Any administrative action or measure taken by the Immigration Bureau is so-called “discretionary disposition” which does not always approve your application even if you prepare and submit all documents required for such application. This discretionary disposition is fundamentally based on each provision of the “Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act” of Japan (hereinafter called the “Immigration Control Act”). That is, under the Immigration Control Act, various applications are subject to the broad discretion of the Minister of Justice. In addition, it is difficult for foreign nationals and their related persons to interpret or understand ministerial ordinances or notifications issued or given by the Ministry of Justice in connection with each provision of such Act.

For instance, the “Ministerial ordinance to establish the standards set forth in the item 2 of the paragraph 1 of the article 7 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act” that stipulates whether new immigrants are allowed to enter Japan establishes the standards for each status of residence. However, even if an application for a status of residence meets all requirements specified in such ordinance, such application is not always approved. The Immigration Bureau accepting the application determines whether or not each application is approved, based on a lot of administrative precedents and judicial precedents in addition to the above standards. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see the cases where the applications which meet required standards are not approved by reason of the applicants’ failing to unfortunately submit the materials for showing of prima facie evidence. The Immigration Bureau considers such failure as non-compliance with the above standards.

For the reasons stated above, it is extremely difficult for foreign nationals and their related persons who are not familiar with the Japanese laws and regulations to obtain approval or permission of the Immigration Bureau. Under these circumstances, in June 1989, the Immigration Bureau legally established the system whereby legal professionals (only including administrative scriveners and attorneys-at-law but excluding professionals with other national qualification or certification) who play an “intermediary” role between the Immigration Bureau and applicants may conduct each application procedure set forth in the Immigration Control Act and related regulations on behalf of the applicants (hereinafter called the “Intermediary Application System”). Since then, any legal professionals who have received prescribed trainings and been approved by the Immigration Bureau may conduct each application procedure on behalf of applicants. They conduct any and all procedures as agents or intermediaries of applicants, including preparation of documents such as an application form, submission of such documents to the Immigration Bureau on behalf of the applicants and receipt of the results of administrative disposition from the Immigration Bureau. Therefore, if you are concerned about making an application on your own, or if you have difficulty in visiting the Immigration Bureau due to your busyness, it would be better for you to request a legal professional with detailed knowledge and experience about the Immigration Control Act as well as related ministerial ordinances and notifications to conduct the application procedures more smoothly and more appropriately.

This system enables the Immigration Bureau to accelerate and optimize its paperwork and also enables the foreign nationals and their related persons as applicants to feel safe and supported well. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to take full advantage of this system.