# Visas, residence and nationality — Japanese laws in English — japanlaw.org

This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/immigration. Every law, and how to address a provision: https://japanlaw.org/llms.txt. The same laws as MCP tools (no sign-in): https://japanlaw.org/mcp.

Japan's immigration law in English: residence status, entry, the residence card, technical intern training, nationality and resident registration.

- Visas, residence and nationality (在留・国籍): 28 laws on this topic, each Act (法律) with the orders that go with it — Cabinet Orders (政令) and Ministerial Orders (省令) — listed beneath it, then the laws at home in another topic that this one lists too.
- Each law links to its page; its Markdown twin is the same path under /md. The descriptions are this site's own summaries, not the law's words.
- Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect.

## Laws

- [出入国管理及び難民認定法 / Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-control-act): 昭和二十六年政令第三百十九号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 316 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The rules for entering and leaving Japan, for how foreign nationals live here under a status of residence (在留資格), for deporting them, and for recognising refugees. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/immigration-control-act
  - [出入国管理及び難民認定法施行規則 / Regulation for Enforcement of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-control-act-enforcement-regulation): 昭和五十六年法務省令第五十四号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 217 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Ministry of Justice Order (法務省令) that fills in the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act: how long each status of residence (在留資格) is granted for, the forms and documents each application takes, what residents and the organizations that accept them must report, and how officials carry out landing, revocation, deportation, detention and refugee procedures. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/immigration-control-act-enforcement-regulation
  - [出入国管理及び難民認定法施行令 / Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act Enforcement Order](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-control-act-enforcement-order): 平成十年政令第百七十八号 · Cabinet Order (政令) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 30 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Cabinet Order (政令) that settles matters the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act leaves to a Cabinet Order, among them the fees for immigration permissions, cards and certificates, the specified residence card included; the fee for registering a registered support organization and the labor-law offences that bar registration; which regions' travel documents count as passports; how municipal offices pass residence reports and changes to foreign residents' resident records on to the Immigration Services Agency; the public sale and return of seized articles; how detainees' requests and reports are handled; and which of the Minister of Justice's powers pass to the Commissioner of the Immigration Services Agency. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/immigration-control-act-enforcement-order
  - [出入国管理及び難民認定法別表第一の二の表の高度専門職の項の下欄の基準を定める省令 / Ministerial Order for Defining the Criteria in the Right-Hand Column of the Entry for Highly Skilled Professional in the Appended Table I(2) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/highly-skilled-professional-criteria-ordinance): 平成二十六年法務省令第三十七号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2024-06-10 · 2 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Ministry of Justice Order (法務省令) that sets the criteria for the status of residence Highly Skilled Professional (高度専門職): the points tables in which a foreign national must score 70 points or more for item (i), and what a holder of item (i) must meet to move on to item (ii). Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/highly-skilled-professional-criteria-ordinance
  - [出入国管理及び難民認定法第七条第一項第二号の基準を定める省令 / Ministerial Order to Provide for Criteria Pursuant to Article 7, Paragraph (1), Item (ii) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/landing-criteria-ordinance): 平成二年法務省令第十六号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2026-04-01 · main text not divided into articles · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Ministry of Justice Order (法務省令) that sets, status by status, the criteria a foreign national's intended work or study in Japan must meet before they may land — degrees, experience, pay, business size, age, language ability and the like. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/landing-criteria-ordinance
  - [出入国管理及び難民認定法第二十条の二第二項の基準を定める省令 / Ministerial Order to Provide for Criteria Pursuant to Article 20-2, Paragraph (2) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/highly-skilled-professional-ii-criteria-ordinance): 平成二十一年法務省令第五十一号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2017-11-01 · main text not divided into articles · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Ministry of Justice Order (法務省令) that sets the criteria a foreign national must meet to be permitted to change their status of residence to Highly Skilled Professional (ii) (高度専門職2号). Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/highly-skilled-professional-ii-criteria-ordinance
  - [出入国管理及び難民認定法別表第一の二の表の特定技能の項の下欄に規定する産業上の分野等を定める省令 / Ministerial Order to Provide for the Industrial Fields Specified in the Right-Hand Column of "Specified Skilled Worker" in the Appended Table I (2) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/specified-skilled-worker-fields-ordinance): 平成三十一年法務省令第六号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2026-04-01 · main text not divided into articles · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Ministry of Justice Order (法務省令) that names the industrial fields in which foreign nationals may work on the status of residence Specified Skilled Worker (特定技能) — nineteen for item (i), eleven of them also for item (ii) — and ties the skill level each item requires to the field-specific operation policies. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/specified-skilled-worker-fields-ordinance
  - [出入国管理及び難民認定法施行令第二条等に規定する伝達の方法等を定める省令 / Ministerial Order to Provide for the Method of Relay, etc. Prescribed in Article 2, etc. of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act Enforcement Order](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-control-order-transmission-ordinance): 平成二十四年法務省令第二十五号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2019-04-01 · 2 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Ministry of Justice Order (法務省令) that sets how mayors send the Commissioner of the Immigration Services Agency (出入国在留管理庁長官) what foreign residents notify at the municipal office: by the Commissioner's computer link, or on a disk or paper only when the link cannot be used. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/immigration-control-order-transmission-ordinance
  - [出入国管理及び難民認定法第五十五条の十七第一項の規定による医師等職員の兼業等に関する規則 / Rules on Outside Work, etc. of Physicians and Dentists on Staff under Article 55-17, Paragraph (1) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-medical-staff-side-work-rules): 令和六年内閣官房・法務省令第二号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2024-06-10 · 4 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. When a physician or dentist on the staff of an immigration detention center or a regional immigration services bureau may be approved to practise medicine outside the service (部外診療): the facilities that count, the conditions for approval, the written application and the register of approvals. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/immigration-medical-staff-side-work-rules
  - [出入国管理及び難民認定法及び日本国との平和条約に基づき日本の国籍を離脱した者等の出入国管理に関する特例法の一部を改正する等の法律の施行に伴う関係政令の整備及び経過措置に関する政令 / Cabinet Order on the Arrangement of Related Cabinet Orders and on Transitional Measures upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and the Special Act on the Immigration Control of, Inter Alia, Those Who Have Lost Japanese Nationality Pursuant to the Treaty of Peace with Japan, and Other Matters](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-2009-amendment-transitional-order): 平成二十三年政令第四百二十一号 · Cabinet Order (政令) · text in force since 2019-04-01 · 12 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Cabinet Order (政令) made to put into effect Act No. 79 of 2009, which repealed the Alien Registration Act (外国人登録法), of which the text held here is only Chapter 2, its transitional measures (経過措置): what municipal offices did, and in a few cases still do, with applications, residence notifications and certificates as alien registration certificates gave way to residence cards (在留カード) and special permanent resident certificates (特別永住者証明書). Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/immigration-2009-amendment-transitional-order
  - [出入国管理及び難民認定法及び日本国との平和条約に基づき日本の国籍を離脱した者等の出入国管理に関する特例法の一部を改正する等の法律の施行に伴う法務省関係省令の整備及び経過措置に関する省令 / Ministerial Order on the Arrangement of Ministerial Orders Related to the Ministry of Justice and on Transitional Measures upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and the Special Act on the Immigration Control of, Inter Alia, Those Who Have Lost Japanese Nationality Pursuant to the Treaty of Peace with Japan, and Other Matters](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-2009-amendment-transitional-ordinance): 平成二十三年法務省令第四十三号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2020-12-28 · 14 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Ministry of Justice Order (法務省令) made to carry out Act No. 79 of 2009, which repealed the Alien Registration Act (外国人登録法), of which the text held here is only Chapter 2, its transitional measures (経過措置): the passport stamp promising a residence card (在留カード) later to a new arrival who cannot be given one at the port, and the forms, documents and stand-ins for the applications and notifications by which registered foreign nationals moved from alien registration certificates to residence cards and special permanent resident certificates (特別永住者証明書). Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/immigration-2009-amendment-transitional-ordinance
  - [出入国管理及び難民認定法及び外国人の技能実習の適正な実施及び技能実習生の保護に関する法律の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係政令の整備及び経過措置に関する政令 / Cabinet Order on the Arrangement of Related Cabinet Orders and on Transitional Measures upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and the Act on Proper Technical Intern Training and Protection of Technical Intern Trainees](https://japanlaw.org/en/skill-development-amendment-transitional-order): 令和七年政令第三百四十一号 · Cabinet Order (政令) · text in force since 2026-05-13 · 1 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The transitional measures (経過措置) of the Cabinet Order made for the 2024 amending Act (Act No. 60 of 2024) that turns technical intern training into employment for skill development (育成就労); they are the only part of the Order's text held here. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/skill-development-amendment-transitional-order
  - [出入国管理及び難民認定法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係政令の整備等及び経過措置に関する政令 / Cabinet Order on the Arrangement, etc. of Related Cabinet Orders and on Transitional Measures upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, etc.](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-2024-amendment-transitional-order): 令和七年政令第四百二十三号 · Cabinet Order (政令) · text in force since 2026-06-14 · 2 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The transitional measures (経過措置) of the Cabinet Order made for the 2024 amending Act (Act No. 59 of 2024) that brought in the specified residence card (特定在留カード) and the specified special permanent resident certificate (特定特別永住者証明書): they spare people who held a card, or had applied, before the change the fee for the new card in some cases, and are the only part of the Order's text held here. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/immigration-2024-amendment-transitional-order
- [国籍法 / Nationality Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/nationality-act): 昭和二十五年法律第百四十七号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2025-06-01 · 21 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Who is a Japanese citizen: how Japanese citizenship is acquired — by birth, through a parent's acknowledgment (認知) of a child, or by naturalization (帰化) — and when a Japanese citizen who also holds another nationality must choose between them, or loses Japanese citizenship. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/nationality-act
- [旅券法 / Passport Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/passport-act): 昭和二十六年法律第二百六十七号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-07-17 · 33 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The rules on passports: how one is applied for and issued, how long it is valid, when it can be refused, called back or stop being valid, and the penalties for misusing one. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/passport-act
- [日本国との平和条約に基づき日本の国籍を離脱した者等の出入国管理に関する特例法 / Special Act on the Immigration Control of, inter alia, those who have lost Japanese Nationality pursuant to the Treaty of Peace with Japan](https://japanlaw.org/en/special-act-on-immigration-control): 平成三年法律第七十一号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-06-14 · 37 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Special rules, set apart from the Immigration Control Act, for people who lost Japanese nationality under the Treaty of Peace with Japan while living in Japan, and their descendants born and living in Japan: their status as special permanent residents (特別永住者), the special permanent resident certificate (特別永住者証明書) they hold, and the narrower grounds on which they can be deported. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/special-act-on-immigration-control
  - [日本国との平和条約に基づき日本の国籍を離脱した者等の出入国管理に関する特例法施行令 / Order for Enforcement of the Special Act on the Immigration Control of, Inter Alia, Those Who Have Lost Japanese Nationality Pursuant to the Treaty of Peace with Japan](https://japanlaw.org/en/special-act-on-immigration-control-enforcement-order): 平成二十三年政令第四百二十号 · Cabinet Order (政令) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 10 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Cabinet Order (政令) under the Special Act on the Immigration Control of, Inter Alia, Those Who Have Lost Japanese Nationality Pursuant to the Treaty of Peace with Japan that sets what municipal offices do when they hand out special permanent resident certificates (特別永住者証明書) and take special permanent residents' notifications and applications, and the fees for exchanging a certificate or getting one that also works as an Individual Number Card (個人番号カード). Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/special-act-on-immigration-control-enforcement-order
  - [日本国との平和条約に基づき日本の国籍を離脱した者等の出入国管理に関する特例法施行規則 / Regulation for Enforcement of the Special Act on the Immigration Control of Inter Alia, Those Who Have Lost Japanese Nationality Pursuant to the Treaty of Peace with Japan](https://japanlaw.org/en/special-act-on-immigration-control-enforcement-regulation): 平成二十三年法務省令第四十四号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2026-06-14 · 24 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Ministry of Justice Order (法務省令) under the Special Act on the Immigration Control of, Inter Alia, Those Who Have Lost Japanese Nationality Pursuant to the Treaty of Peace with Japan that sets the forms, photographs and documents for the special permission for permanent residence (特別永住許可) and for each notification and application about the special permanent resident certificate (特別永住者証明書), how the certificate is written, who may act for a special permanent resident, and which special permanent residents need a full re-entry permit (再入国の許可). Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/special-act-on-immigration-control-enforcement-regulation
- [外国人の技能実習の適正な実施及び技能実習生の保護に関する法律 / Act on Proper Technical Intern Training and Protection of Technical Intern Trainees](https://japanlaw.org/en/technical-intern-training-act): 平成二十八年法律第八十九号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2025-06-01 · 115 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The rules under which a person or company in Japan takes on foreign nationals to acquire skills by working for it under a plan the government accredits, the licensed non-profit bodies that arrange and oversee that work, and the protections those foreign nationals have. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/technical-intern-training-act
- [出入国管理及び難民認定法第二条第五号ロの旅券を所持する外国人の上陸申請の特例に関する法律 / Act on Special Measures concerning the Application for Landing by Foreign National in Possession of Passport specified in Article 2, Item (v), (b) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/landing-application-special-measures-act): 平成十七年法律第九十六号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-06-05 · main text not divided into articles · English: 100% of paragraphs. An Act (法律) that lets visitors holding a passport issued by the authorities of a region, rather than of a government Japan recognises, land in Japan without a visa for a short stay such as tourism, where they belong to the class a Cabinet Order (政令) sets. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/landing-application-special-measures-act
  - [出入国管理及び難民認定法第二条第五号ロの旅券を所持する外国人の上陸申請の特例に関する法律施行令 / Order for Enforcement of the Act on Special Measures concerning the Application for Landing by Foreign National in Possession of Passport Specified in Article 2, Item (v), (b) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/landing-application-special-measures-act-enforcement-order): 平成十七年政令第三百二号 · Cabinet Order (政令) · text in force since 2005-09-26 · main text not divided into articles · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Cabinet Order (政令) that names who benefits from the visa waiver of Act No. 96 of 2005: residents of Taiwan who hold a passport issued by Taiwan's competent authority and intend to do the activities of a Temporary Visitor (短期滞在) in Japan. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/landing-application-special-measures-act-enforcement-order
- [特定在留カードの交付の申請に関する規則 / Rules on Applications for the Issuance of Specified Residence Cards](https://japanlaw.org/en/specified-residence-card-application-rules): 令和八年総務省・法務省令第一号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2026-06-14 · 2 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. How a mid- to long-term resident applies for a specified residence card (特定在留カード), a residence card to which the functions of an Individual Number Card (個人番号カード) have been added, either at a regional immigration services bureau or through the municipal office. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/specified-residence-card-application-rules
- [特定在留カードの様式その他特定在留カードに関し必要な事項を定める命令 / Order to Provide for the Form of Specified Residence Cards and Other Necessary Matters Concerning Specified Residence Cards](https://japanlaw.org/en/specified-residence-card-form-order): 令和八年デジタル庁・総務省・法務省令第一号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2026-06-14 · 4 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The form of the specified residence card (特定在留カード), a residence card that also works as an Individual Number Card (個人番号カード), together with its PIN, the documents a person collecting it for someone else must show, and how long it is valid as an Individual Number Card. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/specified-residence-card-form-order
- [地方出入国在留管理局組織規則 / Rules for Organization of Regional Immigration Services Bureaus](https://japanlaw.org/en/regional-immigration-services-bureau-organization-rules): 平成三十一年法務省令第二十七号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2026-06-14 · 31 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. How the regional immigration services bureaus are organised inside: their divisions, the officials who handle immigration inspection and enforcement work and how that work is divided, and their district offices (支局) and branch offices (出張所). Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/regional-immigration-services-bureau-organization-rules
- [住民基本台帳法 / Residential Basic Book Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/residential-basic-book-act): 昭和四十二年法律第八十一号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-10-24 · 143 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Sets up the Basic Resident Register (住民基本台帳) that each municipality keeps of the people living in it, the notifications residents must make when they move, and who may see the records or get copies of them. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/residential-basic-book-act
  - [住民基本台帳法施行令第三十条の二十及び出入国管理及び難民認定法施行令第二十四条第三項に規定する通知の方法を定める省令 / Ministerial Order to Provide for the Method of Notification Prescribed in Article 30-20 of the Order for the Enforcement of the Residential Basic Book Act and Article 24, Paragraph (3) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act Enforcement Order](https://japanlaw.org/en/resident-registry-immigration-notification-ordinance): 平成二十四年総務省・法務省令第一号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2024-06-10 · 2 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Ministerial Order (省令) made jointly under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of Justice that sets how the Commissioner of the Immigration Services Agency (出入国在留管理庁長官) and municipal mayors send each other the notices that keep foreign residents' resident records (住民票) in step with immigration records. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/resident-registry-immigration-notification-ordinance
- [行政手続における特定の個人を識別するための番号の利用等に関する法律 / Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures](https://japanlaw.org/en/my-number-act): 平成二十五年法律第二十七号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 87 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The individual number (個人番号) given to each person on a municipal resident register, the Individual Number Card (個人番号カード) that proves it, and the limits on who may use, ask for, share and keep the number, which public bodies use in social security, tax, disaster response and other areas of administration. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/my-number-act
- [戸籍法 / Family Register Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/family-register-act): 昭和二十二年法律第二百二十四号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-09-03 · 171 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Sets up the family register (戸籍) — the record, kept by each municipality's mayor, of each person's name, date of birth, parents, marriage and other family relationships, from which anyone who loses Japanese nationality is removed — and the notifications (届出) that keep it up to date. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/family-register-act

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