The requirements for highly skilled foreigners to get permanent residency status?is likely to be relaxed by the government of Japan. The latest move will be taken in order to enhance the international competitiveness of the country.
The government of Japan is planning to submit a bill in order to make changes to the immigration control law to the ordinary Diet session which gathered on Friday, January 17, 2014. With the revised policies, highly skilled researchers and professionals, as well as corporate managers will be able to obtain permanent resident visas after three years of residency in the country, instead of the current five years.
According to the current policy, foreign residents need more than 10 years of residency in Japan in order to obtain permanent residency, while highly-skilled foreigners require just five years for the status. The country’s government is planning to reduce the period to three years from five years. These changes will be made for researchers studying advanced information technologies and cutting-edge medical technologies, in addition to people involved in the development of new material and top managers of international companies.
The Justice Ministry mentioned that as of the end of 2012, around 2.03 million foreign nationals were studying in Japan, out of which 620,000 were permanent residents. The move has been made by the government to make its presence more prominent in the global scenario.
Photo Credits: Want China Times
