11posts
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 transitional measures for Technical Intern Training set three hard dates before Employment for Skill Development begins, and the Type 3 route already closed on 1 April 2026.
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.
Immigration Services Agency figures for 1 July 2026 put the overstayer count at 65,229, down 4.8% in six months, with short-stay permission accounting for about 60% and two resident categories rising.
Designated clinics in Indonesia start accepting bookings for Japan's pre-entry tuberculosis screening on 2 November 2026, and from 4 January 2027 a certificate of no active tuberculosis must accompany a certificate of eligibility or visa application, while residents returning on a re-entry permit stay outside the programme.
The Immigration Services Agency is consulting on deleting a designated-activities category that has had no users since 2018, with comments closing on 29 October 2026.
The Immigration Services Agency's entry and departure figures for the first half of 2026, published on 16 October 2026, show foreign arrivals up 0.3 per cent to 21,447,220 while first-time entries fell to 19,706,953, leaving roughly 1.74 million entries by residents returning from abroad.
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.
From 14 June 2026 mid- to long-term residents can apply for a single card combining residence card and My Number card functions. It is optional, and there are reasons to think about it.
A run of Immigration Services Agency notices in late May covered the new residence card design, photo rules for children, Specified Skilled Worker reporting, and the questions the agency is fielding most on keiei kanri.