Yomiuri on new “Zairyuu Cards” to replace “Gaijin Cards”
Posted by debito on February 18th, 2009
Hi Blog. The new policing system for NJ is slowly materializing. In what looks to be a pivy leak to the Yomiuri (scooping almost all the other newspapers according to a Google News search; distracted by a drunk Nakagawa and Hillary’s visit?), yesterday’s news had the GOJ proposal for new improved “Gaijin Cards”.
Yomiuri says it’s to “sniff out illegals” and to somehow increase the “convenience” for foreigners (according to the Yomiuri podcast the same day). It’s still to centralize all registration and policing powers within the Justice Ministry, and anyone not a Special Permanent Resident (the Zainichis, which is fine, but Regular Permanent Residents who have no visa issues with workplace etc.) must report minute updates whenever there’s a lifestyle change, on pain of criminal prosecution. Doesn’t sound all that “convenient” to me. I’m also not sure how this will be more effective than the present system in “sniffing out illegals” unless it’s an IC Card able to track people remotely. But that’s not discussed in the article.
I last reported on this on Debito.org nearly a year ago, where I noted among other things that the very rhetoric of the card is “stay” (zairyuu), rather than “residency” (zaijuu). For all the alleged improvements, the gaijin are still only temporary.
One bit of good news included as a bonus in the article is that NJ Trainees are going to be included for protection in the Labor Laws. Good. Finally. Read on. Arudou Debito in Sapporo
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Govt to issue new ID cards to sniff out illegals
The government intends to strengthen its efforts to prevent foreigners from staying here illegally by unifying administrative systems for foreign residents in the nation, according to a draft bill to revise the immigration law obtained by The Yomiuri Shimbun on Monday.
The draft legislation to revise the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law states that the justice minister will issue new residence cards to aliens staying in Japan for mid- to long-term periods of time.
The current alien registration certificates issued by municipal governments will be abolished, and foreigners will instead use the new cards as identification.
The draft bill also includes provisions to imprison or deport people who forge the envisaged cards.
The government plans to submit the bill during the current Diet session, according to sources.
The new residence cards will carry the foreigner’s name, date of birth, gender, nationality, address, status of residence and period of stay. The cards will be issued to aliens staying in Japan legally.
The cards will enable authorities to detect illegal stayers by checking whether they possess the cards.
The draft bill will require foreign residents to report to the Immigration Bureau any changes such as to their place of employment, school or address. Under the current law, foreign residents are required to report such changes only to municipal governments. However, this system has bogged down attempts by the Immigration Bureau to keep a comprehensive track of foreign residents.
The revised law also will allow the bureau to investigate, on a voluntary basis, institutions and other bodies that are responsible for helping foreigners enter the country.
So-called special permanent residents–Koreans living in Japan–will not be required to acquire the envisaged residence cards. Instead, new identification certificates will be issued to them.
To reduce the time and paperwork involved in renewal procedures, the draft bill calls for extending the period of stay to five years for aliens who are currently allowed to stay in Japan for up to three years.
The draft legislation also includes a provision to create a new status of residence for aliens coming to Japan on the government’s foreign trainee system. It stipulates that the Minimum Wages Law and other labor-related laws will be applied to such foreign trainees.
The foreign trainee system is aimed at transferring Japan’s technical expertise to other countries. Under the system, foreign trainees participate in workshops and training programs at companies for up to three years.
However, the system has been criticized because some companies take advantage of these trainees by making them work excessively long hours for low pay. For the first year of their stay, the foreign trainees are not officially recognized as laborers, and therefore they fall outside the reach of labor-related laws.
Meanwhile, the status of residence for international students will no longer be divided into “college students,” who attend a college or advanced vocational school, and “pre-college students,” who attend a high school or Japanese language school. Under the envisaged new system, the two categories will be integrated to allow foreign students to skip procedures to change their status of residence when they go on to higher education.
外国人に「在留カード」…偽造行為に罰則、国が一元管理へ
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/news/20090216-OYT1T01221.htm
政府が今国会に提出する出入国管理・難民認定法改正案の概要が１６日、明らかになった。
中長期に日本に滞在する外国人に対し、身分証となる「在留カード」を法相が発行し、在留管理を国に一元化する。これに伴い、市区町村が発行している外国人登録証明書は廃止する。カードの偽造行為には懲役刑や強制退去処分の罰則規定を設ける。
カードには氏名や生年月日、性別、国籍、住所、在留資格、在留期間を記載。勤務先や住所などに変更があった場合は、入国管理局に届け出ることを義務づける。
「特別永住者」と呼ばれる在日韓国・朝鮮人は在留カードの対象から外し、新たな身分証明書を発行する。原則３年が上限の外国人の在留期間を５年に延長することも盛り込んだ。
（2009年2月17日03時22分 読売新聞）
February 18th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Mainichi finally gets around to reporting today:
在留管理制度：特別永住者、身分証携帯を義務付け 改正入管法案、法務省が提示
毎日新聞 2009年2月18日 東京朝刊
http://mainichi.jp/select/seiji/news/20090218ddm002010109000c.html
外国人登録制度に代わる「在留カード」による新たな在留管理制度について、法務省は１７日、改正入管法など関連法案の概要を自民党法務部会に提示した。焦点だった在日韓国・朝鮮人ら特別永住者には、外国人登録証に代わり「特別永住者証明書」を交付して携帯を義務付ける。一方、再入国手続きは最大限緩和する。
新たな在留管理制度は、中長期の外国人滞在者に入管が発行する在留カードを交付して外国人情報を一元化。外国人登録制度を廃止し、日本の住民基本台帳と同様に市区町村が外国人台帳を作成する。同時に在留期間の上限を現在の３年から５年に引き上げ、再入国許可も緩和する。
約４３万人いる特別永住者は在留カード携帯の対象外だが、新たな身分証明書として特別永住者証明書を交付。再入国手続きは、２年以内は許可を不要とし、長期出国の許可の有効期間も４年から６年に延ばし負担軽減を図る。
February 18th, 2009 at 10:09 am
>Yomiuri says it’s to “sniff out illegals” and to somehow increase the “convenience” for foreigners (according to the Yomiuri podcast the same day).
Oh, how nice of them for thinking of us. I read in the J papers that we will now have to report changes regarding our address or job to the Immigration Bureau, instead of the local town office. Great, that means a 2 hour trek for me, instead of 10 mins, just to scribble an address change.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:26 am
I have my doubts about remote tracking and its effectiveness - the technology is still in the embryonic phase. However, if worse comes to worst, there are ways to destroy or block embedded RFID chips (the most common tracking chip used these days) without destroying your card.
http://boingboing.net/2008/04/25/howto-killblock-an-r.html
-The easiest way to kill an RFID, and be sure that it is dead, is to throw it in the microwave for 5 seconds. Doing this will literally melt the chip and antenna making it impossible for the chip to ever be read again. Unfortunately this method has a certain fire risk associated with it. Killing an RFID chip this way will also leave visible evidence that it has been tampered with, making it an unsuitable method for killing the RFID tag in passports. Doing this to a credit card will probably also screw with the magnetic strip on the back making it un-swipeable.
-The second, slightly more convert and less damaging, way to kill an RFID tag is by piercing the chip with a knife or other sharp object. This can only be done if you know exactly where the chip is located within the tag. This method also leaves visible evidence of intentional damage done to the chip, so it is unsuitable for passports.
-The third method is cutting the antenna very close to the chip. By doing this the chip will have no way of receiving electricity, or transmitting its signal back to the reader. This technique also leaves minimal signs of damage, so it would probably not be a good idea to use this on a passport.
-The last (and most covert) method for destroying a RFID tag is to hit it with a hammer. Just pick up any ordinary hammer and give the chip a few swift hard whacks. This will destroy the chip, and leave no evidence that the tag has been tampered with. This method is suitable for destroying the tags in passports, because there will be no proof that you intentionally destroyed the chip.
February 18th, 2009 at 11:23 am
> The draft bill will require foreign residents to report to the Immigration Bureau any changes such as to their place of employment, school or address.
This is my largest concern. Immigrations is only open on weekdays during normal work hours exactly coinciding with when I need to work. Every time it causes many headaches with my company when I need to take time off just to go there. That and the place is so crowded that I typically spend half a day if not more just waiting in line.
Two immediate ideas to ease this situation:
-weekend hours
-online submission
At least when it was at the local kuyakusho I could get there early in the morning right before heading to work. And there were even occasionally special weekend hours.
February 18th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Let’s not pooh-pooh the LDP quite yet. Surprisingly, the Diet is on the verge of ending legalised abuse of foreign workers: “The draft legislation also includes a provision to create a new status of residence for aliens coming to Japan on the government’s foreign trainee system. It stipulates that the Minimum Wages Law and other labor-related laws will be applied to such foreign trainees.”
And, according to Lower House member Taro Kono, the new regulations on reporting status changes is the icing on the cake! “A municipality where a foreigner moves to cannot provide public services unless it is advised of the new address. The new system will benefit foreigners, too,” Kono told The Japan Times over the phone Tuesday.[1].
See? It’s all love from Japan to you.
[1] http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090218a5.html
===========================
Justice Ministry looking to take over foreigner ID cards
The Japan Times: Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009
By MINORU MATSUTANI
Staff writer
The Justice Ministry has drafted a bill to abolish the current system for Alien Registration Cards handled at the local level and instead directly manage data on registered foreign residents using a new ID, members of a Liberal Democratic Party panel said Tuesday.
A copy of the bill has been obtained by The Japan Times.
The government is expected to submit it to the Diet during the current session, which runs until June unless the prime minister dissolves the Lower House beforehand for an election.
According to the draft, the ministry will issue a new “zairyu” (residence) card to replace the current alien card to provide better services for foreign residents.
In one benefit for foreigners, the bill also would extend the duration of visas to five years from the current three.
Some foreign residents have already raised concerns that the new card could allow greater monitoring by the central government.
But Lower House member Taro Kono, who is on the LDP panel looking into the idea, said the new system would allow the government to properly manage data on foreign residents, which would benefit them as well.
Foreign residents would have to report changes in their addresses and other personal data to the Justice Ministry, in some cases via the mayor of their city.
Currently, alien registration cardholders are not punished if they fail to report moving from one municipality to another, Kono pointed out.
“A municipality where a foreigner moves to cannot provide public services unless it is advised of the new address. The new system will benefit foreigners, too,” Kono told The Japan Times over the phone Tuesday.
The Japan Times: Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009
ENDS
February 18th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
i cant see how this new big brother card is going to make my daily life any easier in japan. its just an easier way for the GOJ to keep track of me, and it will be a big pain in the ass to visit the immigration office everytime i move, or change jobs. again stupid laws that dont help NJ.
February 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
How about if I have 10 work places and at the end move to Shinjuku Koen?
February 18th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Once again, the “Special Permanent Residents” get “special” treatment. The zainichis are running a serious racket of getting preferential treatment, mostly at the expense of other non-special permanent residents.
It’s high time someone called out this government practice of giving the zainichi special privileges over other foreigners for what it is - discrimination. The “special permanent residents” are committing shameful acts of discrimination against others, including non-SPR Koreans.
All permanent residents should receive equal treatment. Zainichis are running a crooked scam to benefit themselves and their Mindan/Chongryun members, at the expense of other foreign residents in Japan.
– Please submit evidence to back up these claims by 11PM tonight JST or this post will be deleted. Readers, to avoid trolling, please don’t respond to this post until we get some substantiation. Thanks.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
This was the best part…
“The foreign trainee system is aimed at transferring Japan’s technical expertise to other countries. Under the system, foreign trainees participate in workshops and training programs at companies for up to three years.”
The Yomiuri is the funniest newspaper, bar none!
– Yes, and how about the bit explaining who Special Permanent Residents are? “Koreans living in Japan”? No, try “Koreans (and other nationalities) BORN in Japan, i.e. generational ‘foreigners’”.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
See here. Mindan themselves are happy to throw non-SPR permanent residents under the bus to emphasize their “special” status.
http://www.mindan.org/shinbun/news_bk_view.php?page=1&subpage=2479&corner=2
There are plenty of non-Korean permanent residents who were born in Japan too, but they get no special permanent resident status. Recently, the number of Brazilians, Filipinos, Indians, Pakistanis born in Japan and reaching adulthood in the nation has risen. Earlier, the descendants of Russian refugees who fled their revolution raised families in Japan and many of these people only know Nippon as their home and place of birth as well. They too do not get “special” status.
The split between “special” and “ordinary” permanent residency is a serious discriminatory move by the Japanese government. Debito, you are an activist against discrimination. Fight this fight, please.
However, be warned that the Mindan will attack you if you question their “right” to “special” treatment.
Please note this discrimination, and help everyone fight to end this two-tiered system of permanent residency. This is unfair and an insult to decency.
– I’d suggest you tone down your invective. There are other SPRs who are not Korean (try Chinese or Indian), so this is incorrect. Further substantiation to the other claims above and past or else deletion of both your comments. Just throwing a link at us without pointing out what part of it substantiates your claims is unsatisfactory.
February 18th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Great news that the “trainee” (AKA virtual slave) status will be gone, one baby step toward some future (far future) where gaijin can possibly expect to get permanent employment with full legal rights just like a Japanese. (far, far future)
Yup, sticking with the issue, this new system sounds really inconvenient.
Compared to walking over to my local town hall and never having to wait in line, this new centralization sounds like it can’t run smoothly, but since it’s only gaijin who are inconvenienced [and let's add in, only the law-abiding gaijin, since visa violators tend not to bother reporting to Immigration on a regular basis] does the LDP or anyone in government care?
Or are we just cattle to be herded and stamped? Now the herding and stamping system has been “improved” and made more convenient for the herders, not us cows. Moo.
I only have to travel about 45 minutes one-way to get to the only Immigration Office in Osaka, and even I am complaining. Others might have to travel for hours, especially those in the countryside. Add in it’s 2 trips, one to apply, one to pick up. And that’s IF there are no bureaucratic screw-ups.
God help you if you have more than one employer or [as many gaijin do] are forced to change jobs or renew contracts every year, which would require yet more trips to out to Immigration to update your personal data for any and all changes in your life? [and all updates are supposed to be done within 2 weeks of the change according to current law, maybe in those 2 weeks I'm busy at work I don't have an entire weekday free to go to Immigration just to tell them my new address.]
Why do I also suspect that we’ll now probably have to pay some kind of fee to get these cards? They’ll find some loophole and charge an “application fee”, while the card itself is still “free”. Again, since we can’t vote, why would the LDP or DPJ or anyone care?
How about some free train tickets at least? Or home delivery of the new cards? Or at least a few satellite offices open on weekends? What are we paying taxes for?
And they say they want to increase the immigrant population to 10 million…
– Excellent comment. Sharpen it up and send it as a letter to the editor at the Japan Times.