①If a foreign national who has been granted permission pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article falls under any of the following items, the Minister of Justice may, pursuant to the provisions of Ministry of Justice Order, permit the foreign national to acquire a status of residence; provided, however, that if the foreign national is a person who has been sentenced to life imprisonment or imprisonment for more than 1 year (excluding a person who has been granted a suspension of the execution of the entire sentence and a person who has been granted a suspension of the execution of part of the sentence for whom the part of the sentence whose execution was not suspended is 1 year or less) or a person for whom there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the person falls under any of Article 24, item (iii)-2, item (iii)-3, or item (iv), sub-item (c) or 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 acquire a status of residence would be found to lack humanitarian consideration:

②In determining whether or not to grant the permission pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Justice is to take into consideration, with respect to the foreign national, the reasons for wishing to reside in Japan, family relationships, conduct, the circumstances that led to the foreign national entering Japan, the period of residence in Japan, the legal status during that period, the circumstances under which the foreign national became a foreign national without a status of residence, and the need for humanitarian consideration, as well as domestic and international circumstances, the impact on illegal residents in Japan, and other circumstances.

③The provisions of Article 20, paragraphs (4) and (5) apply mutatis mutandis to the permission pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1).