The Immigration Bureau introduced new immigration procedures on November 20^th, 2007.

1. The purpose of this new procedures are to prevent terrorist attacks, all foreign nationals except special permanent residents and some specified others will be required to provide immigration inspectors with biometrics information, i.e., fingerprints and facial photographs, for the purpose of entry examination.
2. To make the immigration procedures smoother, "automated gates" will come into use. If re-entry permit holders and Japanese nationals so wish, they will be able to voluntarily register their biometrics information beforehand in order to pass through the automated gates.

Q

Why do I need to be fingerprinted and photographed at immigration control?

A

By collecting personally identifying data such as fingerprints and facial photos of visitors to Japan, we will be able to identify persons considered to pose security risks, such as terrorists and persons traveling with passports that are not their own. This will help us in our measures to prevent terrorist attacks.

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