Japan to Allow Re-entry of Foreign Students with Residency Status Starting Next Month on the 5th

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The Japanese government announced that it will allow foreign nationals holding residence status to re-enter the country starting from the 5th of next month. This measure is aimed at international students and others who left Japan with a valid residence visa but were unable to return due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

On the 29th, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it has decided to partially allow re-entry of foreigners from countries where entry is generally prohibited to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Those eligible for re-entry include all foreigners holding Japanese residence visas such as international students, corporate employees stationed in Japan, and technical trainees, who departed for their home countries before those countries were designated as entry-restricted by the Japanese government.

Since early April, Japan has expanded the list of countries subject to entry bans related to COVID-19, starting with South Korea and China, and currently restricts entry of foreigners from 146 countries (regions) in principle.

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan has decided to exclude from this re-entry allowance those foreigners who left for countries designated as entry-restricted after the designation, considering that they were aware of the difficulty of re-entry at the time of departure. Accordingly, Korean international students or corporate employees with Japanese residence status who left before April 2, the day before the Japanese government announced the entry ban, are expected to be able to re-enter Japan.

Upon re-entry, applicants must obtain a confirmation certificate for re-entry document submission from Japanese diplomatic missions in their respective countries and submit a test certificate obtained prior to entering Japan.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs will begin issuing visas from the 30th for long-term residents and corporate employees entering Vietnam and Thailand for business purposes. This is the first time Japan has started issuing visas, albeit limited, to countries subject to COVID-19 related entry bans. On the 22nd, Japan announced that following the first group of four countries including Vietnam, it will begin bilateral consultations to resume business travel with South Korea, China, and others as the second phase.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.