Post by Linalin on Feb 1, 2005 20:54:55 GMT -5
The Justice Ministry has made an outline of its new basic immigration control plan and will solicit comments from the public before finalizing it around spring, ministry officials said Tuesday.
The outline includes a proposal on expanding the hiring of foreign workers in Japan in more fields to deal with the projected decline in population.
The outline of the basic immigration control plan, the nation's third, essentially follows the recommendations made by a ministry advisory panel in December.
The proposal on hiring more foreign workers focuses on areas currently not recognized as specialized or technical fields. It is expected there will be a need for more foreign workers in these areas to counter the negative economic impact of Japan's projected population decline, while taking the views of the public into account.
The document also recommends exploring the idea of expanding the time limit on visas issued to foreign specialists, which is currently set at a maximum of three years, and relaxing conditions for granting permanent residency status to such workers to encourage more talented people to come work in Japan.
Under the current immigration system, the justice minister has the discretion to grant foreign nationals who are illegally living in Japan special permits to stay in the country. But the outline calls for more transparency in these decisions due to criticism that the standards for granting such permits are unclear.
In a report submitted to the minister on Dec. 21, the advisory panel proposed examining the idea of accepting workers in such industries as agriculture and forestry, which are expected to suffer from a labor shortage.
The panel did not recommend accepting unskilled workers, but noted there may be more sectors that can accept foreign workers than the ones now recognized as specialist or technical fields.
The public can give its views on the outline to the ministry until March 1 via fax or other methods, the officials said.
The outline will be put on the Internet on Wednesday at the ministry's official Web site -- www.moj.go.jp -- and will also be available at the ministry.
This is a really good movement that could actually progress even more by the time I head over. I wonder what the areas currently not recognized as specialized or technical fields are. It sounds like more general jobs like cooks. As for extending the visas for specialists, that's going to work out great in my favor, because that seems to apply to teachers, government translators, engineers, and etc.
The outline includes a proposal on expanding the hiring of foreign workers in Japan in more fields to deal with the projected decline in population.
The outline of the basic immigration control plan, the nation's third, essentially follows the recommendations made by a ministry advisory panel in December.
The proposal on hiring more foreign workers focuses on areas currently not recognized as specialized or technical fields. It is expected there will be a need for more foreign workers in these areas to counter the negative economic impact of Japan's projected population decline, while taking the views of the public into account.
The document also recommends exploring the idea of expanding the time limit on visas issued to foreign specialists, which is currently set at a maximum of three years, and relaxing conditions for granting permanent residency status to such workers to encourage more talented people to come work in Japan.
Under the current immigration system, the justice minister has the discretion to grant foreign nationals who are illegally living in Japan special permits to stay in the country. But the outline calls for more transparency in these decisions due to criticism that the standards for granting such permits are unclear.
In a report submitted to the minister on Dec. 21, the advisory panel proposed examining the idea of accepting workers in such industries as agriculture and forestry, which are expected to suffer from a labor shortage.
The panel did not recommend accepting unskilled workers, but noted there may be more sectors that can accept foreign workers than the ones now recognized as specialist or technical fields.
The public can give its views on the outline to the ministry until March 1 via fax or other methods, the officials said.
The outline will be put on the Internet on Wednesday at the ministry's official Web site -- www.moj.go.jp -- and will also be available at the ministry.
This is a really good movement that could actually progress even more by the time I head over. I wonder what the areas currently not recognized as specialized or technical fields are. It sounds like more general jobs like cooks. As for extending the visas for specialists, that's going to work out great in my favor, because that seems to apply to teachers, government translators, engineers, and etc.
