Refugee Status

Core Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for refugee status, you must meet all four of these requirements:

1. Be outside your country of nationality (or former habitual residence if stateless)

You must be physically outside the country where you hold citizenship or, if you are stateless, outside the country where you previously lived. You cannot apply for refugee status while still in your home country.

2. Have a well-founded fear of persecution

This requires both a subjective fear (you genuinely believe you are at risk) and an objective basis (a reasonable person in your circumstances would also fear persecution). The fear must be real and specific to your situation, not abstract or hypothetical. General instability or poverty in your country does not qualify.

3. The persecution must be based on one of five protected grounds

The persecution you fear must be because of:

• Race — including ethnicity, tribe, or clan
• Religion — including specific sects, atheism, irreligion, or conversion to or from a religion
• Nationality — including membership in an ethnic or linguistic group
• Membership of a particular social group — including gender-based persecution, sexual orientation, family relationships, or past activities (such as union membership or human rights work)
• Political opinion — including opinions you hold or that others attribute to you

4. Be unable or unwilling to seek protection from your own government

You must show either that your government cannot protect you (typically because the government itself is the persecutor) or that you have a well-founded reason not to seek protection (when non-state actors are the persecutors and the government will not or cannot stop them).

What Counts as Persecution

Persecution is defined as serious infringement of your life, body, freedom, or human rights. Examples include:

• Murder, torture, or unjustified imprisonment
• Threats to your life, security, or freedom
• Arbitrary or discriminatory prosecution or punishment
• Deprivation of your means of livelihood (being unable to work or earn income)
• Psychological violence or threats
• Forced religious conversion or devotion
• Confiscation of property
• Prohibition from employment
• Denial of educational opportunity

Discrimination alone does not constitute persecution unless it is particularly severe, continuous, and consistent.

Complementary Protection (New System)

If you do not meet the refugee definition but face serious harm that does not fall under the five protected grounds above, you may qualify for complementary protection. This system, launched in December 2023, covers situations such as:

• Gender-based violence not motivated by one of the five grounds
• Persecution for reasons outside the Convention's scope
• Other serious threats to your life or safety

Complementary protection provides the same legal status and rights as refugee status, except you do not receive a Refugee Travel Document.

Who Does Not Qualify

You are not eligible for refugee status if:

• You receive protection or assistance from UN agencies other than UNHCR (primarily Palestinian refugees under UNRWA)
• Your country of residence recognizes you as having the same rights and obligations as its nationals
• There are serious reasons to believe you committed crimes against peace, war crimes, or crimes against humanity
• You committed a serious non-political crime outside Japan before admission (in Japan, this includes crimes punishable by death, life imprisonment, or 3+ years imprisonment)
• You have committed acts contrary to UN purposes and principles

Important Eligibility Notes

• No nationality restrictions — Citizens of any country can apply.
• No geographic limits — Japan does not restrict applications to people fleeing persecution in specific regions.
• No time limit to apply — You can apply at any time after arriving in Japan, though long delays may be viewed as evidence that you do not genuinely fear persecution.
• Internal relocation — If you can safely move to another part of your home country to avoid persecution, you may not qualify.
• Burden of proof — You must prove your refugee status through documents and statements; the government does not gather evidence for you.

Recent Policy Changes Affecting Eligibility

June 2024 amendment: If you apply for refugee status three or more times, you can be deported unless you submit "materials constituting reasonable grounds" for recognition. This is a major change from the previous system, where deportation was suspended indefinitely during applications.

May 2025 "Zero Plan": The government has begun rapidly categorizing applications as "clearly not persecution" without transparent criteria. If your case is categorized this way, you will be processed quickly without a full interview. Ensure your application clearly articulates why you meet the refugee definition.