Japan considers expanding the scope of ‘Specified Skilled Worker No. 2’ to provide a path to permanent residency for foreign workers

The Japanese government plans to expand the “Specified Skilled Worker No.2” visa category to 11 fields to address labor shortages.

The “Specified Skilled Worker No.2” visa status, which is given to skilled foreign workers and started four years ago, allows for unlimited renewal of the period of stay and allows for accompanying family members such as spouses.

This visa allows foreign workers to reside in Japan with their families and has no limits on stay extensions.

Currently, the “Specified Skilled Worker No.2” visa is only available for the construction and shipbuilding industries.

According to the Government’s proposal, the other new industries to be covered by “Specified Skilled Worker No.2” visa are ‘building cleaning’, ‘manufacturing of materials, industrial machinery, electrical and electronic information’, ‘automobile maintenance’, ‘aviation’, ‘accommodation’ and ‘fishing’.

All of these are currently covered under “Specified Skilled Worker No.1” visa. The aim is to combine the visa fields of No. 1 and No. 2, with the exception of ‘nursing care’, which already has a separate status of residence allowing long-term work.

If the ruling party gives its approval, the government will start examinations in the nine additional fields this autumn. Successful applicants are expected to be allowed to change their status of residence to No.2 from May next year.

The expansion is expected to become a turning point in opening the way for foreign workers to obtain permanent residency, although conservative members of the ruling party have expressed concerns about the potential for immigration.

However, there are challenges to accepting foreign workers in Japan. Some conservatives express concern that it may lead to permanent residency for foreign workers. Discrimination and unfair treatment of foreign workers are also issues, and there are challenges remaining in terms of human rights.

Going forward, Japan must work to promote human rights protection and social inclusion along with the progress of policies to accept foreign workers.

What is “Specified Skilled Worker” visa ?

A residence status for foreigners introduced in April 2019, with two types: ‘No. 1’ (12 fields), which requires a certain level of skills, and ‘No. 2’ (currently 2 fields), which requires skilled skills. The government initially expected to accept a maximum of over 340,000 people over a five-year period, but this figure has fallen short of expectations, partly due to the impact of strengthened waterfront measures following the spread of the new coronavirus The number of residents (preliminary figures) as of the end of February was 146,002 for No. 1 and 10 for No. 2.