Japan Entry Ban After Overstaying: Is It 1 Year, 5 Years, or 10 Years?

If you are living in Japan after your period of stay has expired, it is hard not to think about the day you will have to leave. For most people the first question is simple: once I leave, when will I be allowed to come back? It weighs heavier still if your family is here, or your children are in a Japanese school. That period is not something an individual officer decides on the spot. It is written into Article 5, paragraph (1) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (Immigration Control Act, 出入国管理及び難民認定法). Whether yours is one year, five years, or ten depends on which procedure you go through on your way out.

What is a period of denial of landing, and where are the 1-, 5-, and 10-year periods written?

It is the legal treatment under which someone who has left Japan is refused permission to land here for a set period. The basis is Article 5, paragraph (1), item (ix). For people who have been deported and for people who have left under a departure order (出国命令), that item sets periods of one, five, and ten years running from the date of deportation or departure. Item (x) of the same paragraph provides for denial of landing with no fixed period at all.

So the question is not one of rumour but of which sub-item applies to you. Begin with two: will you be deported, or leave under a departure order, and have you ever been through either before?

If I leave under a departure order, can I return to Japan after one year?

Yes, one year from the date of departure, under Article 5, paragraph (1), item (ix)(e). That is far shorter than the periods that follow deportation.

A departure order is not available to everyone. Article 24-3 requires all five of the following: that you appeared at an immigration office of your own accord, intending to leave promptly, before a violation investigation under Article 27 began (item (i)(a)), or stated that intention to an immigration inspector or immigration control officer after it began but before receiving the notice under Article 47, paragraph (3) (item (i)(b)); that you do not fall under Article 24, items (iii) to (iii)-5, item (iv)(c) to (iv)(y), item (viii), or item (ix); that since entering Japan you have not been sentenced to kōkinkei (custodial sentence) for the offences the article lists, among them theft, robbery, fraud, injury, forgery, homicide and kidnapping; that you have never been deported and never left under a departure order; and that you are reasonably certain to leave promptly.

Once the order issues, the supervising immigration inspector orders departure under Article 55-85, paragraph (1), setting a deadline of no more than fifteen days, and may attach conditions on residence and area of movement. Unlike deportation, this procedure is not premised on detention.

If I am deported, is the ban five years or ten years?

It depends on whether you have been through this before. Under Article 5, paragraph (1), item (ix)(c), a person deported with no previous deportation and no previous departure under a departure order is denied landing for five years. Under item (ix)(d), a person who already has such a history is denied landing for ten years.

A second time is not merely a matter of a poor impression: the statute itself doubles the period. Worse, anyone with even one previous deportation or departure order is excluded from the departure order system by Article 24-3, item (iv), so "one year through a departure order" is not available from the outset. One narrower rule is worth noting: item (ix)(b) sets one year for a person who, though subject to deportation, received a decision under Article 52, paragraph (5) and left on their own by the deadline, except where they intend to engage in the activities of a temporary visitor.

Can a departure order still result in a five-year ban?

Yes. Article 5, paragraph (1), item (ix)(f) provides that a person falling under Article 24-3, item (i)(b), meaning someone who stated an intention to leave only after the violation investigation had begun, and who then left under a departure order, is denied landing for five years from the date of departure where they intend to engage in the activities of a temporary visitor.

The outcome on paper is identical, but the entry point changes everything. Appearing voluntarily before the investigation begins falls under item (i)(a); stating the intention afterwards falls under item (i)(b). For someone hoping to return as a tourist or to visit relatives, that is one year against five. Waiting to explain things if you are caught can cost four additional years.

When does the period start, and does one year guarantee that I can enter Japan?

It runs from the date of deportation, or from the date of departure in departure order cases. The starting point is the day you leave, so nothing accumulates while you remain here waiting.

The passing of the period does not guarantee entry. It means only that you no longer fall under the ground for denial of landing in item (ix). Other grounds appear in the same paragraph, and if any applies, landing is still refused. Whether a visa is issued, and whether the conditions for landing and the requirements of a status of residence are met at the port of entry, are separate judgments. No one can honestly promise that after a given number of years you will certainly get in. What can be said is that which statutory period applies to you does change according to the procedure you choose now.

When is the denial of landing indefinite?

Article 5, paragraph (1), item (x) provides for denial of landing with no fixed period for a person deported on the ground that they fell under Article 24, item (iv)(e) to (iv)(y). Waiting out a number of years is no solution there. A record of punishment for violating narcotics-related laws likewise carries no time limit, under item (v) of the same paragraph. Drug cases are treated severely in the deportation context too: Article 24, item (iv)(h) makes a guilty verdict for a narcotics-related offence a ground for deportation, and applies even where the penalty is a fine and even where the sentence is suspended in full.

Is there no way to stay in Japan at all?

Everything above assumes you are leaving. If you want to consider staying, the framework is special permission to stay (在留特別許可) under Article 50. Paragraph (1) allows the Minister of Justice, on application or ex officio, to permit even a person subject to deportation to stay where one of the listed items applies; most overstay cases are examined under item (v). Paragraph (5) requires consideration of the reasons for wishing to stay, family relationships, conduct, the circumstances of entry, the length of stay and legal status during it, the facts giving rise to deportation, and humanitarian need. The proviso to paragraph (1) imposes a heavier requirement on those sentenced to kōkinkei (custodial sentence) for life or a term exceeding one year, but excludes anyone whose sentence was suspended in full, so overstaying alone (Article 24, item (iv)(b)) does not attract it. Paragraph (2) provides that the application is made by a foreign national detained under a written detention order or subject to a supervision measure decision, and paragraph (3) bars any application once a written deportation order has issued.

What it means to act before you are caught

Every branch above turns on when you acted. Appearing of your own accord before the violation investigation begins puts you under Article 24-3, item (i)(a), and departure under a departure order then carries one year under item (ix)(e). Stating your intention afterwards puts you under item (i)(b), and a later short-stay return carries five years under item (ix)(f). If being caught means you cannot satisfy items (ii) to (iv) of Article 24-3, the departure order is unavailable and the case proceeds to deportation: five years under item (ix)(c), or ten under item (ix)(d) where there is a prior deportation or departure order. In the text of the statute, the gap between one, five, and ten years is the gap in when you moved.

The same holds if you are aiming to stay. The Guidelines on Special Permission to Stay, revised in March 2024 and in force from 10 June of that year, describe special permission as an exceptional and discretionary measure for a person who ought to be deported, and state expressly that appearing at a regional immigration office of one's own accord in order to report an illegal stay is treated as a positive factor. Prolonged illegal stay is treated as a negative factor. What accumulates while you wait is on the negative side.

Overstaying is also not only administrative. Article 70, paragraph (1), item (v) makes it an offence to remain beyond the period of stay without obtaining an extension or change, punishable by kōkinkei (custodial sentence) of up to three years or a fine of up to three million yen, or both. A light criminal outcome is a separate question from whether you can remain: even with a suspended sentence or a non-prosecution disposition, deportation proceedings continue under Article 24, item (iv)(b), while an actual sentence exceeding one year triggers the proviso to Article 50, paragraph (1). That is why mitigating the criminal outcome and pursuing special permission to stay must be designed together from the first steps.

About our office

Funado International Law Office (Fuse Building Main Wing 3F, 3-4-10 Takada, Toshima-ku, Tokyo) is led by attorney Daisuke Matsumura (Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association, registration number 59077, admitted 2019), whose principal focus is criminal defence for foreign nationals, mainly clients of Chinese nationality, together with immigration procedures. Mr. Matsumura handles every stage personally, from the first detention-centre visit to the close of trial, without passing the work to clerks or junior lawyers. A dedicated Chinese-language interpreter experienced in cases involving foreign nationals is on staff, so clients can use an interpreter working for them rather than only the one designated by the investigating authorities; for other languages, we arrange an interpreter according to the circumstances of the case. Renewals and changes of status of residence after the criminal proceedings conclude are handled on a one-stop basis with a partner immigration lawyer (gyōsei shoshi).

Two examples may help. In one, special permission to stay, widely regarded as difficult to obtain, was secured in a single round of proceedings: a client who had come as a tourist had a child with a Japanese woman, lost his status of residence, and was arrested and prosecuted for illegal stay. The marriage and acknowledgment of paternity were incomplete and initially refused by the authorities; after negotiation from a constitutional standpoint both were completed and favourable evidence assembled.

In the other, a woman wrongly accused of facilitating illegal employment faced deportation. Against the established practice that intent and negligence are unnecessary for a ground of deportation, proceedings were brought questioning the reach of the principle of culpability and pursued to the appellate stage. Special permission to stay was subsequently granted by the immigration authorities.

The first consultation is free, and fees are quoted according to the circumstances of the case. It is entirely fine to come before you have decided anything. We can begin by working out together where you stand under the statute, and whether the answer for you is one year or five.

In closing

One year, five years, or ten. The difference is not luck or negotiating skill; it is which category under Article 5, paragraph (1), item (ix) applies to you. That is decided by two things together: whether you act before the violation investigation begins, which is still open to you, and whether you have a prior deportation or departure order, which can no longer be changed. There is a clear meaning in acting while the part you can still choose remains open.

This article is a general explanation. For your own case, please consult a lawyer directly. The past results described above are based on the individual circumstances of those cases and do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Author

Daisuke Matsumura, Attorney at Law

Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association (registration number: 59077; admitted 2019)

Funado International Law Office (Fuse Building Main Wing 3F, 3-4-10 Takada, Toshima-ku, Tokyo)

Principal areas of focus: criminal defence for foreign nationals, mainly clients of Chinese nationality, and immigration procedures.

Results include an acquittal in a case under the Stimulants Control Act (possession for the purpose of profit), a non-prosecution disposition in a special fraud case, and special permission to stay in a case regarded as difficult.

Contact

Funado International Law Office

Website: https://matsumura-lawoffice.jp/

WeChat ID: matsumura1119

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