Foreign tourists with unpaid medical bills in Japan to be denied entry

Japan Times

06-06-2025

The government on Friday revised its policy on foreign residents and visitors, which includes denying entry to foreign tourists who have failed to pay medical fees during visits to Japan and rejecting visa extensions for foreign nationals who fail to pay premiums for the national health care and pension system.
Details of when and how it will be implemented have yet to be hammered out.
The policy changes were made during a meeting of relevant ministers at the Prime Minister's Office. Alongside an increasing number of foreign visitors to Japan, there have been growing calls for reform from politicians to address unpaid medical fees and health care premiums — deficits filled by taxpayers' money.
During the meeting, Ishiba said the government plans to establish a liaison office at the Cabinet Secretariat to tackle the wide range of issues across different ministries.
'If our current systems are unable to address the realities of globalization and fail to dispel public anxiety, then drastic reforms must be undertaken,' Ishiba said.
'We will make sure to consider the rights of foreign nationals are ensured and provide necessary support so they won't be isolated in our country,' Ishiba said. 'But we will take strict measures for those who don't follow the rules.'
The government also plans to check whether social welfare premiums have been paid by host organizations employing foreign workers with the specified skilled worker residential status. If they have been found to have a certain amount of unpaid premiums, they will not be allowed to employ those workers, according to the revised policy.
On Thursday, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party committee submitted a proposal to Ishiba calling for a better dissemination of tax and social insurance information to foreign residents.
The plans for revisions were also included in a draft of the honebuto annual economic basic policy guidelines, which sets the tone for the national budget planning process for the coming fiscal year.
Foreign nationals who stay in Japan for more than three months are required to join the national health care program, known as kokumin kenkō hoken. Those who are hired as full-time employees at companies in Japan will have their and their family members' health insurance covered.
However, those who are not — such as exchange students — are sometimes unaware they need to join the national health care program. The current rules state that invoices are mailed out after enrollment, but many foreign residents fail to follow through with payments.
According to a health ministry survey of 150 municipalities from April to December 2024, only 63% of the foreign residents who need to pay the premium have done so — far below the 93% overall rate that includes Japanese citizens.
Information from Jiji added