Foreign national residency management system (Japan)

Japan maintains a legal system of alien registration (外国人登録 gaikokujin touroku) for most non-Japanese citizens who reside in the country. Within 90 days of first arrival, foreign nationals must register their presence with local authorities and apply for an "alien registration card" (外国人登録証明書 gaikokujin touroku shoumeisho, ARC; an identity card), which must be carried at all times and shown to any official empowered by the Ministry of Justice. Currently the system is undergoing a transition from local to national registration, with the incorporation of the details of resident non-Japanese into a single nationwide database expected to begin in 2012.

All statuses of residence (SORs) are recorded on the system; for example, permanent residents (永住者 eijuusha) must be listed and carry ARC cards as well as newcomers and individuals holding various other SORs. Some municipalities also record individuals without any status of residence (i.e. illegal immigrants) and issue them with ARCs (this will not be possible under the new system). Temporary visitors to the country must instead carry their passports at all times, but any stay exceeding 90 days requires an ARC application. On naturalisation or final departure from the country, the ARC must be surrendered. Separately, almost all foreign nationals are fingerprinted and photographed on each and every arrival in Japan; this information is held at a national level, and includes residents and non-residents alike.

Special Permanent Residents (特別永住者 Tokubetsu Eijuusha, SPRs), who are mainly former Imperial Japanese colonial subjects and their descendants, are also recorded on the alien registration system. This is somewhat controversial given that the majority were born in and have resided throughout their lives in Japan, speak only Japanese, and use Japanese names or aliases on a daily basis (Japan disallows dual nationality and has a jus sanguinis system of determining citizenship). SPRs must naturalise as Japanese citizens in order to be removed from the alien registration database, applying through the same process that allows non-citizens of other backgrounds to become Japanese.

Certain classes of foreign nationals are exempt from both alien registration and fingerprinting. These categories include foreign diplomatic staff and members of the United States Forces Japan; the latter travel on military identity cards.