Japan Govt Adopts Bill for New Resident Status

Tokyo, Nov. 2 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government, at a cabinet meeting on Friday, adopted a bill to establish new resident status in order to accept more foreigners as labor force, including unskilled work, amid deepening labor shortages at home. The bill to amend the immigration control law was submitted to the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament, later in the day. The revision, if enacted, would mark a major turning point in Japan's policy on foreign labor, as the country currently does not accept foreigners to do simple work in principle. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its Komeito ally hope to launch debates on the bill, one of the most important items for them during the ongoing extraordinary Diet session, at a plenary meeting of the Lower House on Thursday. The government is set to do its utmost to get the bill through the Diet during the session, aiming to introduce the new residential status in April 2019. Enacting the bill is an "urgent task as labor shortages, including at small businesses, are increasingly serious against the backdrop of the country's graying and shrinking population," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference on Friday. Opposition parties are demanding a thorough debate on the legislation, claiming that the new resident status will represent a de facto policy to accept immigrants. While basically shutting out blue-collar foreign workers at present, Japan, in reality, relies on job trainees and students from abroad, including other Asian countries, to meet labor demand. At a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on Thursday, Akira Nagatsuma, acting leader of the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, argued that the government-sponsored bill will "undoubtedly lead to the largest expansion" of accepting foreign workers since the end of World War II. "A mistake in designing the system could derail the nation's long-term strategy," he stressed. In response, Abe insisted, "We don't pursue a policy that could continue to increase the number of permanent foreign residents." The planned new resident status will come in two types. Type One status will be granted to industry-ready foreign nationals, allowing them to stay in Japan for up to five years in total. To obtain this type, applicants will be required to demonstrate in tests job skills based on "considerable" knowledge or experience, as well as certain Japanese language skills, or complete three years of on-the-job training. Applicants for Type Two status will have to pass tougher examinations to prove that they possess higher skills. Type Two holders will be entitled to extend their stays in Japan without limit and bring their family members to Japan to live with them, a privilege that will not be given to Type One holders in principle. The government is considering designating 14 industry sectors where Type One holders can work, including nursing care, agriculture, fishery, eating-out and accommodations. The scope of industries for Type Two status is expected to be limited to only a few, such as construction and automobile maintenance. Both Type One and Type Two will allow holders to change jobs within the ranges of professions to be designated respectively. With details, such as how many foreigners will be accepted in each industry and what specific professions will be designated, remaining unclear, opposition lawmakers are criticizing the bill as being "half-cooked." In a bid to address concerns about an increase in illegal stays, the bill calls for creating a new agency in charge of issues related to foreign residents in Japan, by upgrading the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau. As requested by the ruling bloc, the bill also stipulates that the new residential status will be reviewed three years after the effectuation of the revised law. END