No Free Movement, and Three Treaties That Move Nurses
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Liechtenstein on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
195 exceptions recorded across 74 countries · none match Liechtenstein to Japan · Residency under a regional treaty
Japan belongs to no free-movement area and no agreement gives any nationality a right to live there. Nothing in the twenty-nine statuses of residence turns on a treaty, with one exception that is not a residence right at all: the Minister of Justice's public notice on Designated Activities creates named categories for people notified to Japan under its economic partnership agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines and under an exchange of notes with Vietnam, and the activity is training towards a Japanese nursing or care-worker qualification. The route carries dependants. It reaches three nationalities, two professions, and nobody else.
At a glance
- Free movement area
- Japan is in none
No status in Appended Tables I or II of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act is granted on the basis of nationality or of membership of a bloc. Both tables were read in full.
- Treaty-based routes that exist
- Nurses and care workers from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam
Items 16 to 19, 20 onwards and 27 onwards of Public Notice No. 131 of 1990 on Designated Activities.
- What the Indonesian and Philippine routes rest on
- The economic partnership agreements
The Agreement between Japan and the Republic of Indonesia for an Economic Partnership, Annex 10; and the Agreement with the Republic of the Philippines, article 12, with its implementing arrangement and a note verbale.
- What the Vietnamese route rests on
- An exchange of notes completed on 18 April 2012
看護師及び介護福祉士の入国及び一時的な滞在に関する書簡 - an exchange of letters rather than a partnership agreement.
- What the route is for
- Qualifying as a Japanese nurse or certified care worker
The notice describes the activity as acquiring knowledge at a notified institution, or working under supervision as training, with the purpose of obtaining the Japanese licence.
- Dependants
- Spouse and children, as a separate item
Items 18 and 19 of the notice for Indonesia, and the equivalents for the other two: the family of someone designated under the working item gets its own designation.
- Periods of stay
- 3 years or 1 year
Appended Table II of the Regulation for Enforcement gives three years or one year for a person designated under these agreements, against up to five years designated individually for other Designated Activities.
In detail
No bloc, and no right anywhere
Japan is not in a customs union or a free-movement area and has no equivalent of the Nordic passport union, the Mercosur residence agreement or the Union's free movement. The two appended tables of its immigration Act, read in full, contain no status granted on the ground of nationality, membership or reciprocity. The nearest thing is a short-stay visa exemption, which is about a visitor's visa and not about residence.
What the economic partnership agreements actually buy
Three arrangements - with Indonesia in 2008, the Philippines a year later, and Vietnam by exchange of notes in 2012 - let a named number of nurses and care workers come to train towards a Japanese professional qualification. Each item in the notice is drafted the same way: the agreement produces a document naming the individual, the government notifies the receiving institutions, and the Minister then designates an activity for the person named. The treaty does not grant residence; it produces a list, and the domestic notice does the rest.
Three years or one, where everyone else gets up to five
The Regulation for Enforcement treats these categories separately in its table of periods of stay. A person designated under one of the three agreements gets three years or one year. Everyone else on Designated Activities gets whatever the Minister chooses up to five. The difference records that these are training postings with an examination at the end rather than open-ended permissions.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Liechtenstein
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«| 特定活動 | 法務大臣が個々の外国人について特に指定する活動 | 別表第二（ 第二条の二、 第七条、 第二十二条の三、 第二十二条の四、 第六十一条の二の二、 第六十一条の二の十一 関係） | | | | --- | --- | | 在留資格 | 本邦において有する身分又は地位 | | 永住者 | 法務大臣が永住を認める者 | | 日本人の配偶者等 | 日本人の配偶者若しくは特別養子又は日本人の子として出生した者 | | 永住者の配偶者等 | 永住者等の配偶者又は永住者等の子として本邦で出生しその後引き続き本邦に在留している者 | | 定住者 | 法務大臣が特別な理由を考慮し一定の在留期間»Our translation - not official
Designated Activities: activities specifically designated by the Minister of Justice for an individual foreign national.
Ours. The whole of the fifth table. Everything Japan does by treaty in its immigration system passes through this one line.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Japanese government's own consolidated statute book, run by the Digital Agency. It is the only place that publishes Japanese law as it currently stands: each law page states the date the displayed text came into force, the amending instrument that produced it, and a Law RevisionID of the form <lawid>_<yyyymmdd>_<amending-id> which identifies that exact version. A page also warns 未施行あり where amendments are enacted but not yet in force. The text is Japanese and there is no English anywhere on it; each page links out to the Ministry of Justice translation where one exists, which is how the two publishers are related. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty despite being a single-page application.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Japanese only. It publishes the consolidated law and not the amending acts, so an article number here is the article of the resulting law and the instrument that put it there has to be read from the header. It carries no commentary, no notification (告示) and no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Japanese immigration practice lives in 告示 made by the Minister of Justice which this site does not hold. It must not be cited for anything the Immigration Services Agency decides administratively, and it must not be cited for English: the English on the law pages is a link, not a text.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«十六 経 済 上 の 連 携 に 関 す る 日 本 国 と イ ンド ネ シ ア 共 和 国 と の 間 の 協 定 附 属 書 十 （ 以 下 「 イ ンド ネ シ ア 協定 附 属 書 」と い う 。 ）第 一 編 第 六 節 ８ （ ｂ ） の 規 定 に 基 づ く 書 面 （ 以下 「 イ ンド ネ シ ア 協 定 書 面 」と い う 。 ） に より通 報され た者が 、保健師 助産師 看護師 法（昭和二十三 年法律第 二 百三 号）第 七条第三 項に規定す る看護 師の免 許（以下「看護師免 許」と いう。）を 受けるこ とを 目的として»Our translation - not official
(16) A person notified by a document under the provision of Part 1, Section 6, 8(b) of Annex 10 to the Agreement between Japan and the Republic of Indonesia for an Economic Partnership ('the Indonesia Agreement Annex') (that document being 'the Indonesia Agreement document'), for the purpose of obtaining the nurse's licence provided for in article 7(3) of the Act on Public Health Nurses, Midwives and Nurses (Act No. 203 of 1948) ...
Ours, and the opening of the item. The treaty does not grant residence: it produces a notification, and the notification is what the Minister designates an activity for.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The agency inside the Ministry of Justice that administers the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act: it grants statuses of residence, issues certificates of eligibility, publishes the document lists for each application, and publishes the Minister of Justice's 告示 (public notices) which decide things the Act delegates - which Long-Term Resident positions exist, which activities fall under Designated Activities, and which permanent-residence guidelines apply.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its pages are the agency's description of how it applies the law, not the law. Where a page and an instrument differ, the instrument governs and the difference is the finding. It publishes guidelines (ガイドライン) for permanent residence which are not instruments at all and bind nobody, and they must not be cited as if they were.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«二十 経済上の連携に関する日本国と フィリピン共和国との間の協定第十二条に基づく日本国政府とフィリ ピ ン共 和国政府と の間の実 施 取極（ 以下「フィリピン実 施 取極」と いう。 ）第九条 に 基づく口上書（ 以下「フ ィリ ピ ン 協 定 口 上 書 」と いう 。 ）»Our translation - not official
(20) A person notified by a note verbale under article 9 of the Implementing Arrangement between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines pursuant to article 12 of the Agreement between Japan and the Republic of the Philippines for an Economic Partnership ('the Philippine note verbale') ...
Ours, and the opening of the item. Three instruments stacked - the agreement, an implementing arrangement under it, and a note verbale under that - before any individual is reached.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The agency inside the Ministry of Justice that administers the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act: it grants statuses of residence, issues certificates of eligibility, publishes the document lists for each application, and publishes the Minister of Justice's 告示 (public notices) which decide things the Act delegates - which Long-Term Resident positions exist, which activities fall under Designated Activities, and which permanent-residence guidelines apply.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its pages are the agency's description of how it applies the law, not the law. Where a page and an instrument differ, the instrument governs and the difference is the finding. It publishes guidelines (ガイドライン) for permanent residence which are not instruments at all and bind nobody, and they must not be cited as if they were.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«二十七 平成二十四年四月十八日にベトナム社会主義共和国 政府との間で 交換が 完了した看護師及び介護福祉 士の入国及び一時的な滞在に関する書簡のうち日本側書 簡 （ 以下 「 ベトナ ム 交 換 公 文 」と い う 。 ）５ の 規定 に 基 づ く 書 面 （ 以 下 「 ベ ト ナ ム 交 換 公 文 書 面 」 と い う 。 ）»Our translation - not official
(27) A person notified by a document under provision 5 of the Japanese-side letter among the letters on the entry and temporary stay of nurses and certified care workers exchanged with the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and completed on 18 April 2012 ('the Viet Nam exchange of notes') ...
Ours, and the opening of the item. Vietnam's arrangement is an exchange of letters and not an economic partnership agreement, and it is dated eighteen years after the Indonesian one.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The agency inside the Ministry of Justice that administers the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act: it grants statuses of residence, issues certificates of eligibility, publishes the document lists for each application, and publishes the Minister of Justice's 告示 (public notices) which decide things the Act delegates - which Long-Term Resident positions exist, which activities fall under Designated Activities, and which permanent-residence guidelines apply.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its pages are the agency's description of how it applies the law, not the law. Where a page and an instrument differ, the instrument governs and the difference is the finding. It publishes guidelines (ガイドライン) for permanent residence which are not instruments at all and bind nobody, and they must not be cited as if they were.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«に規定する介護等の業務に従事する活動を指定される者にあつては、三年又は一年 三 一及び二に掲げる者以外の者にあつては、五年を超えない範囲内で法務大臣が個々の外国人について指定する期間 | | 永住者 | 無期限 | | 日本人の配偶者等 | 五年、三年、一年又は六月 | | 永住者の配偶者等 | 五年、三年、一年又は六月 | | 定住者 | 一 法第七条第一項第二号 の告示で定める地位を認められる者にあつては、五年、三年、一年又は六月 二 一に掲げる地位以外の地位を認められる者にあつては、五年を超えない範囲内で法務大臣が個々の外国人について指定する期間 | 別表第三（ 第六条、 第六条の二、»Our translation - not official
... for a person designated to engage in the work of nursing care and the like provided for in that paragraph: three years or one year. (iii) For a person other than those listed in (i) and (ii): a period designated by the Minister of Justice for the individual foreign national within a range not exceeding five years.
Ours, and the close of the row. The treaty categories are the only Designated Activities with a fixed menu of periods; everything else is designated case by case.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Japanese government's own consolidated statute book, run by the Digital Agency. It is the only place that publishes Japanese law as it currently stands: each law page states the date the displayed text came into force, the amending instrument that produced it, and a Law RevisionID of the form <lawid>_<yyyymmdd>_<amending-id> which identifies that exact version. A page also warns 未施行あり where amendments are enacted but not yet in force. The text is Japanese and there is no English anywhere on it; each page links out to the Ministry of Justice translation where one exists, which is how the two publishers are related. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty despite being a single-page application.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Japanese only. It publishes the consolidated law and not the amending acts, so an article number here is the article of the resulting law and the instrument that put it there has to be read from the header. It carries no commentary, no notification (告示) and no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Japanese immigration practice lives in 告示 made by the Minister of Justice which this site does not hold. It must not be cited for anything the Immigration Services Agency decides administratively, and it must not be cited for English: the English on the law pages is a link, not a text.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The treaties themselves - the Japan-Indonesia and Japan-Philippines economic partnership agreements, the Philippine implementing arrangement and the Vietnamese exchange of notes - were not read. What is recorded here is how the Japanese public notice describes them.
The notice does not state any quota. Numbers are set between the governments and nothing read here carries one.
The absence of a free-movement route is bounded by Appended Tables I and II of the Act, read in full in the e-Gov text in force from 1 October 2026, and by the Designated Activities notice read as published by the Immigration Services Agency, amended to 8 April 2026.
The notice is a PDF of justified Japanese type and the extracted text carries spaces inside words. The quotations are taken from that extraction as it stands.
- administers特定活動告示 (Public Notice No. 131 of 1990 on Designated Activities)
出入国在留管理庁 (Immigration Services Agency of Japan)
About this source
The agency inside the Ministry of Justice that administers the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act: it grants statuses of residence, issues certificates of eligibility, publishes the document lists for each application, and publishes the Minister of Justice's 告示 (public notices) which decide things the Act delegates - which Long-Term Resident positions exist, which activities fall under Designated Activities, and which permanent-residence guidelines apply.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its pages are the agency's description of how it applies the law, not the law. Where a page and an instrument differ, the instrument governs and the difference is the finding. It publishes guidelines (ガイドライン) for permanent residence which are not instruments at all and bind nobody, and they must not be cited as if they were.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidates出入国管理及び難民認定法 - e-Gov 法令検索
e-Gov 法令検索 (e-Gov Law Search) · consolidated to 2026-10-01
About this source
The Japanese government's own consolidated statute book, run by the Digital Agency. It is the only place that publishes Japanese law as it currently stands: each law page states the date the displayed text came into force, the amending instrument that produced it, and a Law RevisionID of the form <lawid>_<yyyymmdd>_<amending-id> which identifies that exact version. A page also warns 未施行あり where amendments are enacted but not yet in force. The text is Japanese and there is no English anywhere on it; each page links out to the Ministry of Justice translation where one exists, which is how the two publishers are related. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty despite being a single-page application.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Japanese only. It publishes the consolidated law and not the amending acts, so an article number here is the article of the resulting law and the instrument that put it there has to be read from the header. It carries no commentary, no notification (告示) and no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Japanese immigration practice lives in 告示 made by the Minister of Justice which this site does not hold. It must not be cited for anything the Immigration Services Agency decides administratively, and it must not be cited for English: the English on the law pages is a link, not a text.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source