Japan's government has given itself until March 2027 to write a cabinet-level basic policy on how many foreign nationals the country accepts and on what terms. The Chief Cabinet Secretary issued that instruction on 24 July 2026, and the expert working group assembling the evidence behind it met for the second time on 15 September 2026.
Nothing in this process changes a procedure at an immigration counter. It is the document that will frame the next round of changes that do.
What the basic policy is, and what it is not
The basic policy is a statement of government direction, not a law and not a set of application rules. It sits apart from two documents easily confused with it: the Immigration Services Agency's Basic Plan for Immigration Control, and the sector operating policies that set intake numbers for the Specified Skilled Worker and Employment for Skill Development systems.
The ministerial council on accepting foreign nationals adopted a package of comprehensive measures on 23 January 2026. The Cabinet's annual economic and fiscal policy guidelines, decided on 21 July 2026, called for expert discussion of the basic approach. On 24 July 2026 the Chief Cabinet Secretary directed the minister responsible for orderly coexistence to compile the policy within fiscal 2026; the council's paper on the review structure names March 2027.
A population strategy lands first, by the end of 2026
Government papers state that the basic policy must align with a comprehensive population strategy, provisionally titled 人口総合戦略, targeted for completion by the end of 2026 and addressing the size of the labour force Japan will need. The order matters: the labour-force figure is settled there, and the acceptance policy is written to fit it.
The working group writing the evidence base
The working group on the basic approach to accepting foreign nationals was established on 24 July 2026 under the expert panel on orderly coexistence. Hiroshi Ohashi, professor and vice-president at the University of Tokyo, chairs it, with five other members from academia and the private sector.
Its remit is narrow by design: identify what the basic policy should take into account, and report to the panel. One member said at the first meeting, on 7 August 2026, that the group's job is to show the effects of different scenarios, because the policy choice sits outside its scope.
The projection work runs to roughly 2040, covering foreign residents by sex, age, residence status and nationality plus worker numbers, under three net-inflow scenarios: continued increase, no change, and decline.
The arguments on the table
The 15 September meeting took submissions from Shimane Prefecture and Isesaki City alongside papers on foreign employment and on crime statistics. Points recorded from the first meeting show where the disagreements sit.
One member warned that restricting intake in lower-skilled fields would push people into irregular status. Members cautioned against admitting workers to cover short-term shortages, citing the mid-2000s, when people brought in that way were sent home once the shortages eased. Several raised questions that only arise for those who stay: care for elderly foreign residents, and career progression within and into the Specified Skilled Worker categories.
If you live here and hold a residence card
There is nothing to file and no deadline to meet. No application form, fee or eligibility rule changes because of this process.
What is worth tracking is whether the basic policy speaks to settlement at all, or only to intake. The directive names two inputs: tighter residence management, and the expected effect of a programme teaching Japanese and the rules of living in Japan. That programme has its own working group and a trial run scheduled from April 2028, and who will be required to take it has not been published.
If you are arriving as a visitor
This review is about residence, not short-stay entry. The directive and the working group's papers address 在留外国人 (foreign residents) and 在留管理 (residence management), and do not mention tourists at all, though they do not state that short-stay visitors are excluded. Border changes for short-stay travellers run on the separate statutory track created by the 2026 amendments to the Immigration Control Act.
What to watch, and when
Three dates: the population strategy by the end of 2026, the basic policy during March 2027, and the language and daily-life programme trial from April 2028.
The working group's agendas, papers and meeting summaries go up on the Cabinet Secretariat's page for the ministerial council; a third working group meeting has not been announced. The council has met three times since November 2025, and its fourth session is where a basic policy would be signed off.
Sources: Cabinet Secretariat — Ministerial Council on Accepting Foreign Nationals and Realizing an Orderly Coexistence Society, Cabinet Secretariat — Review structure, 3rd council meeting, 24 July 2026, Cabinet Secretariat — Establishment of the Working Group on the Basic Approach to Accepting Foreign Nationals, Cabinet Secretariat — Background and progress of discussions, 1st WG meeting, Cabinet Secretariat — Summary of proceedings, 1st WG meeting, 7 August 2026, Cabinet Secretariat — Future projections concerning foreign nationals, 1st WG meeting, Cabinet Secretariat — 2nd WG meeting, 15 September 2026, Prime Minister's Office — Ministerial council, 23 January 2026