With the the amendment of the Immigration Control Act that took effect last April of 2019, more and more foreign nationals have expressed their interest in working and residing in the Land of the Rising Sun. This is one of the measures undertaken by the Japanese government in order to address the chronic labor shortage in the country as a result of its aging population and low birth rate.
According to the Immigration Agency of Japan, as of the end of December 2019, the recorded number of foreign residents who were able to successfully obtain the new skilled worker visa totaled to more than one thousand six hundred. Although it fall shorts of the initial target of the government, the figure has still significantly increased as compared to the survey prior to the revision of the immigration policies.
In fact, the records show that the number of foreign workers has increased by more than seven times by the end of September 2019. It is noted that Vietnamese nationals make up for nine hundred ten of the visa holders, the Indonesians comprise one hundred eighty nine of them while Filipino citizens account for one hundred eleven of the total foreign workers in Japan. This report is based on the figures released by the Immigration Services Agency which is publicly updated every three months.
This prompted an official from the Japanese immigration agency to make a statement that is committed to further bolstering the recruitment of foreign nationals in the country. He said that “We would like to step up efforts so the system is more broadly known.”
The enactment of the new immigration policy last April 1, 2019 is only the first step of attracting more blue collar skilled workers in Japan in order to help solve the workforce setback in the country. The government is dedicated to further encourage and entice more foreign workers from different countries abroad.
Reference: Holders of new Japan working visas surge past 1,600, but still way off target
