Will Japan cancel all visas?

The epidemic situation in Japan has been severe recently. As the host country of this Olympic Games, Japan has been preparing for the Tokyo Olympics for many years. To further control the spread of the epidemic, a series of measures have been taken, including strict restrictions on visas for some countries and regions.

What kind of visa will Japan cancel?

Postmen of the Japan Post Company began to put 7 masks distributed free by the government into mailboxes door-to-door to deliver warmth to the people. Because the number of people infected with COVID-19 in Hokkaido has increased to 83.

With the participation of non-governmental organizations and the application of medical insurance, the speed of nucleic acid testing has begun to accelerate. Infected people were found across the country, and the number of infections began to grow exponentially. Yesterday (March 5), Japan had 31 new confirmed cases.

The Japanese government has made the following decisions:

First, according to Japan’s Quarantine Law, all people entering from China and South Korea (including Japanese) must go to the Director of Quarantine (Government) They will be subject to quarantine observation for 14 days at the designated location.

Secondly, immigrants from China and South Korea are asked not to use public transportation.

Third, visas issued to China and South Korea were declared invalid.

Fourth, cancel the visa-free treatment for Hong Kong and Macao residents.

Fifth, passenger planes from China and South Korea can only take off and land at Tokyo Narita International Airport and Osaka Kansai International Airport.

Sixth, stop sea passenger routes and cruise ships between Japan, China, and Japan and South Korea.

This regulation will start from next Monday (9th) and is temporarily set to the end of March.

Will it be extended by then? We need to make decisions based on the epidemic in Japan.

After reading the above six regulations, the focus of Japanese society and Japanese media is the first one.

On the one hand, it is because the government needs to spend a lot of manpower and financial resources to rent hotels or use government facilities to isolate overseas tourists. On the other hand, even Japanese returning from China and South Korea were unceremoniously detained for 14 days.

We Chinese are accustomed to living in isolation. What we are concerned about is not the issue of isolation, but the visa in our hands. Is it still valid now?

Early this morning, I called the Japanese Immigration Administration to inquire, and the reply I got was:

First, if you hold a one-time tourist or business visa, it is invalid.

Second, holders of multiple-entry visas cannot enter the country during the restriction period, but the visa itself will continue to be valid.

Third, Chinese nationals residing in Japan and holding foreigner residence permits are allowed to enter in principle, but must go to government-designated facilities for 14 days of quarantine observation and comply with other epidemic prevention requirements of the Japanese government. .

The negative impact of these tough measures taken by the Japanese government is huge.

First of all, China and South Korea are actually prohibited from entering the country, and personnel exchanges between the two countries have been stopped.

Second, the economic exchanges between the two countries have also come to a semi-stagnant state. Because there are no passengers, most flights are grounded, aircraft types are smaller, and cargo transportation will be hindered, not just cars and electronic parts. I estimate that if I need to send some masks to Japan, I may not receive them in half a month.

Why did the Japanese government choose this time window to suddenly announce restrictions on the entry of Chinese people, instead of a month ago?

The reason is simple, because the postponement of the Japanese leader’s visit to China was officially announced yesterday.

There are two small reasons. First, March is a critical period for Japan to fight the epidemic. It passed without incident. If we can't bear it, the Tokyo Olympics will be ruined. February and March are the cherry blossom blooming seasons, and more than 60% of Japanese tourists are individual tourists. Group tourists can be controlled, but Japanese holding multiple-entry visas cannot be controlled. They can only be completely banned.