On March 29, the Japanese Government added 3 new industries to the skilled foreign worker visa program, with visa terms of up to 4 years, including: road transport, railways, and forestry. and wood, to attract more foreign workers to solve the domestic labor shortage.
Tokyo's decision increases the number of industries eligible for the No. 1 specified skilled worker visa to 16 industries. This is the first time since this system was implemented in 2019, the Japanese Government has allowed to expand the number of occupations in the No. 1 specified skilled foreign worker visa.
In particular, according to the plan to supplement labor for the road transport sector, skilled foreigners will be accepted as bus, taxi and truck drivers at companies that have been approved by the Ministry of Land and Water Resources. Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism licensing. Workers must reach level N3 of the Japanese language proficiency test, the 3rd highest level of the 5 levels of the test. These are stricter conditions than those required to work in other fields.
In the rail sector, skilled workers can be found in roles related to railcar manufacturing and track maintenance, train drivers, conductors and station staff. The government also added activities related to textiles, iron and steel and printing in the manufacturing industry, an area already covered by the program.
Foreign workers with special visa number 1 must pass a test on professional qualifications and Japanese language to be able to work immediately. Specified visa No. 2 allows an unlimited stay, opens up permanent residence opportunities and allows workers to bring relatives to Japan.
According to the Japanese Immigration - Immigration Department, by the end of December 12, there were about 2023 foreigners with visa number 208.000 and 1 people with visa number 37 working in Japan.
OVUM
