TOKYO (YOMIURI SHIMBUN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The government plans to allow foreign workers to obtain an envisaged new residence status for relatively simple labour that will enable them to stay and work in Japan intermittently through multiple short-term entries, according to sources. Such workers will be permitted to work in Japan for up to five years in total.
The new residence status is among those the government aims to introduce to attract more workers from overseas.
The government aims to make the system more flexible so that foreign workers who have acquired job skills can return to Japan and work in their previous workplaces, even though they have left the country temporarily, making it beneficial for fields such as agriculture and fisheries, where the level of business activity changes according to the season.
After a bill is passed to revise the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law, which will be submitted to the current extraordinary Diet session, the government plans to add the new stipulation through an ordinance of the Justice Ministry.
The government envisions a style of working by foreign nationals in which, for example, they work in agricultural jobs for half a year from spring, return to their home countries, then come to Japan as workers again the following spring.
The bill to revise the law stipulates that those who have obtained the status as a category 1 worker, with specific skills in relatively simple labour, will be allowed to stay in Japan for up to five years.
Also, if they intermittently work for a short duration, the foreign workers' allowed period of time in Japan will be limited to "five years in total". The companies and other entities that accept such workers will be left to decide how long they stay in the country.
The government aims to introduce the new system on April 1 next year.
Because the government envisions that foreign workers with the category 1 specific skills status will engage in relatively simple labour, their family members will not be allowed to accompany them.
Those who obtain the category 2 specific skills status, for higher-skilled labour, can have family members accompany them, and will effectively be allowed to reside permanently in Japan.
The government plan to make the system more flexible is certain to increase the entry and departure of working foreigners, creating a heavier workload in immigration control procedures and screening.
The number of foreigners working in Japan stood at 1.28 million as of the end of October last year, about double the figure in 2012.
The front lines of immigration control chronically suffer from insufficient personnel, but the new plan will require even more immigration officials. Companies hiring foreign workers will face a heavier burden of administrative tasks, such as dealing with public unemployment insurance.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party aims to approve the revision bill at a meeting of its Judicial Affairs Division this week, and the government seeks to get Cabinet approval on Thursday (Nov 1).
