Japan's government, not Indonesia's: Japan will require a pre-entry TB chest X-ray for Indonesian nationals moving there long-term, from 2 November 2026

Labor & HRJPETS (Japan Pre-Entry Tuberculosis Screening)Issued: September 28, 2026

A change of direction from our usual coverage: this is a Japanese government requirement, not an Indonesian one, but it matters for any entity that sends Indonesian staff, trainees or dependents to Japan for more than three months. On 25 September 2026, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and Immigration Services Agency announced that Japan Pre-Entry Tuberculosis Screening (JPETS) — already running for the Philippines, Nepal and Vietnam — will start operating for Indonesia. Screening reception begins 2 November 2026, and submitting a "TB Clearance Certificate" becomes mandatory for Certificate of Eligibility (CoE) and direct visa applications from 4 January 2027. The certificate requires a medical exam, including a chest X-ray, at a Japan-designated screening institution in Indonesia, and is valid for 180 days (90 days in some cases) from the X-ray date. Without it, a CoE application is, in principle, denied rather than accepted and left pending. We are adding this as a standing watch item: Japanese-government measures that touch Indonesian nationals or Indonesia-based operations, flagged here as such, not folded into our usual Indonesian-regulation categories.

Key points

Source and status: announced 25 September 2026 by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) and Immigration Services Agency (ISA), part of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act framework. This is Japanese government policy — Indonesia's government is not the issuing authority, though its designated screening institutions will be located in Indonesia.
Dates: screening reception opens 2 November 2026 (planned); the TB Clearance Certificate becomes a mandatory attachment to Certificate of Eligibility (CoE) applications and to visa applications filed directly at a Japanese diplomatic mission without a CoE from 4 January 2027 (planned). JPETS already covers the Philippines and Nepal (from 24 March / 23 June 2025) and Vietnam (from 26 May / 1 September 2025); Myanmar and China have no date yet.
Who is covered: Indonesian nationals currently resident in Indonesia who intend to enter and reside in Japan as a "mid- to long-term resident" (broadly, any residence status other than short stays of 3 months or less, Temporary Visitor, or Diplomat/Official), plus Designated Activities No. 53 and 54 (Digital Nomad and accompanying spouse/child). This reaches standard categories used to post staff to Japan or hire Indonesian graduates there — Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services, Business Manager, Student, Dependent, Technical Intern Training — as well as ordinary intra-company transfers.
Who is exempt (as published): holders of a re-entry permit; Temporary Visitor and Diplomat/Official statuses; JET Programme participants; JICA trainees; Specified Skilled Worker applicants (temporarily exempted); Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship students with an embassy recommendation; nurses and care workers under bilateral economic partnership agreements; and a few narrower categories. Someone whose current residence is outside Indonesia at the time of application is also outside scope.
The certificate: a medical exam, including a chest X-ray, at a screening institution MHLW designates in Indonesia; as of 25 September MHLW had not yet published the list, saying it will add institutions as they become ready. The resulting "TB Clearance Certificate" is valid 180 days from the X-ray date, shortened to 90 days if the applicant had close contact with someone with active pulmonary TB in the two months before screening.
Consequence of non-submission: for a CoE application, the published guidance is that failure to submit a valid certificate results, in principle, in the CoE being denied (不交付) — the application does not simply stay pending. Once a valid certificate has supported a CoE, later visa and landing procedures do not require resubmission even if the certificate has since expired.
Watch item, not a one-off: we are treating Japanese-government measures affecting Indonesian nationals or Indonesia-based operations as a standing thing to check for, alongside our usual Indonesian-regulation sweep, and will publish future items in this vein clearly labelled as Japanese-government sourced.

What this means for your Indonesian entity

If your organisation sends Indonesian staff to Japan for more than three months — a secondment, an intra-company transfer, a technical intern trainee programme, a graduate hire, or a family member joining someone already posted there — build this into the timeline for any move planned from November 2026 onward. Three practical points. First, the chest X-ray must happen at a Japan-designated institution in Indonesia; since that list was not yet published as of 25 September, confirm with your immigration counsel or the receiving Japanese entity once it appears, and do not assume any clinic qualifies. Second, the 180-day certificate window is tight against typical CoE processing times — plan the screening close to when the CoE application will actually be filed, not months in advance, or the certificate may lapse before it is used (a fresh certificate is not needed for the visa/landing steps after a valid one supported the CoE, but it does need to still be valid at CoE filing). Third, from 4 January 2027 treat the certificate as a hard gate: the published consequence for skipping it is that the CoE application is denied, not merely delayed, so build it into your standard checklist for any Indonesia-to-Japan long-term move alongside the visa and CoE paperwork itself. This is a Japanese immigration requirement — check Japan's official JPETS site and your immigration counsel for the moving parts (designated institutions, procedural detail) rather than an Indonesian government source.

Sources

This page summarises publicly available information for orientation. It is not tax, legal, or accounting advice, and regulations change. Verify against the linked primary sources and contact us before acting on anything here.

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