Minister Eisuke Mori granted a one-year special resident permit Monday to Noriko Calderon, 13, whose Filipino parents lost their fight against a deportation order.
According to the Immigration Bureau, Calderon will have to apply for the permit every year, with the bureau evaluating her request each time.
Her father, Arlan Calderon, 36, told reporters Friday that he hopes he and his wife, Sarah, 38, can live with their daughter again in Japan someday. The couple entered Japan on fake passports in the early 1990s.
Citizenship is granted to people who have a Japanese parent. Noriko Calderon was born and raised in Japan and only speaks Japanese, but she has Philippine nationality.
Immigration Bureau officials said she can apply for naturalization as a Japanese citizen after she turns 20.
She can also apply for permanent residency but will need to prove she is financially independent, the officials said.
According to the bureau, obtaining Japanese nationality or permanent residency will not enable her to bring her parents back to stay with her.
Earlier the bureau indicated she would be allowed to stay if her parents dropped their request for all three to be allowed to remain together in Japan.
The couple did this Friday and will be deported April 13 after attending a seasonal ceremony at their daughter's junior high school in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, on April 8.