My first Labor Pains column of the new fiscal year will look at the government’s recent […]
Under the new system, the government will classify professions into three categories -- academic research, work requiring highly specialized skills, and management and administration.
Documented foreigners will have their maximum period of stay extended to five years instead of the current three years. Re-entry to Japan will also be allowed without applying for a permit as long as the time away is less than a year.
So what rights do foreign residents have under the Constitution? Well, according to the Supreme Court, they are entitled to all the same rights as Japanese people, except for those which by their nature are only to be enjoyed by Japanese people.
"While Japan has entered an era of population decline, its total population has been flat because of an increase in foreign nationals," a ministry official said.
While more than 1,300 candidate nurses and caregivers have traveled to Japan from the two countries, only 19 have passed Japan's qualification examination for nurses, due largely to language difficulties.
Radiation leaks, contaminated crops and water, plutonium released into the air and ocean, have made expats in Japan question whether to stay or head back home, especially in the face of pressure from family and loved ones.
“Many foreigners returned to their countries after the disaster and have not returned to Japan as they are concerned about the nuclear crisis” at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, an official in the ministry’s Immigration Bureau said.
According to the Immigration Bureau, the Ministry of Justice and immigration lawyers, the new law will bring about a few major changes.