Even With a Non-Prosecution Decision You Can Lose Your Residence: The Good Conduct Hurdle at Renewal

Receiving notice of a non-prosecution decision (不起訴処分) brings real relief. The case is over; there will be no criminal record. That relief is not misplaced. But if you hold a status of residence (在留資格) with a fixed period and the next renewal is approaching, there is one more thing worth checking, because deportation is not the only route by which residence is lost. This article is written for people who have obtained a non-prosecution decision, so that the result actually translates into continued residence in Japan.

Key points

• There are two routes by which a status of residence is lost: falling within a ground for deportation (退去強制) under Article 24, and reaching the end of your period of stay after a renewal or change of status is refused.
• With a non-prosecution decision there is no conviction, which is what Article 24, item 4, sub-item (chi) (入管法24条4号チ) requires, so the first route does not arise.
• The second route is a discretionary decision of the Minister of Justice, and the published guidelines list good conduct among the matters considered.
• This second route is peculiar to Appendix I (別表第一) statuses, which carry a fixed period of stay.
• Cases involving designated substances (指定薬物), commonly called dangerous drugs, are not covered by the statutes listed in Article 24(4)(chi), so in practice they surface along this second route.

I was not prosecuted, so why should I worry about renewal?

The situations in which a status of residence is lost fall into two broad groups. The first is falling within one of the grounds for deportation in Article 24 and being placed in the deportation process. The second is having a renewal of the period of stay or a change of status of residence refused, so that the basis for residence disappears when the period expires.

Where a non-prosecution decision is obtained, the first route does not arise. Article 24(4)(chi) requires that the person has been convicted, and where no charge was brought and no judgment exists, there is no room for that ground to apply. This is the single most important legal consequence of a non-prosecution decision.

The second route, however, does not turn on the presence or absence of a conviction alone. Whether renewal or change is permitted is left to the discretionary judgment of the Minister of Justice, and the guidelines published by the Immigration Services Agency (出入国在留管理庁) list good conduct among the matters to be considered. That is why careful preparation is still needed even after a non-prosecution decision.

This is a risk peculiar to statuses with a fixed period

The second route does not apply equally to every status of residence. It is peculiar to statuses with a fixed period of stay, that is, Appendix I statuses such as Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services, Technical Intern Training, Specified Skilled Worker, Student and Dependent.

Permanent residents (永住者) have no fixed period of stay, so the hurdle of renewal review does not exist for them at all. Appendix II (別表第二) statuses such as spouse of a Japanese national, spouse of a permanent resident and long-term resident do carry fixed periods, but because they rest on family or civil status rather than on activity, the centre of gravity of the review differs from that applied to Appendix I statuses.

Why can a non-prosecution decision still affect the assessment of conduct?

Non-prosecution decisions come in several forms: where no suspicion of an offence is found; where suspicion is insufficient; and where suspicion is made out but, taking all the circumstances into account, no charge is brought, which is suspension of prosecution (起訴猶予). All of them share the feature that they are not convictions, and none of them creates a criminal record.

Renewal review, however, is not an exercise in deciding guilt or innocence as a criminal court would. It asks whether it is appropriate for the person to continue residing here, taking all the circumstances into account. The fact that a person was investigated, and the substance of how the disposition came about, may therefore be looked at when conduct is assessed. In particular, a case where suspicion was made out but no charge was brought for other reasons and a case where no suspicion was found in the first place give you different material to work with.

Designated substance (dangerous drug) cases land on this route

There is a distinction of scope here that is extremely important in practice. Designated substances, commonly called dangerous drugs, are regulated under the Act on Securing Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices. Article 76-4 of that Act prohibits manufacture, import, sale, provision, possession, purchase, receipt and use for purposes other than medical and similar uses. For simple possession, purchase, receipt and use, Article 84, item 28 provides imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 3 million yen, or both. For manufacture, import, sale and similar conduct carried on as a business, Article 83-9 provides imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to 5 million yen, or both.

The point to notice is that the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act is not among the statutes listed in Article 24(4)(chi). Sub-item (chi) lists only six: the Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act, the Act on Regulation of Cultivation of Cannabis Plants, the Opium Act, the Stimulants Control Act, the Narcotics Special Provisions Act, and Part II, Chapter 14 of the Penal Code. In a designated substance case, therefore, a conviction does not by itself bring sub-item (chi) into play.

That does not mean there is no effect on residence. A custodial sentence exceeding one year to be served raises the question of Article 24(4)(ri), and even short of that level, one should expect the matter to weigh against the person when conduct is assessed at renewal. In other words, designated substance cases are a category in which the fate of a person's residence is more likely to be settled along the second route, renewal, than along the first, deportation. Getting this distinction precisely right changes how a strategy is set.

What should be built up ahead of renewal?

Renewal review is conducted on the documents, so the work consists mainly of putting the reality of life after the case into a form that can be evidenced. In concrete terms: material showing that employment has continued, or that a new position has been secured; where studies are continuing, material showing enrolment, grades and attendance; material showing that taxes and social insurance contributions have been paid without arrears; material showing that you live with and support your family; and, where dependence may be an issue, material on medical attendance and on steps taken to prevent relapse. These are accumulated steadily over the time between the case and the renewal.

One further point. Making a non-prosecution decision the objective of the defence is the core of what we call our non-prosecution first approach, but it is a point of passage as well as a destination. Avoiding a conviction prevents a ground for deportation from arising; the reality of daily life then has to be put in order for the second hurdle, renewal review. Only with both halves in place does the result translate into continued residence. What you say in the criminal process, and what you leave on the record, has to be decided with that later stage in view.

How our office works, and matters we have handled

At Funado International Law Office (Fuse Building Main Wing 3F, 3-4-10 Takada, Toshima-ku, Tokyo), attorney Daisuke Matsumura handles the matter personally from the first detention visit through to the close of trial, and the work is not passed to clerks or junior lawyers. For Chinese, a dedicated interpreter experienced in cases involving foreign nationals is on staff, so that alongside the interpreter appointed by the investigating authorities you have an interpreter working for you throughout the criminal process. For languages other than Chinese, we arrange an interpreter to suit the case. Renewals and changes of status of residence after the criminal process are handled together with an affiliated administrative scrivener, on the principle that the criminal side and the immigration side should never be dealt with in isolation from each other.

On non-prosecution work, we obtained a non-prosecution decision for a woman in her twenties alleged to have withdrawn money as part of a specialised fraud operation, by presenting her state of mind in the round. In another matter, a client re-arrested several times as a collector in a specialised fraud case obtained non-prosecution decisions on every count, through careful handling of the interrogations, formal objections to improper questioning, and patient presentation of the evidence and argument.

A non-prosecution decision is the single largest step towards protecting your residence. What we hope is that the step is not left to lapse before the next renewal, and that is really the whole message of this article. There is no need to rush, but how you use the time before renewal will determine how substantial the material you can show turns out to be. Please note that this article is general commentary only; for your own situation, speak to a lawyer directly. The past matters described here turned on their own particular facts, and they are not a guarantee of a similar outcome. If anything concerns you, we would be glad to hear from you before the renewal date arrives.

This article reflects the law as at August 2026.

About the author

Daisuke Matsumura, Attorney at Law
Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association (registration no. 59077, admitted 2019)
Funado International Law Office (Fuse Building Main Wing 3F, 3-4-10 Takada, Toshima-ku, Tokyo)
Practice focused on criminal defence for foreign nationals and immigration proceedings.
Results include an acquittal in a Stimulants Control Act case (possession for the purpose of profit), non-prosecution in organised fraud cases, and special permission to stay in cases regarded as difficult.

Funado International Law Office
Website: https://matsumura-lawoffice.jp/
WeChat ID: matsumura1119