Japan considers detaining some asylum seekers to curb alleged abuse of refugee system
Claiming that its refugee system is being abused by foreign job seekers, the government considers arresting some asylum seekers once their visas expire.
Japan asks five embassies to urge voluntary return of illegal residents
Immigration authorities ask the offices of five nations to promote voluntary repatriation of their overstaying nationals.
Japan repatriates 22 illegal immigrants to Bangladesh, among them unsuccessful asylum seekers
The government has repatriated 22 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in the fourth round of its contentious mass deportation program using a state-chartered plane, the Justice Ministry announced Thursday. Subject to the repatriation, conducted Wednesday, were visa overstayers and other illegal immigrants who had long "stubbornly" ...
Japan's so-called visa overstayers tell of life in legal limbo
Eight children petition the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau for clemency to allow their families to stay in the country so they can continue their lives.
Justice Ministry unveils eased refugee-recognition criteria but critics quick to cry foul
A wide-ranging review will cover everything from accepting more highly skilled non-Japanese workers and revising the foreign trainee program to cracking down harder on visa overstayers.
Immigration crackdown seen as paving the way for state to expel valid visa-holders
After successfully expelling visa overstayers over the past decade, Japan is now shifting its immigration control focus to a new target: people in the country on bogus visas. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government has submitted a bill to revise the immigration control law that will ...
Visa overstayers march for right to remain in Japan
Visa overstayers facing deportation orders marched through Tokyo's Ginza district on Wednesday afternoon, pleading for permission to remain in a country that many have called home for decades. Organized by nonprofit organization Asian People's Friendship Society (APFS), the parade featured about 70 of visa overstayers ...
Visa overstaying cases show first uptick since '93
The number of people in Japan overstaying their visas climbs for the first time in more than two decades as visitors from Thailand and Vietnam spike.
Japan charters a plane to deport 70 Filipinos who were staying on expired visas to reduce the expense and trouble of sending them home individually.
