niehaubs

That is interesting to know, but there is very little info on this in general. By "this" I mean filling out "YES" to the conviction question. Whether it is a DUI from 30 years ago or a sex crime from last year. If only there was some kind of wiki thread with examples of what conviction, how long ago was it, did you get in?

I realize that is super implausible, but that would be a great help. Or even a note on the immigration website or .gov advice page about what kinds of convictions in general are less worrisome than others. What are the possible ramification of just saying know? Do they background check you on the spot? How far back? Enquiring minds want to know! I have the same questions for filling out the Global Entry form. Why waste $100 if you know your 1 count of drug solicitation will preclude you....you have no way of knowing until the interview.

Anyway, I'm super fascinated by the use of this question in almost any aspect of society. I'd love to know which countries ask it, and what the results for entry are for all of them.

AlwaysAisle

Such will be very difficult task because those regulations and rules change often. I am afraid such post may ended up misleading people to make wrong assumption about the situation rather than leading people to right direction.

According to my lawyer friend is that the law in Japan says crime equivalent of one year or longer jail term in Japan. So in your home country the crime itself may not carry any jail term but in Japan same crime can result in more than one year jail term. Reverse can be said also, in your home country the crime can carry more than one year jail term but in Japan it is possible that there is no jail term on such crime. Also, my lawyer friend told me that such immigration laws usually do not have statue of limitation, hence authorities can bring up the case happened 40 years ago.

Regarding background check authorities do that, especially since 9/11 countries do share information regarding passengers. I remember experiencing this before 9/11. This will reveal my age but once I flew NRT-LAX on PanAm, yes, do you remember “World’s most experienced airline”? Upon landing at LAX the aircraft stopped and parked away from the terminal. Captain explained the situation that the U.S. immigration received the passenger list of the flight late and the U.S. immigration has not gone through the passenger list of the flight yet when we landed at LAX. We waited for an hour before we finally taxied into the gate and we were let out.

People who make interpretation and decision regarding this are not people who post at FT, but officers at passport control at airport are the one who make the decision. We could find one post on TripAdvisor on one person’s experience. But we have to look at big picture, how many people annually with such conviction record attempt to enter Japan, how many of them are refused entry to Japan and how many of them are granted entry to Japan? Those granted entry to Japan how many of them had lawyers worked on the case before attempting to enter Japan and how many of them simply flew to Japan and showed up at the passport control? Those who were refused entry to Japan, how may had lawyers worked on the case before attempting to enter Japan? Situation can get very complicated and confusing. Also, this is getting into the area of legal advice and wonder what will Internet Brands, Inc. (owner of FlyerTalk) view about having such legal advice sort of items on wiki thread.

niehaubs

Understood. I was not suggesting a FT wiki. To me, this is the kind of information that the internet could crowd source into a marginally useful guideline. I'm going to assume most people do not know what crimes carry a 1 year or more prison term in Japan or probably most foreign countries.

Anyway, the generality is getting off topic a bit maybe.

What happens if Japan does not let you enter, do you get to hang out at the airport until your departure flight? Are you thrown in airport jail? Do they ship you off on the next flight wherever you next destination was going to be? Wait, nevermind, this one was easy to find on the Immigration Bureau of Japan website FAQ.

Q11: What will happen if a foreign national is denied landing Japan?
If a foreign national is denied entry to Japan and then is deported from Japan, the foreign national must immediately leave Japan. According to Article 59, Paragraph 1 of the Immigration Control Act, the captain of a vessel or aircraft or the carrier who operates a vessel or aircraft (or the carriers of such foreign national, or, in most cases, air carrier, if the foreign national boards an airplane) shall assume the cost and responsibility for the foreign national's deportation from Japan.

If a foreign flight passenger is denied landing Japan, he/she will usually face difficulty in boarding the same aircraft to leave Japan. In this case, such foreign passenger will need to stay in Japan for a couple of days until the most immediate flight is available to leave Japan.

In this sense, according to Article 13-2 of the Immigration Control Act, special inquiry officers or supervising immigration inspectors may authorize such flight passenger to stay in a hotel or any other accommodation near the port/airport for a limited duration. As the foreign passenger is not authorized to land Japan in this case, his/her going out from designated accommodation will constitute illegal entry or illegal landing.

mkjr

looks like they don't send you to the slammer...unlike murica...

GottKaisar

When I wanted to look this up, I haven't yet found anything that states it like that. If you go strictly by Article 5 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, it just basically says "1 year sentence (even if it's a suspended sentence), received either in Japan or a foreign country".
But it didn't seem to tie it to a requirement of what the crime in question would be worth under japanese law, sentence-length-wise...

If I may ask: is your friend Japanese, or is he practicing law in some foreign country? Because I've searched for a long time now to find something like you mentioned in the laws, and I want to be sure how the legal situation is over there. And honestly, in this case, it's a bit more dependable if it comes from a japanese lawyer
Can you maybe ask him how he meant it (or where he got it from), if it's not too much trouble for you?
Or does anyone else here know which law @AlwaysAisle 's friend might have referred to with this, or where I can find out more about it?

JamesBigglesworth

For Japan? Complete waste of money. The forms are simple and the process quick. If OP is going to apply for a visa then just get on with it. The *only* time you ever hire immigration lawyers for Japan is if you're dealing with Immigration directly *inside* Japan already - renewals, CoS, etc. If you're dealing with MOFA for a visa from outside Japan then a lawyer adds exactly zero to the process, other than cost.

JamesBigglesworth

If it's one of the major PoE then they have detention cells at the PoE and you'll be spending your time there.

Potatopotato