Photo/Illutration An education ministry official, center, explains a new program to allow an additional 1,000 foreign students a day into Japan as part of the relaxing of COVID-19 border measures at a news conference in Tokyo on March 3. (Yukihito Takahama)

In further relaxing COVID-19 border control measures, the central government will allow 1,000 more foreign students a day to enter Japan on weekdays only, when there are more available seats on flights. 

“We would like to make every effort to make sure that foreign students can definitely and smoothly enter Japan,” education minister Shinsuke Suematsu said at a news conference on March 4.

The government will launch the new program from mid-March to facilitate entry by overseas students.

The number is in addition to the new daily cap of 7,000 entrants that the government announced on March 3. 

The limit on daily entrants to Japan will be raised from 5,000 to 7,000 starting on March 14 to allow more people including businesspeople or students to enter the country.

Because of Japan’s strict border control measures, there are approximately 152,000 foreign students who have been granted valid visas since January 2020 but have been unable to enter the country.

If those who will newly be issued visas are added to this figure, there could be more than 200,000 foreign students who hope to start studying in Japan this spring.

However, an official at a university responsible for admitting foreign students said, “It’s good that the border rules are being relaxed, but (allowing an additional 1,000 foreign students) might not be enough, considering the start of the new academic term is imminent. It’s essential that the government quickly notifies universities and other schools of the program and works with them.”

According to the education ministry and other sources, under the new program, a support center for foreign students will be set up by the ministry and the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.

The center will make provisional flight bookings for foreign students to come to Japan after being requested to do so by educational institutions that accept overseas students, such as universities or high schools.

The program is expected to last at least until the end of May.

The ministry will notify educational institutions such as universities that foreign students will be allowed entrance separately from the daily cap of 7,000.

Related News