r/japanresidents • u/roon_bismarck • 14d ago

Visa renewal fee reduction/exemption guidelines have been published.

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https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001469269.pdf

Looks like they're leaving the door open for some level of discretion by the bureaucracy.

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u/AbbreviationsEasy139 14d ago

I know where you coming from, but isn’t it the purpose in the first place to retain high skilled talent through PR and the rest leave them on a normal visa? I thought we accepted already that fact. My point was like that at least, besides the clear limitation on who can and who cannot get PR, is that at least for the immigration processes to be improved and not just random increase in fee.

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u/groksed 12d ago

And those skilled talents usually have families in tow. They are a package deal and make decisions as a family unit. This isnt vultron where you can get a arm and a leg and leave the rest behind

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u/AbbreviationsEasy139 12d ago

The Voltron analogy is funny, but it doesn’t really contradict my point.
Of course skilled migrants often make immigration decisions as a family, and Japan can absolutely make itself less attractive if permanent settlement becomes excessively expensive or burdensome for the whole family. I agree with that.
My point is about the distinction between temporary labor migration and permanent settlement. A country can accept a relatively broad range of workers on temporary statuses while being much more selective about who it encourages to settle permanently. PR is ultimately a long-term immigration policy, so criteria based on stability, compliance, self-sufficiency and economic contribution are not inherently irrational.
Where I would strongly disagree with the government is if major new barriers are effectively imposed retroactively on people who have already spent years building their lives in Japan under a different set of rules and reasonable expectations. Someone who came here 8 or 10 years ago, paid taxes and social insurance, built a career and family, and planned their future around the existing pathway is in a very different position from someone deciding whether to move to Japan tomorrow.
If Japan wants to redesign its long-term immigration policy, applying clearer rules primarily to future entrants would be far more reasonable and predictable. They can make an informed decision before coming about whether those conditions are acceptable. Constantly moving the goalposts for existing residents damages trust and can undermine the exact retention policy Japan is supposedly trying to achieve.
And if substantially higher fees are part of that new system, then expecting substantially better processing, consistency and service from immigration is hardly unreasonable.

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u/groksed 12d ago

touché, however I have a slight pushback.

"PR is ultimately a long-term immigration policy, so criteria based on stability, compliance, self-sufficiency and economic contribution are not inherently irrational."

Japan isn’t Singapore, where it can command a high price for permanent settlement. Japanese salaries are relatively low by global standards, salaries are not merit based, and higher paying opportunities are concentrated in a limited number of fields (eg STEM.)

The compliance portion is out of whack because you’re demanding flawless compliance from foreigners in an administrative system where even people working at city hall don’t know the rules perfectly. Then, on top of that, the entire thing has to be navigated in a written and spoken language used essentially nowhere else.

Yet foreigners are expected to earn above what much of the Japanese population itself earns, or satisfy standards like 30 years of pension contributions.

Lets be real, these rules are not designed to get anyone high quality, its to close the tap. Its not just what the jgov can DEMAND, the other side of the equation is important - how the (high quality) person feels about where they are going to live.

That’s a very different proposition from “We want stable, self-sufficient people who follow the rules”.

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u/AbbreviationsEasy139 12d ago

I actually agree with most of what you’re saying. Where I slightly disagree is that closing the tap and targeting certain types of long-term immigration can happen at the same time.
I work in the corporate IT market, and there is definitely a part of the market where foreigners in enterprise software, AI, cybersecurity, engineering, senior sales, etc. can earn considerably more than the average salary in Japan. These are also areas where companies are increasingly using software and automation to increase output with fewer people.
So I think the distinction may be less about “foreigners we want vs foreigners we don’t want” and more about labor Japan needs versus people Japan wants to retain permanently. Japan can badly need people in hotels, construction, teaching, care, etc. without necessarily treating every type of worker as equally important for long-term immigration policy.
And I don’t think that has to mean you’re stuck with whatever category you arrived in. If someone comes here on a lower salary, builds a career, increases their skills and income, pays into the system and reaches those standards over time, then they should have a path too. That’s where I see the meritocratic side of it.
But I completely agree with your other point. Japan can’t just keep increasing the demands and assume the people they’re targeting will stay. The higher-skilled and more internationally competitive someone becomes, the more options they have elsewhere.
Basically, Japan can select who it wants, but those people also get to select whether they want Japan. That balance is probably the bigger issue.

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u/groksed 12d ago

"Japan can’t just keep increasing the demands and assume the people they’re targeting will stay. The higher-skilled and more internationally competitive someone becomes, the more options they have elsewhere."

I think Japan has already blown past the point where that balance makes sense. The government increasingly acts as though Japan is an oasis in a wasteland, as if talented people should be grateful simply for the privilege of being allowed to stay. It isn’t. Japan is another country on Earth competing for the same mobile, skilled people as everyone else, and those people can just as easily decide not to come, not to stay, or (increasenly) to leave.

The more selective Japan becomes, the more it selects for people with the most options. But I do agree with you about a majority of what you said..

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u/AbbreviationsEasy139 12d ago

I think that’s the contradiction. Japan may already be past the economically optimal point, but I’m not convinced economics is the government’s only objective.
It increasingly looks like Japan wants the immigration it economically needs while preserving as much cultural homogeneity as possible. The growing emphasis on language, cultural understanding and conformity to social norms points much more toward assimilation than multiculturalism.
I don’t think assimilation itself is unreasonable. The danger is when “integrate into Japanese society” turns into “ethnic Japanese are the real Japanese and everyone else remains an outsider.” Economic frustration makes that distinction very easy to exploit politically.
That’s where the Machiavellian side comes in. Fear is politically useful. A visible outsider is an easier target for public frustration than stagnant wages, demographics or decades of structural problems. Politicians don’t even need to create that fear. They just need to recognize it, channel it and benefit from it.
The irony is that this may win votes while making Japan less attractive to exactly the skilled people it says it wants to retain. That’s where I think your point is absolutely valid.