The National Police Agency, Ministry of Justice, Immigration Services Agency, and Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare have established the 'Liaison Meeting of Directors-General on Countermeasures against Illegal Employment of Foreign Nationals,' to coordinate and collaborate on issues related to illegal employment of foreign nationals in Japan.
Under the meeting mentioned above, they formulated the "Promotion of Countermeasures against Illegal Employment of Foreign Nationals (Revised)," confirming that the four ministries and agencies will further cooperate to address the issues of illegal employment. The Immigration Services Agency released the document on May 16, 2024.
Analysis on recent illegal employments in Japan
The above-mentioned meeting reveals their analysis of the recent change in illegal employment in Japan.
TKG Immigration Office excerpted and translated the document from Japanese to English.
"Promotion of Countermeasures against Illegal Employment of Foreign Nationals (Revised)"
"*The number of foreign nationals engaged in illegal employment has decreased. However, while the nature of illegal employment by foreign nationals in the past mainly involved simple forms such
as overstaying or illegal entry, these patterns have significantly changed over time.
*In recent years, particularly, there have been diverse and increasingly sophisticated cases such as:
- Cases where employment is secured using forged or altered residence cards.
- Cases where individuals, despite superficially holding legitimate residence statuses, engage in simple labor without performing activities corresponding to their status, often facilitated by domestic and international brokers.
- Cases where individuals misuse or abuse refugee status applications to work despite not qualifying as refugees under international treaties.
- Cases where technical intern trainees disappear from their training sites and find employment elsewhere through social media or other means.
- Cases where international students continue to work after being expelled from school, utilizing their remaining period of stay without returning to their home countries.
*These methods for residing and working in Japan have become increasingly malicious and sophisticated year by year. The presence of foreign nationals who engage in such illegal employment and the malicious businesses that knowingly employ them, exploiting their vulnerabilities for labor exploitation, not only negatively impacts Japan's labor market but also contributes to the rise in crimes involving underground banking and human trafficking, further exacerbating these issues."
"Specific Measures for Addressing Illegal Employment of Foreign Nationals (Revised)"
The National Police Agency, Ministry of Justice, Immigration Services Agency, and Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare have compiled the "Specific Measures for Addressing Illegal Employment of Foreign Nationals (Revised)" to share a common understanding of the current situation surrounding illegal employment of foreign nationals, to further strengthen the cooperation among frontline agencies, and to encourage a more proactive approach to countermeasures.
TKG Immigration Consulting Office translated the document from Japanese to English.
"Specific Measures for Addressing Illegal Employment of Foreign Nationals (Revised)"
"Prefectural police (police), regional immigration services bureaus (immigration bureaus), and prefectural labor bureaus (labor bureaus) will work to further strengthen their cooperative relationships and actively engage in the following specific measures to further promote countermeasures against the illegal employment of foreign nationals".
"1. Crackdown on Eradicating Illegal Employment, etc.
(1) Strengthening crackdowns by the police and immigration bureau on crimes that facilitate illegal employment (malicious employers, brokers, etc.) and enhancing cooperation between the police, immigration bureau, and labor bureau towards revoking the licenses of business operators who promote illegal employment.
(2) Strengthening crackdowns by the police and immigration bureau on illegal employment crimes (cases involving forged residence cards, misuse of refugee status applications, etc.).
(3) Strengthening police and immigration bureau crackdowns on crimes involving fraudulent stays (e.g., sham marriages, false notifications, brokers).
(4) Strengthening crackdowns and cooperation by the police and immigration bureau on the broad distribution routes of forged residence card manufacturing cases.
(5) Strengthening cooperation between the labor bureau, police, and immigration bureau to crack down on labor law violations related to illegal employment, such as forced labor, intermediary exploitation, unlicensed job placement businesses, and prohibited labor supply businesses.
(6) Prompt and proactive crackdowns by the police, immigration bureau, and labor bureau on human trafficking crimes and appropriate recognition and protection of foreign victims.
2. Close Information Exchange for Strengthening Crackdowns
(1) Smooth information sharing among the police, immigration bureau, and labor bureau for cracking down on illegal employment and crimes that promote illegal employment, considering changes in the employment environment.
(2) Smooth information sharing among the police, immigration bureau, and labor bureau for cracking down on labor law violations and human trafficking crimes.
(3) Prompt response to inquiries based on laws and regulations regarding criminal investigations and violation investigations of the crimes mentioned above by the police, immigration bureau, and labor bureau.
(4) Active utilization of foreign employment status report information provided by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare through online collaboration started in March 2021 by the Immigration Services Agency and immigration bureau.
3. Proactive Public Relations, Awareness Activities, and Guidance to Prevent Illegal Employment
(1) Proactively promoting public relations and awareness activities by the police, immigration bureau, and labor bureau to prevent illegal employment, considering changes in the employment environment.
(2) Proactive public relations regarding the crackdown on cases involving acts that promote illegal employment by the police, immigration bureau, and labor bureau.
(3) Strengthening information collection by the police and immigration bureau on malicious foreign personnel dispatch agencies and smooth information sharing and utilization through relevant agencies to prevent illegal employment by the police, immigration bureau, and labor bureau.
(4) Ensuring thorough compliance with reporting foreign employment status by business operators and promoting guidance to prevent illegal employment by the immigration bureau and labor bureau.
(5) Appropriate dissemination and information sharing of the immigration bureau's initiatives (efficient information collection and analysis through the digitization of ED cards, distribution of residence card reading applications) to the police and labor bureau."