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New special residency permit guidelines established
New guidelines for special residency permits issued by the Minister of Justice to foreigners who have received deportation orders for illegal overstays have been established, the Ministry of Justice announced Friday. Listed as having grounds for positive consideration include: those who are raising biological children in elementary, junior, or senior high school and who have…
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Diet approves revised law on immigration
In a major policy shift, the Upper House on Wednesday passed an immigration revision bill that will tighten controls on illegal foreigners while [supposedly] easing restrictions on those living here legally. The main feature of the revisions to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law is the introduction of an IC card that will replace…
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Diet OKs bills to up foreigner controls
The Diet passed bills Wednesday that tighten controls on foreign residents, paving the way for them to take effect within three years, despite opposition from foreigners and human rights activists. The planned enforcement follows an agreement on the bills reached last month between the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling coalition and the Democratic Party of…
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30,000 people in Japan unaware they are qualified to receive pensions: survey
An estimated 30,000 people in Japan without pensions are unaware that they are qualified to receive them, a survey by the Social Insurance Agency has indicated. In many cases pension premium payment records exist while the beneficiaries remain unknown, and there have also been cases in which social insurance offices have told people they are…
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Activist sees holes in bills to snare illegals
CONTROLS ON FOREIGNERS Activist Akira Hatate opposes the bills to tighten control of foreign residents, arguing they will not serve the government’s goal of clarifying who is in the country illegally because transgressors will see little benefit in turning themselves in. “What (the bills will) achieve is to tighten control of law-abiding foreigners, who have…
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Tent village residents still out of work
A tent village [known as Haken Mura] for laid-off temporary workers set up in Tokyo’s Hibiya Park over the New Year’s holidays was officially declared closed Sunday at a symposium to discuss unemployment issues, but many of those who stayed in the village remain jobless. The group that organized the village, consisting of labor unions…
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Drawing a bead on illegal residents
New law would tighten up oversight of foreigners Human rights groups complain that because the justice minister can access foreign residents’ personal information with residence (“zairyu”) card numbers, which are to be given to every documented foreigner, it is an infringement of privacy. [Immigration Bureau General Affairs Division official Kazuyuki] Motohari defended the bureau by…
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Group organizing tent village for unemployed to be disbanded
The group that set up a tent village for laid-off temporary workers in Tokyo’s Hibiya Park over the New Year holidays will disband at the end of this month, the chief of the group said Wednesday. Makoto Yuasa said his group has decided to end its activities after helping to change peoples’ perceptions of the…
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Japan To Introduce ‘Point System’ To Attract Foreigners
The Japanese government plans to introduce a ”point system” to give preferential treatment such as residency permit extensions to foreigners with advanced expertise, Kyodo news reported quoting government sources as saying on Sunday. The government plans to evaluate foreigners by awarding points for their qualifications, working careers, research achievements and other qualities and to give…
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34 foreign trainees in Japan died in FY 2008 of suspected overwork
Thirty-four foreign trainees died in Japan in fiscal 2008 through March this year, up 13 from the previous year to hit a record high, a survey by a government-linked body promoting a training program showed Monday. The leading causes of their deaths were brain and heart diseases, which claimed the lives of 16, while five…