Proposal on permanent residency status for foreigners sparks controversy in Japan

The government's proposal to amend the law to pave the way for permanent residence permits to be revoked if foreign residents in Japan deliberately fail to pay taxes and social insurance premiums has become a point of contention in current Diet deliberations.

The reason is that the government has not been able to answer questions raised by opposition MPs.

Opposition parties have repeatedly criticized the regulation on revoking permanent residency status.

Lawmakers are discussing a bill to amend relevant laws to create a new foreign worker training system to replace the current Technical Intern Training Program.

The new system aims to accept unskilled foreign workers in sectors with labor shortages.

In this context, the government has added to the bill that willful non-payment of taxes and insurance premiums could be grounds for revoking permanent residence permits as it anticipates an increase in the number of people who want to live in Japan long-term.

These measures are expected to be limited to cases of bad faith and will not apply to cases of non-payment due to force majeure circumstances through no fault of the individual.

The government argues that even if permanent residence permits are revoked, many people can still be granted other residency status.

However, the proposal has been criticized by some opposition parties, who say there is no basis for amending the law because there are no specific statistics on permanent residents who do not pay taxes and insurance premiums.

In response, on May 8, the Japanese Immigration Bureau released the results of a sample survey.

Based on permanent residence applications for children of permanent residents, the agency reviewed 1,825 cases that were screened in the first 6 months of 2023 and found 235 cases of permanent residents not paying child support for those children.

In the sample survey, the rate of non-payment of national pension insurance premiums was more than 10%.

According to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the final non-payment rate for the country's pension plan in fiscal 2020 was just under 20%.

The issue was raised at meetings of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Health, Labor and Welfare Committee.

House of Representatives member Yasushi Adachi of Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) asked the government to grasp the exact situation regarding the non-payment rate rather than simply conducting a sample survey.