Deporting a foreign national back to their home country is an expensive process. Often, Japanese tax payers must pay for the detention of the foreign national, the hearings related to the immigration offense and the plane ticket back to the foreign national’s home country. To save this expense the Japanese government instituted the voluntary system of departure orders. These departure orders differ from normal deportation proceedings because the foreign national voluntarily leaves Japan at his or her own expense.
To provide incentive for this program, the Japanese government has established a system of reduced penalties for those foreign nationals who self-deport from Japan. Normally, foreign nationals who are deported from japan are barred from returning for five years. However, in exchange for the personal expense and cooperation of leaving voluntarily, the foreigner is only barred from returning to Japan for one year. Compared with the five year bar for foreign nationals who are deported involuntarily, this shortened one year period can be very appealing. However, only foreign nationals with an otherwise clean record and who are being deported for overstaying their visas are allowed to take advantage of this program.
If you have any questions about deportation from Japan, please contact our office for a legal consultation.