Japan eases its visa requirements for Filipino visitors with business purposes starting August 1, and eyes to hire 500,000 foreign workers to offset labor shortage.
The Foreign Ministry will extend multiple-entry visa validity to ten years. The current validity period is only five years, reported The Mainichi.
Aside from this, the government of Japan also loosened its restrictions for the applicants eligible for the visa.
Whereas the previous qualified as intellectual figures are university professors, Japan is allowing medical doctors, lawyers, and certified public accountants to apply for the visa.
The move was aimed to increase exchange of people between the Philippines and Japan.
Japan to hire 500,000 foreign workers to offset labor shortage
More than 500,000 foreign workers will be hired in Japan through fiscal 2025 to offset the labor shortage in industries such as agriculture and construction, the Japanese government announced on May 30.
The move will be included in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s new economic policy outline which will be released in mid-June, reported Kyodo News.
Under this new policy, foreign workers in five industries — agriculture, construction, lodging, nursing and shipbuilding — will be allowed to stay in Japan for five years.
To avail of five-year-visa, however, they they will be required to pass a test demonstrating proficiency in the relevant field and the Japanese language.
Those who go through the country’s foreign trainee program will be exempt from the test and can stay for a total of 10 years.
Japan is suffering from a severe labor shortage, with businesses reporting the worst conditions since the early 1990s in a Bank of Japan survey conducted in March.
Opportunities for Filipinos in Japan
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) deputy administrator Jocelyn Sanchez said Japan could serve as an alternative destination for domestic helpers.
“Ito ‘yung alternative market natin na, what I’m saying, ‘yung mga domestic helpers natin na gustong-gusto doon sa Middle East, of course mas gusto nila dito,” she said.
Ritsuko Ito, Senior Manager of Nichii Gakkan Co. Ltd., said Filipinos are most favored by employers because of their “exceptional motivation to work.”
Recruitment firm Magsaysay Global said professional domestic helpers in Japan will only be required to work 8 hours a day. They will also be entitled to overtime pay.
Hired professional domestic helpers will earn Php40,000 to Php55,000 and will not be required to stay with their employers.
