Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

If you haven't heard by now, the Immigration Bureau has officially deleted Guideline 8 and replaced it with:

"In order to promote signing up for social insurance, we will ask (foreign residents) to present their health insurance card starting April 1. We will not reject renewal or change of visa status for failing to present the card."

In other words, if you aren't enrolled in shakai hoken or kokumin kenko hoken when you go to renew your visa this year, your application will not be refused nor will they try and boot you out of the country.

The headline to The Japan Times article--Foreigners get nod to skip social insurance-- is misleading because the deletion of Guideline 8 has nothing to do with being able to opt out of social insurance. While the Free Choice Foundation is celebrating this as a victory, the law of land still obligates you to enroll in a national health insurance plan. While you'll get your visa, Immigration is still going to ask to see your health insurance card anyway.

For more, Hoofin has been all over this issue (and Ronald Kessler's case) and his latest is worth a read.

While I'm on the subject of immigration, the Lower House passed a bill on new residency rules last Friday.

The big changes:

• The alien registration card is replaced with a zairyu (residence) card containing an embedded chip.
• Visa extensions increased to 5 years from 3 years
• No need for re-entry permits provided you return to Japan within one year
• Control of information passed to Immigration Bureau from local governments
• Foreigners listed on the Juki Net resident registry network
• Severe punishment for failure to notify changes in personal information

There are definitely some good things in here, such as longer visa extensions and dropping the requirement for re-entry permits, but I can't help but think that the negatives outweigh any changes for the better.

It's going to be a pain in the ass to have to go the nearest (which could be really far away if you don't live in a large city) Immigration Bureau to report that you've changed jobs. Debito suggested in a recent podcast that employers would not be receptive to foreigner employees taking time off to update their personal information, but I think that's unrealistic. In my experience, employers aren't that hard-nosed and I suspect that they would understand that this has to do with one's ability to reside in Japan. On the other hand, foreign employees will probably end up having to use paid holidays to go about this business.

Then there's the matter of being listed in Juki Net. The system is unpopular with the public due to fears over invasion of privacy and data leaks. The constitutionality of the system was challenged by a group of Aichi residents, but the Nagoya High Court ruled in 2007 that Juki Net was constitutional. Still, there are reasons to be suspicious of how personal information will be used, stored, and protected as the safeguards in place are incredibly flimsy:

The bills also have a provision to prevent the ministry from using that data improperly, a decision that was made to ward off criticism that "the minister" could abuse the zairyu card number to violate foreigners' privacy. But no penalty for such abuse was listed.

The practice, dubbed data-matching, was outlawed by the Supreme Court in regard to its use on Japanese citizens.

The provision says "the justice minister" must limit the use of foreign residents' personal information to the minimum required for managing such residents and that the information must be handled with care to protect the rights of individuals. But no penalties or methods for enforcing such compliance are listed in the bills.

Provisions to prevent abuse of data but without penalties? This is a joke.

Perhaps the most worrisome change has to do with punishment for failing to update one's information:

On the other hand, the Immigration Bureau will tighten control of foreign residents by stripping away their residential status if they fail to report changes in address, marital status or workplace within three months. No regulations for that exist under current law.

In addition, those who fail to report such changes within 14 days or are found not carrying their zairyu cards could be hit with a ¥200,000 fine, the same regulation as the current law.

To crack down on fake marriages, the bills allow the justice minister to cancel the residential status of foreigners holding spouse visas who have not conducted "normal spousal activities," such as living together, for six months without legitimate reason. Legitimate reasons include things like domestic violence, Hosokawa said.

These are very severe punishments. In my case, I wonder what would have happened to me had this law already been in place. When I renewed my visa three years ago, I neglected to inform city hall. It's an easy thing to forget. How often does one look at their alien registration card let alone remember that you have to go to city hall and inform them? If you've been in Japan for more than a few years, it's easy to forget. For all city hall new, I was in the country illegally. The matter only recently came to my attention when my town was handing out the ¥12,000 Taro Aso kickback. I received the application form plus a letter asking me to visit them and confirm my residency status. My visa status? I renewed that years ago. It was only when I looked at my alien registration card that I realized the problem. I quickly cleared things up and the people at city hall were very understanding, but had this new law been in effect, I would have been dealing with the Immigration Bureau and it's unlikely they would have left the matter unresolved for two and half years or be very sympathetic. At best, I may have been fined, at worst, deported.

The new law now criminalizes my forgetfulness. When you consider that police can detain suspects for up to three weeks without charges and regularly stop foreigners they catch riding bicycles, it seems to me that the authorities have added extra pretense to stop foreigners and check to make sure their papers are in order. We're told that the changes are supposed to bring more conveniences to legal foreign residents, but obeying the law won't insulate you from police harassment and scrutiny over your residency status should the provisions in the new law be strictly enforced.

Update: Table of changes from the JT article.

As of June 1st the Yokohama Immigration Office has moved from the goudou chousya building in Ishikawa-cho to a new facility [PDF] near Shin-Sugita Station on the Keihin-Tohoku Line.

To get to the new office, take the Keihin-Tohoku/Negishi Line to Shin-Sugita. Exit the turnstyles and walk straight down the shopping arcade to the end. There are signs in English, so watch for them and make your way to bus stop #1 at the bus loop, and get on the #61 bus. The bus goes right to the gates of the immigration office, so there's no way you're going to get lost.

大きな地図で見る

I was there this morning and noticed how large it was. It's a dedicated building, unlike the old office in Ishikawa-cho, with a detention center, visiting facilities, and a Mini Stop convenience store. I suppose putting it out in an industrial park near a dock where cars are loaded onto freighters makes it "out of sight out of mind" to the public, but having to take a bus is a bit of a pain. Still, I was in an out pretty quick and it looks to be an improvement over the old office.

According to the Ministry of Justice, effective April 1, 2010, you will have to show your health insurance card--either kenko kokumin hoken (National Health Insurance) or shakai hoken (Company Health Insurance)--when you apply to renew your visa or change your visa status. If you do not belong to one of these plans, you will be encouraged (forced?) to join or your visa could possibly be revoked.

How do you get coverage? You can apply for kenko kokumin hoken at your ward office; you can apply for shakai hoken through your employer.

It'll be interesting to see how the eikaiwas react to this. For decades, they have avoided enrolling their employees into the system by playing with the number of hours worked per week, a subject that was brought up here back in 2005..

h/t otakuman

Related links

• Employees’ Health Insurance from the Social Insurance Agency
• Public Social Welfare System FAQ from the General Union