The Justice Ministry said Tuesday it will start requiring foreign nationals of Japanese descent applying for special resident visas to submit a record of any laws they have violated.
The stricter screening takes effect April 29. It follows the November slaying of a 7-year-old girl in Hiroshima Prefecture, for which a Peruvian man who used a fake passport to get the Japanese ancestry visa has been charged. Police were told by Peruvian authorities that the suspect had committed sex crimes against minors in Peru.
Under the new rules, someone applying for long-term resident status as a descendant of a Japanese will have to submit a document issued by the government in the country of origin stating whether the applicant was ever charged with violating the law.