Provisional Translation
| OTO No. | 584 | Classification | MOJ-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of Acceptance | October 14, 1998 | Ministry/Agency Receiving Complaint | Economic Planning Agency |
| Responsible Ministries | Ministry of Justice | Related Laws | Immigration Control and Refugee Recoginition Law |
| Complainant | Korean Consulate | Exporting Countries | |
| Subject | Review of landing examination criteria | ||
| Description of Complaint | (1) Non-Japanese residing in Japan under the "Intra-company Transferee" status of residence must extend the authorized period of stay yearly, and extention is allowed for a maximum of only five years. Because it is short compared to the average length of stay in Japan by Koreans (four to six years), the period of stay should be extended. At present, Korea allows stays of two years on the initial visa issued, and renewal for a maximum of 18 years in the case of Japanese living in Korea on commercial visas, which is equivalent to the Japanese status of "Intra-company Transferee." (2) In its Law on Investment by Foreigners and Introduction of Foreign Capital and the rules for applying the said law, Korea does not require that Korean nationals be hired. However, to obtain a status of residence of "Investor/Business Manager, the applicant is required to hire two or more Japanese nationals. The very expensive labor costs (involved when establishing a Japan-based corporation to fulfill this requirement) make it difficult to even establish such corporations. Therefore, from the viewpoint of promoting inward investment, the above requirement should be abolished, to make it easier to obtain an "Investor/Business Manager" status of residence. |
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| Details of Measures | 1. The Ministry replied as follows: (1) Effective from January 1998, the Ministerial Ordinance has been amended and the maximum period of stay has been abolished. This now makes it possible for non-Japanese on the status of residence of "Intra-company Transferee" to enter and to reside in Japan for the period of longer than five years. (2) In application of the Ministerial Ordinance on "Investor/Business Manager" status of residence not only a Japanese national but also a non-Japanese whose status of residence is "Permanent Resident", "Spouse or Child of Japanese National", "Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident", "Long Term Resident" status of resident or "Special Permanent Resident" can be eligible to be counted as a required employee. (3) Article 1-1(b) of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between Japan and the United States of America allows landing and staying companies which have or which are currently investing a substantial amount. The qualification for the "Investor/Business Manager" status of the Ministerial Ordinance criteria set out the above qualification more in detail, and in the case of a non-Japanese landing under the "Investor/Business Manager" status, the requirement is that investment be on such a scale to employ two residents as full-time employees. These standards are necessary to ensure the stability and continuity of the enterprise, and taking various current factors into consideration, the Ministry believes this requirement is reasonable and cannot be abolished. No criteria are in place concerning amounts of equity or sales, because these may vary depending on the type of business involved. 2. In accordance with a decision by the OMA on March 21, 2000, the Ministry undertook to ensure that regional immigration bureaus are aware that they should grant applicants permission to land in Japan under the "Investor/Business Manager" status of residence in cases where it is acknowledged that a substantial investment in such a scale to employ at least two locally-based people has been made in Japan, even if such people are not actually employed, and will also draw up practical landing examination guidelines applying to cases where two persons are not employed, during 2000. |
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| Classification of Processing | A | Directions | I-b |
| Remarks | |||