Effective from October 11, 2022, Japan will resume no-visa entry for short-term stays. Quarantine restrictions and mandatory COVID-19 testing at the border, along with other restrictions, will be lifted.
From the October 11, 2022 JST effective date, the visa exemption measures will resume and a foreign national from any of the 68 visa-exempt countries will not need to obtain a visa to enter Japan for a short-term stay for business or sightseeing purposes.
From the effective date, Entrants, Returnees Follow-up System (ERFS) Certificates will not be required for all entries in Japan.
From the effective date, the mandatory COVID-19 testing and quarantine requirements will not be imposed upon entrants at the border if the entrants have no infectious symptoms. There will be no ban for entrants on the use of public transportation after arrival. This will not apply to entrants who are from non-Omicron-variant-dominant countries or regions, as designated by the Japanese government. However, there are no countries or regions so designated as of this writing.
Either a valid vaccine certificate or a negative result tested within 72 hours from the entrant’s departure will be required at the border. The basic requirements of a vaccine certificate are three shots of vaccines in the WHO emergency use listing; the vaccine certificate is further subject to specific requirements issued by the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
From the effective date, Japan will finally lift its policy to only accept foreign tourists who are participating in a packaged tour. Foreign tourists who arrange a trip to Japan by themselves may enter Japan effective October 11, 2022. A valid vaccine certificate or a negative test result will be required at entry, as mentioned above.
The government of Japan will lift the upper limit of daily entrants of 50,000 and Japan will finally become the same level as other G7 countries.
This LawFlash describes the changes that take effect on October 11, 2022, based on information issued on the Japan government’s website on September 30, 2022.
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