Hello. This is Kondo from the Shinjuku head office.
A new status of residence is scheduled to be created in April 2019.
Currently, in Japan, the labor shortage is becoming more serious, especially among small and medium-sized businesses. Therefore, in order to expand the acceptance of foreign human resources, the creation of a new status of residence is being considered. This will enable you to work in fields where you were previously not allowed to obtain a work visa. The targeted occupations are agriculture, nursing care, construction, shipbuilding, and lodging (tourism), as well as some manufacturing industries such as metal stamping and casting, and non-manufacturing food service industries.
Therefore, I will provide a brief overview of the "Specified Skilled Worker" status of residence.
Overview of the residence status of “Specified Skilled Worker” (excerpt from the Basic Policy for Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform 2018)
● Even after efforts are made to improve productivity and secure domestic human resources (promoting the employment of women and the elderly and improving their treatment), acceptance of foreign human resources will still be necessary in industries that are deemed to need to be accepted. ●Determine acceptance policies for each industry, and determine the level of Japanese language proficiency required for work for each industry. ●The skill level required of foreign human resources is the knowledge and skills necessary to work appropriately in the accepting industry, and is confirmed through tests established by each ministry and agency. ●However, those who have completed technical training (3 years) will be deemed to have met the necessary standards. ●Securing remuneration equal to or higher than that of Japanese employees. ●The maximum period of stay will be 5 years in total. ●Basically, family members are not allowed to come with the family, but those who are recognized to have a higher level of expertise during their stay (such as by passing a certain exam) will be allowed to transfer to their current status of residence, and their period of stay will be extended. There will be no upper limit and it will be possible to do things like allow family members to come with them.
Additionally, in order to increase the acceptance of foreign workers, it has been announced that the Immigration Bureau will be reorganized and upgraded to establish the Immigration Bureau (tentative name). The Immigration Services Agency is expected to proceed with the establishment of a system to fully accept foreign workers.
A concrete decision will be made soon. Let's pay attention to future trends!
