Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University Stripped of Certification for Simplified Visa Procedures Due to Document Failure

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:41 JST, March 28, 2026

OITA — Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, was stripped of its status as a certified school eligible for simplified international student visa procedures after failing to submit papers required under the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law.

Half of the university’s students are from overseas. Now that it is no longer certified, the process of gaining residency status for those who require it has become more complicated. It is feared that about 100 out of roughly 330 international students set to enter the university cannot enter Japan in time for the new semester starting next month.

The Immigration Services Agency certifies universities and other educational institutions on the condition that they properly submit information such as the names and nationalities of international students. Institutions lose their status if they receive guidance twice in a row due to reporting shortfalls, among other failures.

According to the university, it received a guidance letter from the Fukuoka Regional Immigration Bureau in November 2024, stating that no papers had been submitted for the 2023 academic year.

However, the letter also included a document that said the university remained a certified school, and a university official in charge concluded that no action was required in response to the matter.

In October 2025, the university received a second guidance letter, along with a document notifying the university that it had been stripped of its certified school status.