Shoplifting, trespass and other minor offences that can still cost your visa in Japan

A caution at a convenience store. A police officer who says the paperwork will simply be sent to the prosecutor. A fine of a few tens of thousands of yen, paid and forgotten. Each of these feels like the end of the matter, and for a Japanese national it often is. For a foreign resident, the file has only changed departments.

The question we hear most often is whether a small case can really affect a visa. The honest answer is that it depends less on how small the case was and more on which of three separate routes it travels down. This article separates those routes, explains what a fine or a suspended sentence actually does under the statute, and sets out the steps that matter while the case is still open.

Three routes by which a small case reaches your residence status

A minor offence can affect your status through three distinct routes: the grounds for deportation, the discretionary decision on renewal or change of status, and future denial of landing. Each has a different legal basis and a different decision maker, so avoiding one does not clear the others.

Does a fine or a suspended sentence lead to deportation

In the ordinary shoplifting or trespass case, a fine or a fully suspended sentence does not amount to a ground for deportation. Article 24(4)(ri) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act covers a person sentenced to imprisonment (kōkinkei) for life or for a term exceeding one year. The provision carries a proviso: where execution of the whole sentence is suspended, the person is excluded. Where only part is suspended, the person is still excluded if the portion actually to be served is one year or less.

You will sometimes read that a suspended sentence itself triggers deportation. That reading contradicts the text of the provision. Drug offences, however, work differently and the difference is stark. Article 24(4)(chi) covers a person who has been found guilty of violating laws on narcotics, cannabis, opium or stimulants, and it applies to a fine, a suspended sentence and even a remission of punishment. The instinct that a small quantity is a small matter does not survive contact with that provision.

Prosecution rates are not the same as they are for Japanese nationals

Statistically, cases involving visiting foreign nationals are prosecuted at a higher rate than cases overall. According to the White Paper on Crime 2025 edition, the prosecution rate for suspect cases involving visiting foreign nationals in 2024 was 44.28 per cent, against 40.38 per cent for all cases. For theft specifically, the figures were 52.53 per cent for visiting foreign nationals and 44.84 per cent overall. The denominator excludes negligent driving causing death or injury and road traffic violations.

The term visiting foreign nationals is a defined one. It excludes permanent residents, spouses and children of permanent residents, special permanent residents, personnel connected with the United States forces in Japan, and persons whose status is unknown. What the numbers show is that the assumption of a small loss producing an automatic non-prosecution does not hold. Prior records, whether compensation has been paid, and whether someone credible will supervise you can weigh more heavily than they would in a comparable case involving a Japanese national.

Street questioning and the duty to carry your residence card

Minor cases very often begin with a request to show your residence card, and that request can itself generate a second offence. Article 23 of the Immigration Control Act requires mid to long term residents to carry the residence card and to present it when required. Failure to carry it is punishable under Article 75-3 by a fine of up to 200,000 yen. Refusing to present it is punishable under Article 75-2 by imprisonment (kōkinkei) of up to one year or a fine of up to 200,000 yen.

Refusal to present is therefore treated more seriously than failure to carry, because a custodial penalty is available. Neither sits anywhere near the threshold of more than one year in Article 24(4)(ri). The real risk is not the penalty itself but the accumulation: two or three small violations recorded together change how your conduct reads on paper.

There is a further point worth understanding about how these files travel. A criminal case and an immigration file are handled by different authorities, but they are not sealed off from one another. Information about a criminal disposition reaches the immigration authorities, and a statement you signed during the criminal investigation can be produced later in an administrative procedure where you no longer have the same procedural protections. That is why the wording of a statement matters even in a case that will end in a modest fine.

What you and your family can do while the case is open

The smaller the case, the more the early decisions move the outcome. Practical steps:

• Let a defence lawyer make any approach about compensation or settlement. A family member walking into the shop directly can harden the position of the other side.
• Under Article 198(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure you are told of the right to remain silent before questioning. Decide in advance what you will and will not discuss.
• Under Article 198(4), the written statement is read back to you and you may request additions, deletions or corrections. If a sentence does not match what you said, ask for the change there and then.
• If you are detained, Article 39(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows you to meet your defence lawyer without an official present.
• Decide with your lawyer how and when to explain the situation to your employer or your school.

That last point runs straight into immigration law. If you resign or withdraw from your course because of the case, Article 22-4 of the Immigration Control Act becomes a live issue. Losing the status while surviving the criminal case is an entirely realistic outcome, and it is usually self inflicted.

Misunderstandings we hear repeatedly

• A case closed without prosecution leaves no trace. Police and prosecutors keep a record of it, and that record shapes how the next case is handled.
• Once a sentence lapses under Article 34-2 of the Penal Code, immigration is no longer concerned. That provision lifts legal disqualifications; it does not erase the underlying facts.
• A fine means renewal is automatic. Renewal is a discretionary decision, and nothing about it is automatic.
• A small loss cannot affect residence. What matters is the disposition recorded and the assessment of conduct, not the amount taken.

How our office works

At Funado International Law Office, attorney Matsumura Daisuke attends detention visits and meetings personally. As to language, an interpreter dedicated to cases involving foreign nationals is permanently based at the office for Chinese; for other languages, including English, we arrange an interpreter according to the requirements of the individual case.

Even in cases described as minor, we do not treat a suspended sentence as a satisfactory result. Measured against the effect on residence, a decision not to prosecute is the primary objective. We design the criminal case and the immigration procedure as a single piece of work, because statements taken during the criminal investigation reappear as material in the violation examination and the oral hearing. We are also willing to contest whether a ground for deportation applies at all, including questions of intent and negligence. The first consultation is free of charge, and you may contact us through WeChat ID matsumura1119.

Closing note

Minor is a description of where a case sits within the criminal process. Seen from the immigration side, the same file can carry a very different weight. The sensible time to look at both systems together is before the disposition is fixed, not after. This article is a general explanation only; for your own case, please speak with a lawyer directly.

Author

Matsumura Daisuke, Attorney at Law
Member of the Daiichi Tokyo Bar Association (registration number: 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 procedure, with clients predominantly of Chinese nationality. Results include an acquittal in a Stimulants Control Act case (possession for the purpose of profit), a decision not to prosecute in an organised fraud case, and grants of special permission to stay in cases regarded as difficult.

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

Japanese version of this article: https://matsumura-lawoffice.jp/blog/detail/2026099196/