According to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (hereafter called as ISAJ) as of June 26, 2020, foreign nationals who have difficulty returning to their home country due to the impact of COVID-19 would obtain the following permits in terms of the status of residence by certain procedures.

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(1) Foreign nationals who stay with the status of residence of “Temporary Visitor”

– They would be permitted to extend the period of stay of “Temporary Visitor (90 days)”.

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(2) Foreign nationals who stay with the status of residence of “Technical Intern Training” or “Designated Activities (Foreign Construction Worker (No.32), Foreign Shipbuilding Worker (No.35))”

– They would be permitted to change the status of residence to “Designated Activities (6 months, Work Permitted)”.

– This applies to foreign nationals engaging in the same work as before.

– Foreign nationals staying with “Designated Activities (Internship (No.9), Foreign Manufacturing Worker (No.42))” who wish to work at the same accepting organization and work as before would be permitted to work as before.

– This also applies to foreign nationals who were once granted “Temporary Visitor” or “Designated Activities (6 months, Work Not Permitted)”.    

– Foreign nationals staying with “Designated Activities (Summer Job (No.12))” who wish to work at the same accepting organization and work as before would be permitted to change the status of residence to “Designated Activities (3 months, Work Permitted)”.

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(3) Foreign nationals staying with the status of residence of “Student” who wish to work

– They would be permitted to change the status of residence to “Designated Activities (6 months, Part-time Work Permitted within 28 hours a week)”.

– This is limited to those who graduated from (or completed a program of) an educational institution on or after January 1, 2020.

– This also applies to foreign nationals who were once granted “Temporary Visitor” or “Designated Activities (6 months, Work Not Permitted)”.

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(4) Foreign nationals who stay with other status of residence including foreign nationals corresponding to the above-mentioned (2) or (3) who do not wish to work

– They would be permitted to change the status of residence to “Designated Activities (6 months, Work Not Permitted)”

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(5) Foreign nationals who stay with the status of residence of “Designated Activities (Working Holiday (No.5, No.5-2))”

– They would be permitted to extend the period of stay of “Designated Activities (Working Holiday (No.5, No.5-2)(6 months))” if they want to continue the same status of residence, according to the ISAJ on April 27, 2020.    

– This also applies to foreign nationals who were once granted “Designated Activities (Working Holiday (No.5, No.5-2))” and changed to “Temporary Visitor”.

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With regard to the above-mentioned (1) to (5), an extension of the period of stay would be permitted if the situation is ongoing that the foreign national is unable to return to his or her home country.

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Please refer to the following website of the ISAJ for more information:

http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001320236.pdf

http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001323020.pdf

Note: The acceptance period of applications by post has been extended to September 30, 2020 according to the updated announcement of the ISAJ as of August 18, 2020.  If the acceptance period is to be further extended in future, the information will be updated on the website of the ISAJ:  http://www.moj.go.jp/nyuukokukanri/kouhou/nyuukokukanri01_00155.html

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  Email: mnakamura.diversity@gmail.com

  Phone: 03-6454-0035