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Japan's draft arrival-card ordinance, open for comment until 27 November 2026, replaces three forms: the arrival card, the re-entry arrival record used by residents, and the cruise-ship landing application.
The Immigration Services Agency wants to ask arriving foreign nationals whether they intend to obey Japanese law, and the draft quietly replaces the form used by re-entry permit holders too.
The enacted 2026 immigration law sets no start date for Japan's electronic travel authorisation, only an outer limit of 31 March 2029, and the same provisions stop the Trusted Traveler Program card being issued.
Narita's two largest terminals began joint immigration-customs kiosk operations on 24 September. The customs half applies to residence card holders in full; the immigration half does not work the same way.
The cabinet endorsed a bill in early March establishing a Japanese electronic travel authorisation for visa-exempt travellers, alongside a sharp rise in the statutory fee ceiling.