New guidelines for special residency permits
The Asahi reports on new Justice Ministry guidelines for granting special residency to illegal immigrants:
Under the new guidelines for the special permits, one of the biggest positive factors is if the foreign resident is living with biological children who have been in Japan for 10 or more years and are currently attending elementary, junior high or senior high school.
People with children in junior high school or higher levels of education have often been granted special residence permits. The scope will effectively widen under the new guidelines.
Another main positive factor is if the applicant is suffering from a serious illness, or has kin suffering from illness, that requires treatment in Japan.
Other factors that would work in favor of the foreign resident are residency in Japan for 20 years or longer and if the resident surrenders to authorities.
The main negative factor for an applicant would be a conviction and punishment for a serious crime, including gun or drug smuggling.
Membership to a criminal organization or illegal entry into the country would also be disadvantageous.
The new rules are quite clearly influenced by the case of Noriko Calderon, which focused a lot of negative attention on the government’s lack of clear policies about illegal immigrants who have children in Japan.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
- Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)
