Changes to immigration policies in 2015

Some changes were made to immigration policy that will be coming into effect in 2015. You can read more about those by visiting the Immigration Bureau’s homepage, but basically the changes are as follows:

1） Changes to Statuses of Residence （Visa types）

1. A new status of residence called “Highly-skilled Professional”
   This is a new type of status of residence that is given based on a point-system for highly-skilled human resources. More about this new status of residence can be found here.

• Points-based Preferential Immigration Treatment for Highly Skilled Foreign Professionals（外部リンク）

2. Investor/Business Manager will be changed to “Business Manager”
3. “Engineer” and “Specialist in Humanities/International Services” will be consolidated into one status type: “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services”
4. The “Student” type of status of residence will now cover middle school and elementary school students along with college and high school students.

2） New procedures for landing in Japan

1. Landing procedures have been simplified for tourists （short-term stay） who arrive by cruise ship.
2. Foreign travelers may undergo a special procedure to become known as “trusted travelers” enabling them to use automated gates to enter Japan. （Effective date to be specified by a Cabinet Order）

More details may be found at the Immigration Bureau’s page.

• The Immigration Control Act has been amended（外部リンク）