Japan has always been one of the major target for people to work. Be it legally or illegally, we all have at least one relative or friend or even a family member working in Japan. Now we have good news for all the Nepali who wish to work and stay in Japan. In December 2020 ,Japan Government introduced and approved a new labor policy for Nepali people under the blue collar Visa .
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What is blue collar work ?
Blue collar worker are people who perform manual or labor oriented works. Their works require physical effort rather than mental capacity. The workers are paid on an hourly rate or wage system. Contrary to white collar worker who work in desktops or require mental capacity blue collar workers work physically. Different varieties of job under the blue collar works are mining, manufacturing, textile, commercial fishing, food processing and so on. In simpler words blue collar work simply mean labor oriented works. The workers receive wage labor and have wide range of pay scale. The pay scale highly depends on the type of work and level of expertise.
Blue Collar working visa
The working visa will come into effect from April 2020. You can apply for the visa only when the application opens .
Till now government hasn’t appointed any specific agent for this purpose so don’t be fooled by people claiming themselves as the agent. This visa will provide greater support to all the workers. It also looks after the safety concern of the workers. The workers will receive many advantages that initially they wouldn’t. Japan has also amended its immigration laws for the sake of workers . Japan is planning to set up a separate ministry working solely for immigrant workers. Unlike the previous working visa the employer will directly interview and select the workers prior to their arrival in Japan. With this visa many Nepalese will surely find employment which will increase the per capita of country for sure.
Japan introduced this visa because of acute labor shortage in the country. Being one of the most developed country, Japan faces severe shortage of labor. Most of people are educated and thus are inclined to white collar jobs. This has caused serious shortage.
There are no Japanese people left to do the blue collar work. And to fulfill this shortage Japan Government introduced this visa for eight Asian countries namely China, Indonesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Residents of this country can apply for this visa and can work in Japan.
Benefits for the workers
Many workers are sure to enter Japan with introduction of this new visa . In first year application will open for three lakh and forty five thousand foreign workers. The different sectors where they can work are fishing, mining, agriculture, manufacturing, hotel industry, nursing care ,food processing and so on.
The law will be revised and will be most favorable for the workers. Budget of Rs 22 billion has been allocated for implementation of these policies. Also Japanese government is to establish around 100 consultation centers all over the country to support the workers.
Language support for workers
The consultancy will provide language support namely Japanese, English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Nepalese, Indonesian, Thai and Tagalog. This time the application screening and candidate selection process is also quite strict . This will prevent frauds of the brokers and also exploitation of workers.
There will also be a Japanese language education program to help the workers. 600 million yen is separated for a standard curriculum and textbooks. This will help all the Non Japanese entering the country. With adoption of blue collar visa for labor workers japan sure has come up with many new policies and safety measures.
There is another very big news for the workers ,the workers will be enrolled in national health insurance program that will cover all the kind of health expenses of the worker.
Resident status for the blue collar workers
Since the labor shortage is acute problem in Japan and so is population decrease, Japan will allow the workers to stay permanently in the country along with their families . The government will allow two types of resident status for the workers. It is up to your skills and even luck if you will get the residential status or not. The workers must have proficiency in the Japanese language and experience in one of the ten field like agriculture, fishing, nursing care or construction.
Types of resident visa
Worker who get the first type of resident visa can stay in Japan for upto 5 years but can’t bring families in the country. And those who receive the second type of visa can get permanent resident status and can also bring their families in the country. But you need to have high level of expertise for this visa .You must be listed under highly skilled worker.
You can also apply for second type of resident status once you receive the first type of visa. However to get both the visas proficiency in Japanese language is a must. If you get any type of status in Japan your life will be much easier in Japan. You will get wage equal to that of what Japanese workers receive and you will also enjoy many other benefits.
Last year only the total number of foreign workers in Japan was 1.38 million which is sure to rise in coming year with introduction of this visa.
Advantages and disadvantages for Nepal in long term
Now with blue collar
visa Nepali people can simply work for those jobs and get good income in Japan.
The only advantage Nepal will gain is the remittance. At the same time, there will be decrease in
unemployment but it also comes with
drawbacks. This may lead to brain drain, we may loose many qualified youths
because of it. Also the safety issue of workers also count in this case. We
have seen and heard many cases of death and abuse in foreign land, this case
may repeat. For that Nepal and Japan Government under proper collaboration
should introduce a new kind of law for safety of these workers.
This is all for this article. We will keep updating with new articles on this visa. We wish you prior good luck for your blue collar visa.
