imprisonment for life or for a term exceeding 1 year (excluding a person who has been sentenced with the execution of the entire sentence suspended, and a person who has been sentenced with the execution of a part of the sentence suspended and for whom the part of the sentence whose execution was not suspended is 1 year or less), or a person who falls under Article 24, item (iii)-2 or (iii)-3, or item (iv), sub-item (c) or any of sub-items (l) through (o), this applies only if the Minister finds that there are special circumstances in which not permitting the foreign national to stay in Japan would be found to lack humanitarian consideration.

②An application for the permission pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph (hereinafter referred to as "special permission to stay" in this Article) is to be filed with the Minister of Justice by a foreign national detained under a written detention order or a foreign national who is subject to a decision on supervision measures, in accordance with the procedures provided for by Ministry of Justice Order.

③An application for special permission to stay may not be filed after a written deportation order has been issued to the foreign national.

④Special permission to stay may be granted only after the foreign national has come to have no objection to the findings set forth in Article 47, paragraph (3) or the determination set forth in Article 48, paragraph (8), or after the Minister of Justice has made a decision that the objection is unreasonable pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (3) of the preceding Article.

⑤In determining whether to grant special permission to stay, the Minister of Justice is to take into consideration, with regard to the foreign national, the reasons for wishing to stay, family relationships, conduct, the circumstances that led to their entry into Japan, the period of their stay in Japan, their legal status during that period, the facts that constituted the grounds for deportation, and the need for humanitarian consideration, as well as the domestic and international situation, the impact on illegal residents in Japan, and other circumstances.

⑥If the Minister of Justice grants special permission to stay, the Minister may determine the status of residence and the period of stay, and impose conditions which the Minister finds necessary, pursuant to the provisions of Ministry of Justice Order.

⑦If the Minister of Justice grants special permission to stay (limited to those related to the determination of the status of residence), the Commissioner of the Immigration Services Agency is to have an immigration inspector issue a residence card to the foreign national, if they become a mid- to long-term resident.

⑧If the Minister of Justice has determined whether to grant special permission to stay, the Minister must notify the supervising immigration inspector of the result.

⑨If the supervising immigration inspector receives a notice from the Minister of Justice that special permission to stay will be granted, the inspector must immediately release the foreign national, except where the foreign national is a person under supervision measures.

⑩If an application for special permission to stay has been filed and the Minister of Justice makes a disposition not to grant special permission to stay, the Minister must promptly notify the foreign national who filed the application to that effect by a document stating the reasons, in accordance with the procedures provided for by Ministry of Justice Order.